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Weekly Pick: Ennio Morricone

Started by Raymond Walker5 · · 👁 8 views · 94 replies

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Participants Raymond Walker5Larry Walker24Jessica Morris6Casey Cox2vivideagle7silverpanther13analogbear40Dennis Hall41Michael Roberts7Patrick Cooper2Sam WatsonPatrick MartinRichard Brown51Elizabeth Rivera6granitecyclistgoldenscout14
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#1 ·
Broken link in the poll, under number 9:
Madison Square Garden


Since we’ve discussed before that there aren't any issues with opening additional polls, I’m going to launch a new little concept. I’ll be the one putting these polls together whenever I have some downtime and, hopefully, as long as there is interest from everyone. If my ability to get these up within a reasonable timeframe ever falters, someone else can certainly step in to take the reins if people still want to participate. And if interest fades, well, that's okay too.

The core idea behind these polls is that we’ll host a weekly vote featuring the best (or most iconic) works of specific groups, artists, or musicians based entirely on your personal taste. Whether it’s Beethoven, Taylor Swift, or Beyoncé—it truly doesn't matter. It could even be music you produce yourselves; who knows, maybe one day I’ll join in with my own tracks! Whether these artists are household names or completely underground is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that the selection reflects the musical preferences of our community members. There won't be a rigid rotation for whose turn it is to pick, but everyone will eventually get their chance if this takes off.

As for the rules, all you need to do is send me a polite private message with your favorite artists or bands, and then I'll set up a poll for them. Since I don't share all of your specific tastes, it would be incredibly helpful if you could also include a tracklist of the songs you think deserve a spot in the poll (feel free to include YouTube links right away if you want to save us both some time).

When putting those lists together, please try to:
1. Pick songs that truly represent the best and most defining work of the artist or group.
2. Don't leave out the big hits or the essentials just because of a silly reason like "I'm tired of hearing them."
3. Avoid letting obscure deep cuts overshadow the heavy hitters (though, of course, obscure tracks and your personal favorites are more than welcome to be included).
4. It's ideal to provide links to the tracks; however, if you're short on time, I'll just find the YouTube links myself.

I realize many of you might feel like you could run these polls yourselves, but I think it's better to have a steady cycle of polls at regular intervals so we don't accidentally clutter the forum with too much activity all at once.

The number of songs in each poll will be quite flexible. You might wonder why I’d include as many as 50 tracks for someone like Ennio Morricone. Well, when someone has had a career spanning over half a century and composed scores for over 500 films, series, and documentaries while remaining genre-defying and top-tier, they deserve to be presented in their full glory.
On the other hand, for an artist who has only released two to four albums, there’s really no point in having a poll longer than 15 or 20 songs. We should use a bit of common sense here so we don't overwhelm everyone by forcing them to listen through a massive list of niche or mediocre tracks from a single album.

Regarding the voting process, at the start of every poll, I'll specify the maximum number of votes each person is allowed to cast. If you decide to vote more than that, there isn't much I can do about it anyway, and since we aren't calculating a grand total sum of votes, it shouldn't really impact anything.

For every musician or band, I’ll leave a dedicated thread active permanently. Each new poll will be started under a new thread so that we can have long-term discussions about that artist's music, which I think makes things much cleaner. Plus, it ensures all results remain easily accessible to everyone.

Voting will remain open for one month for each artist or group, even though I'll aim to introduce new ones every week. This is just to ensure nobody feels rushed and to allow people to cast their votes even if they missed the initial window.

I won't be providing tedious biographies or exhaustive discographies; instead, I'll simply provide a link to the artist's Wikipedia page and their official website.
I'm assuming everyone here is fluent in English—unless you're 70 years old and were taught Russian in school!

And finally, just to wrap things up, the main goal of this whole thread is really just to spread some good vibes and have a bit of fun together.

