First off, a shout out to Craig for once again committing his time and energy to serving as project manager of this most geeky of endeavors. I think I speak for everyone when I say this has grown into an annual event we all actively anticipate and enjoy. Many thinks sir.

Second, the amount of diversity among responses so far has been astounding. 2016's 'decentralization of quality' has something to do with it...lots of 4 and 4.5 star scores, but limited alignment around ***** ones. But the 'down year' (debatable) isn't the only driver...one could also cite the increasing number of folks voting, enhanced awareness of international scores, and the emergence of more non-traditional score composers (Scott Walker, Manchester Orchestra, Hauschka, etc.)

I wouldn't be at all surprised if my list barely overlaps with the community consensus. And honestly that's fantastic. One of the great strengths of this group is the many discoveries I've come to enjoy just because some (over)excited chap started a thread raving about a new album or an old favorite. And even if I don't agree with someone's assessment...there's always next time.

I look forward to seeing what 2017 brings.

And with that...my Top 10 for 2016:
1) Tale of a Lake (Panu Aaltio)
2) ABZÛ (Austin Wintory)
3) La La Land (Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul)
4) Gods of Egypt (Marco Beltrami)
5) Alice Through The Looking Glass (Danny Elfman)
6) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (James Newton Howard)
7) The Monkey King 2 (Christopher Young)
8) Kubo and the Two Strings (Dario Marianelli)
9) Now You See Me 2 (Brian Tyler)
10) The Banner Saga 2 (Austin Wintory)
Runner up: Doctor Strange (Michael Giacchino)

Composer of the Year is Austin Wintory, with Michael Giacchino a close second.

Track of the Year is 10 Cloverfield Lane’s eponymous end credits piece.

Expansion Release of the Year is Prometheus/Tadlow’s stupendous re-recording of The Thief of Bagdad.

Of the 65 scores I heard from last year’s films, completed TV seasons/miniseries, and video games, I thought the other really solid (i.e., 4-star) works were The BFG, The Jungle Book, Kung Fu Panda 3, The Last Guardian, The Light Between Oceans, Outlander Season 2, Penny Dreadful Season 3, Pete’s Dragon, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Secret Life of Pets, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, Star Trek Beyond, Strangely in Love, Swallows and Amazons, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and X-Men Apocalypse.

Also worth citing are some high quality 2015 scores released in 2016: Penny Dreadful Season 2 (so good it would have made last year’s Top 10), Abulele, The Cairo Declaration, and Living in the Age of Airplanes. And special kudos to Debbie Wiseman's The Musical Zodiac, as well as the long overdue release of Danny Elfman’s Rabbit & Rogue ballet music.

> Second, the amount of diversity among responses so far has been
> astounding. 2016's 'decentralization of quality' has something to do with
> it...lots of 4 and 4.5 star scores, but limited alignment around *****
> ones. But the 'down year' (debatable) isn't the only driver...one could
> also cite the increasing number of folks voting, enhanced awareness of
> international scores, and the emergence of more non-traditional score
> composers (Scott Walker, Manchester Orchestra, Hauschka, etc.)

In case you were looking for stats, I've been keeping track of the #1 votes so far. Out of 48 votes (including yours), 26 different scores have received a #1 vote, and only 3 scores have more than 5 votes.

> I wouldn't be at all surprised if my list barely overlaps with the
> community consensus. And honestly that's fantastic. One of the great
> strengths of this group is the many discoveries I've come to enjoy just
> because some (over)excited chap started a thread raving about a new album
> or an old favorite. And even if I don't agree with someone's
> assessment...there's always next time.

> I look forward to seeing what 2017 brings.

> And with that...my Top 10 for 2016:
> 1) Tale of a Lake (Panu Aaltio)
Yes!
> 2) ABZÛ (Austin Wintory)
Alright,
> 3) La La Land (Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul)
Yes!
> 4) Gods of Egypt (Marco Beltrami)
Aw yeah!

> 6) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (James Newton Howard)
> 7) The Monkey King 2 (Christopher Young)
> 8) Kubo and the Two Strings (Dario Marianelli)
Nice nice nice
> 9) Now You See Me 2 (Brian Tyler)
Ethan will love you for that one.

> 10) The Banner Saga 2 (Austin Wintory)
Never got around to this one actually...

> Runner up: Doctor Strange (Michael Giacchino)

> Composer of the Year is Austin Wintory, with Michael Giacchino a close
> second.

