THE TOP SIX GREATEST PIECES OF MUSIC TO WORK TO ...ER ...EVER!!!

(GET YOUR HEADPHONES OUT FOR THIS ONE.  YOU'LL NEED THEM!)

And so begins a list that I’ve wanted to do for awhile but never got round to ...Till now.  As everyone knows (or if you don’t know then what the hell are you doing on my blog site!) I have written my first novel, with no small help from Mrs Zoe Lambert here, and am working on my second.  What many people might not know is that I, like George Lucas, write to music.  I find that good music tends to make your soul soar and so when trying to scale the heights of your creative talents there’s probably no better thing to use to try and get you to the top of that mountain.  However, unlike George Lucas the music I listen to tends to be movie music.  It is no coincidence that the first time I heard classical and fell in love with it was the soundtrack to Star Wars and I have fallen hook line and sinker time and time again to movie music that continues to pull me in delight my ears and fire my imagination.

So here for your delight and delectation are the six finest and most inspirational pieces of music I have ever listened to in order to bring my ideas to the page, my words out of the mouths of the characters and drag every piece of description from the keys (I’ve actually got one of the pieces on now.) and I have to say, it’s amazing list, with perhaps the most amazing thing not being who is on the list, but who isn’t!  This list does not feature John Williams (SACRILEGE!) John Barry (IT’S A FIX!) Elmer Bernstein (NO MAGNIFICENT SEVEN?  ARE YOU MAD?) and no Ennio Morricone (HOW CAN “THE MISSION” NOT BE ON THERE?) and believe me no-one is more surprised than me over that, but the composers who are there are all great in their own right and these are the tracks I have listened to the most and I find most theraputic to bring my visions to life.  So, in order, here are my top six greatest pieces of music to work to ...EVER! (I just couldn’t narrow it down to five.)

6. COMPOSER.  JAMES HORNER.

James Horner has a huge list of great movie soundtracks behind him and probably in front of him to, that include Star Trek 2, Star Trek 3, (an almost perfect soundtrack) Sneakers (a perfect soundtrack) and Titanic, which, though not his best work is, ironically, what won him his first Oscar.  The music we are looking at today however is from a film that didn’t even earn him an Oscar nomination but did manage to get my arse to see “BACKDRAFT” due to the music being used in the trailer (Curse you Ron Howard!) but here is where the music is originally from.  James Horner’s speciality has been to create what feel like military motifed rousing themes that seem to drive you at a pace but they also contain quite a grand element that just helps you want to work through sleep, discomfort and even needing to wee and so here is the best James Horner piece to work to, ladies and gentlemen at number 6...  

GLORY - MAIN THEME.

5.  COMPOSER - MARK KNOPFLER

This one of course is no surprise and no doubt has made many a soundtrack list around the world, but I do feel that this one has something else going for it that the others don’t and that is that it seems to encompass everything that the movie is into one perfect element of music, which is probably why it’s so fucking awesome to type to, because, like the film it comes from, it stirs a longing within me to seek out a life that isn’t mine that I feel is in reach, and I guess that’s why it works for so many others as well.  It’s quite an unusual piece in respect of the others on the list as it’s main instruments are the electric guitar and a stonking saxophone element to it that gives it its heart, but let’s face it, you know that already, so let’s just get on with it, ladies and gentlemen at number 5...

LOCAL HERO - MAIN THEME.

4.  COMPOSER - MAURICE JARRE.

Menacing, imposing, inspiring.  That’s what I think every-time I hear this theme.  It shares a lot with local hero in that the music seems to sum up the situation so perfectly that you couldn’t imagine any other theme for the scene and yet unlike Local Hero I’m not taken back to that hot day, instead when I’m bashing those keys I use it to try and turn my characters suffering to triumph, it moves me to keep going for them, creating a sense of ...Obligation that I have to finish their story so they can escape the horrors of their situation.  In terms of a similar sound in the classical world, for me, it’s probably the filmic equivalent or Pachelbel’s Canon and I don’t think Maurice Jarre ever sounded better.  So, ladies and gentlemen, at number 4...

WITNESS - BUILDING THE BARN.

3.  COMPOSER - STEVE JABLONSKY

I hear you all to a man saying the same thing now.  

“Who the fuck is Steve Jablonsky?”

I know this because when I saw his name on the credits of this piece of music I thought exactly the same thing.  But this is one of the best pieces of music I have heard.  In the film itself it is a great moment as it introduces four main characters beautifully with their leader announced in utter perfection at 3 minutes 7 seconds, and is one of those moments that when I get there find that I cannot help but be motivated by.  For me it’s an underrated score overall because the film is regarded so derisively that people tend to deride every part of it, but for today’s young kids this film is their “Star Wars” and we should respect the film for that reason alone.  And so, just missing out on the the second spot, ladies and gentlemen, at number 3...

TRANSFORMERS - ARRIVAL TO EARTH.

2.  COMPOSER - RANDY EDELMAN

Sad, stunning, triumphant, and utterly beautiful, this is one of those movie soundtracks that launched a thousand trailers, most famously, “Forrest Gump”.  It is one of those soundtracks that makes a pretty decent film even better and by God it’s a stormer, starting sad, then building and growing until it grows up into a rapturorous splendour.  It is a soundtrack that soars so gracefully you cannot help but be caught up by it, about a minute and a half in it goes from sadness to musical waves crashing on the shore that you just want to be swept away by.  It is glorious, sumptuous and utterly manipulative piece of music, but I mean that in a good way.  The greatest honour I can bestow this music is to say that if ever my writing was made into a film I would want THIS music in the trailer as its a guaranteed bums-on-seats drawer.  There is no doubt when I hear it that I am listening to one of the greatest pieces of movie music ever created and for that reason alone it deserves its spot here at number 2, narrowly missing out on being the greatest by two pieces of music that together are perfect to work to, so let’s introduce Randy Edelman’s finest work, ladies and gentlemen, at number 2 is...

DRAGON: THE BRUCE LEE STORY - THE DRAGON’S HEARTBEAT.

1.  COMPOSER - THOMAS NEWMAN

Now to be that utterly triumphant piece of music you have got to be good, in fact, forget that, you’ve got to be great ...and this is.  Like I said it’s two pieces of music together but whenever I hear them I could never imagine them apart.  It’s music from what is hailed by many as one of the greatest films ever made and one of the things that makes it that is the soundtrack, nominated for seven Oscars the film didn’t win one and the composer himself has been nominated for ten Oscars and has still yet to win but this is probably his most popular work.  The piece itself is the wrap-up for the film as its main character begins a journey towards peace but not death.  It is a joyful, eloquent piece of music that seems to convey longing, patience, passion, survival and fulfilment in the notes hat bundle together at the end of the film.  It is without doubt the music I have listened to the most after all these years of working and it is the music that to this day inspires me the most to batter these keys like my life depends on it.  And so it is with absolute pleasure and a hell of a lot of enjoyment that I announce that the best ever music to work with is, ladies and gentlemen, at number 1...

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION - SO WAS RED & END TITLES.

And for those people who want to see the fruits of the music don’t forget my first novel “FREE AT LAST: A NOVEL” by Zoe Lambert and Mike Lambert is still available to buy on Amazon: kindle.  Many thanks y'all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUXKiOm0Ps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHthbtSbGLM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H0JDomv8ac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qte_Ne5mpJk

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