If any questions pop up or if you just want to chat, please feel free to shoot me a private message.
Larry Walker24 Larry Walker24 Veteran
1K messages
joined Jun 2022
#2 ·
Run a poll for every single James Bond theme song
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#3 ·
What is going on with this forum layout? I’m trying to use the poll feature, but for some reason, standard hyperlinks just won't work. It used to be that anything over 50 characters would break the link, but now even shorter ones seem to be causing issues... 🤦

Does anyone here happen to know what the deal is with this glitch?
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#4 ·
Jessica Morris6 Jessica Morris6 Active Member
195 messages
joined Nov 2022
#5 ·
Missing "The Reckoning"...
Casey Cox2 Casey Cox2 Active Member
73 messages
joined Jul 2018
#6 ·
The Big Silence🙏
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#7 ·
Mark Cruz15 said:It’s missing "La resa dei conti"

Honestly, quite a bit is missing. I didn't even realize I had left out "La Resa" because the main track feels so similar to "The Trio," which is what I ended up putting in its place.
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#8 ·
Regarding the vote count for this poll, you can select up to 20 tracks if you'd like. There’s no penalty if you go over that limit, but I figured there’s really no point in cluttering up the results too much. For a list of 50 total options, 20 feels like a reasonable ceiling to keep things manageable.

If you want to dive deeper into Morricone’s legacy, check out these resources:
Wikipedia
Full Discography
Official Website

I expect there will be some complaints about my selection—that's usually how these things go! However, since I feel I know his body of work a bit better than most (I actually have over 400 of his soundtracks in my collection), I tried to strike a balance. I wanted to mix his absolute heavy hitters with those hidden gems that aren't as famous but are still absolutely stunning.
Some people might be disappointed that the main theme from *The Mission* isn't listed explicitly, but "Gabriel's Oboe" is essentially the soul and backbone of that entire score, and it's woven right into the track "On Earth As It Is in Heaven."

I had to leave out quite a few incredible pieces that definitely deserved a spot, but if I included everything, nobody would ever find the time to listen to the whole list!
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#9 ·
Larry Walker24 said:Maybe run a poll featuring every single James Bond theme song?

That’s actually a great idea. I might just have to do that.
vivideagle7 vivideagle7 Active Member
135 messages
joined Oct 2014
#10 ·
So, let me get this straight... I have 20 votes for that?
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#11 ·
vivideagle7 said:So, does that mean I have 20 votes for "yes"?

Well, looking at the gap between zero and 20... 😁
It’s funny how these things work. You could throw in another 50 votes and suddenly it feels like we're back at square one. Honestly, let's just cap it at 20. It keeps things much more manageable. 🙂
silverpanther13 silverpanther13 Newcomer
3 messages
joined Nov 2009
#12 ·
Raymond Walker5 said:What a mess this site is. Why don't standard hyperlinks actually work in polls? It seems like anything over 50 characters breaks the whole thing—and now I’m noticing it struggles with shorter strings too... 🤦

Anyone figured out what the deal is here?

You can actually add more than fifty characters once the poll is live, but you have to use the Edit Poll option—which, unfortunately, is restricted to moderators only.
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#13 ·
silverpanther13 said:You can actually add more than fifty characters once a poll is live by using the "Edit Poll" feature, though unfortunately, that's a tool reserved strictly for the moderators.

Thanks for the heads-up.
I suppose if I don't get promoted to a moderator role, this is just how polls will look on this forum. It’s a bit more cumbersome, sure, but it still gets the job done.
I'll just make sure to place the hyperlinks right under the poll, just like I'm doing now, to help everyone navigate things a little easier.
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#14 ·
I went out and did my civic duty today, casting my vote for twenty different items on the ballot. I have to admit, it was quite a heavy lift and a bit of a mental workout, but honestly? No matter which way I leaned on any of them, I know I made the right call.
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#15 ·
Since I highly doubt I’ll ever be granted moderator status to clean up these polls properly—likely because there's a lingering fear I might commit some sort of digital felony against this forum—I've decided that moving forward, the polls will just feature song titles, with the corresponding links tucked neatly into the text below. I honestly think this will make things much cleaner and more intuitive for everyone, so you actually know exactly what your vote represents.
By the way, I already have a pretty good idea of what's coming next week. I'm just fulfilling the request of the very first person who spoke up.