> Track of the Year is 10 Cloverfield Lane’s eponymous end credits piece.

Yes!

> Expansion Release of the Year is Prometheus/Tadlow’s stupendous
> re-recording of The Thief of Bagdad.

(I mainly am commenting so it doesn't get lost as a 1 post thread behind what seems to be a roiling relitigation of Arrival.)

> Never got around to this one actually...

It's not a 'fun listen' at all...in fact there's some amusement in having it right next to NYSM2, a decidedly different sequel score. But on an intellectual level it's fascinating, in particular the way Wintory seems to deconstruct his prior score's action cues and bounce those motifs throughout the orchestra.

> (I mainly am commenting so it doesn't get lost as a 1 post thread behind
> what seems to be a roiling relitigation of Arrival.)

Its lack of reference in my prior post should indicate my impression of it. Great film, though.

(Message edited on Sunday, January 22, 2017, at 2:05 p.m.)

> It's not a 'fun listen' at all...in fact there's some amusement in having
> it right next to NYSM2, a decidedly different sequel score. But on an
> intellectual level it's fascinating, in particular the way Wintory seems
> to deconstruct his prior score's action cues and bounce those motifs
> throughout the orchestra.

I actually did think it was pretty fun, but to each his own.

Incidentally, your list is probably the closest one I've seen so far to the list I would've made had I felt qualified enough to make one.

> First off, a shout out to Craig for once again committing his time and
> energy to serving as project manager of this most geeky of endeavors. I
> think I speak for everyone when I say this has grown into an annual event
> we all actively anticipate and enjoy. Many thinks sir.

Thank you for the kind words.

> Second, the amount of diversity among responses so far has been
> astounding. 2016's 'decentralization of quality' has something to do with
> it...lots of 4 and 4.5 star scores, but limited alignment around *****
> ones. But the 'down year' (debatable) isn't the only driver...one could
> also cite the increasing number of folks voting, enhanced awareness of
> international scores, and the emergence of more non-traditional score
> composers (Scott Walker, Manchester Orchestra, Hauschka, etc.)

Agreed.

> I wouldn't be at all surprised if my list barely overlaps with the
> community consensus. And honestly that's fantastic. One of the great
> strengths of this group is the many discoveries I've come to enjoy just
> because some (over)excited chap started a thread raving about a new album
> or an old favorite. And even if I don't agree with someone's
> assessment...there's always next time.

> I look forward to seeing what 2017 brings.

> And with that...my Top 10 for 2016:
> 1) Tale of a Lake (Panu Aaltio)
> 2) ABZÛ (Austin Wintory)
> 3) La La Land (Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul)
> 4) Gods of Egypt (Marco Beltrami)
> 5) Alice Through The Looking Glass (Danny Elfman)
> 6) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (James Newton Howard)
> 7) The Monkey King 2 (Christopher Young)
> 8) Kubo and the Two Strings (Dario Marianelli)
> 9) Now You See Me 2 (Brian Tyler)
> 10) The Banner Saga 2 (Austin Wintory)
> Runner up: Doctor Strange (Michael Giacchino)

> Composer of the Year is Austin Wintory, with Michael Giacchino a close
> second.

With the exception of #10 and your composer choice, you align reasonably well with the community.

> Track of the Year is 10 Cloverfield Lane’s eponymous end credits piece.

> Expansion Release of the Year is Prometheus/Tadlow’s stupendous
> re-recording of The Thief of Bagdad.

> Of the 65 scores I heard from last year’s films, completed TV
> seasons/miniseries, and video games, I thought the other really solid
> (i.e., 4-star) works were The BFG, The Jungle Book, Kung Fu Panda 3, The
> Last Guardian, The Light Between Oceans, Outlander Season 2, Penny
> Dreadful Season 3, Pete’s Dragon, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Secret
> Life of Pets, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, Star Trek Beyond, Strangely in
> Love, Swallows and Amazons, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and X-Men Apocalypse.

> Also worth citing are some high quality 2015 scores released in 2016:
> Penny Dreadful Season 2 (so good it would have made last year’s Top 10),
> Abulele, The Cairo Declaration, and Living in the Age of Airplanes. And
> special kudos to Debbie Wiseman's The Musical Zodiac, as well as the long
> overdue release of Danny Elfman’s Rabbit & Rogue ballet music.

Nicely done John!