Let's get back to the main topic.
Regarding Morricone, he is personally my absolute favorite composer, and his work stands in a genre all its own. The man possessed an extraordinary level of talent, churning out an enormous volume of high-quality masterpieces. Even this list of 50 tracks can't begin to scratch the surface of his full musical spectrum; his work could pivot from experimental and jazzy to completely atonal without missing a beat.
What you see on this list are, let's say, the "safe bets," though they are undeniably brilliant. I had to make some really difficult compromises regarding what to include and what to leave out. I knew people tend to gravitate toward the big hits, so I tried to maximize their presence without doing a disservice to the rest of his legendary career. Interestingly, Morricone himself used to get a bit annoyed when people pigeonholed him as a "Western composer." He'd often point out that while he did about 30 Westerns, he composed over 400 soundtracks across all sorts of other genres.
In recent years, Tarantino has leaned heavily on his catalog for his films, which has helped bring his legacy to a whole new generation. For Tarantino's upcoming project, Morricone even composed an entirely original score.
Personally, I believe a musician like Morricone is a true rarity in human history—someone who almost never appears. His music manages to oscillate beautifully from hauntingly dramatic scores to melodies so tender they can easily bring a tear to your eye. His knack for weaving together melody and harmony is simply otherworldly. I've heard critics argue that his music sometimes felt "out of place" in certain scenes, but honestly, that's exactly what I love about him. He wasn't afraid to be uncompromising. He didn't just provide that sterile, background filler we often hear in movies; he created something unexpected. Best of all, unlike many other film composers, his work holds up perfectly as standalone listening while still perfectly capturing the emotional heartbeat of a film.
vivideagle7 vivideagle7 Active Member
135 messages
joined Oct 2014
#16 ·
To me, Morricone is hands down the greatest film composer ever. He can hit any note, capture any single emotion or mood you throw at him.

I remember catching this interview with him right before one of his big shows in New York City. They asked him about his process—how he actually puts music together. He mentioned that for true musicians, everything is already fully formed in their head before they even touch an instrument; they just write the notes down rather than playing and transcribing as they go. I think he’s spot on there. It's like having the whole blueprint ready before you even pick up a hammer.

So, I'm diving back into his absolute best work today. I'll probably get lost in it for a while, then come back and break down my favorites in detail.
analogbear40 analogbear40 Member
20 messages
joined Nov 2013
#17 ·
We’re talking about an absolute legend here, someone with a massive and incredibly diverse body of work that really deserves a deep dive.

The only real hurdle is time—specifically, how much of our own schedules we’re willing to carve out to truly wrap our heads around everything they've produced.

Regardless, I have to say, great job putting this together. 👍
Dennis Hall41 Dennis Hall41 Active Member
55 messages
joined Jan 2018
#18 ·
Raymond Walker5, you should totally run a poll on Elton’s early stuff—maybe up through Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

I’m throwing that out there because, honestly, you know his catalog way better than I do (haven't even gotten around to Empty Sky or Caribou yet)—but we're talking about 9 studio albums here, which easily yields at least 50 absolute bangers.
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#19 ·
Yeah, he basically composes entirely in his head, which is such a departure from how most people I know approach music using a piano. Personally, based on my own little experiments with songwriting, sitting down at the keys always feels much more practical and logical to me. I honestly don't know how someone can catch every single note, the specific harmonies, the rhythm, and all those moving parts just by thinking about them. It’s quite something, really...
Raymond Walker5 Raymond Walker5 Active MemberOP
79 messages
joined Jul 2017
#20 ·
Dennis Hall41 said:Raymond Walker5, you should really consider running a poll focused on Elton’s early stuff—maybe everything up through Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

I’m throwing that idea your way because, honestly, you know his catalog much better than I do (I still haven't gotten around to listening to Empty Sky or Caribou, unfortunately). And we're talking about quite a spread here—correct me if I'm wrong—but there are 9 studio albums in that stretch, yielding at least 50 absolutely stellar tracks.

Haha, I could certainly do that! But silverpanther13 already gave plenty of love to Elton's earliest work, and the music from the Songs from the West Coast era onwards—which is just as highly regarded—was completely overlooked. Personally, I'm a huge fan of his entire career; I don't have many complaints, even during those leaner periods.
If I were to put together a poll for his music, I might actually aim for songs that weren't massive hits but truly deserve some spotlight. But... we'll see. It would need to be carefully structured. Though, looking back, if we previously had the chance to dive through almost the entire Nirvana discography in a single poll, I'm certain there are Elton albums that could easily be presented in their entirety.

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