The film music of 2018.

Yep, this has been quite a year, for new and old music. Shall we...

My favorite scores of 2018:

(Christophe Beck - Hollywood)
Beck's follow-up to one of his best has a surprisingly epic feel to it.
Favorite tracks: "It Ain't Over Till the Wasp Lady Stings", "Utmost Ghost", "Ghost = Toast"

(Terence Blanchard - Back Lot)

Appropriately stirring music for the Spike Lee drama; one of Blanchard's finest.

Favorite tracks: "Gone with the Wind", "Firing Range", "Blut Und Boden (Blood and Soil)"

(Ludwig Goransson - Hollywood)

Goransson combines African sounds with orchestra for, perhaps, the best Marvel score yet.

Favorite tracks: "Wakanda", "Wake Up, T'Challa", "Spaceship Bugatti"

(Bear McCreary - Sparks and Shadows)

McCreary swings for the fences with his thundering score for the sci-fi thriller.

Favorite tracks: "Ava and Michael", "A Message for Ava", "The Cloverfield Paradox"

(Christopher Willis - MKVA)

Masterful, Russian-flavored music for the dry satire highlighted by a terrific main theme.

Favorite tracks: "Moscow, 1953", "Removal Men", "A Comedy of Terrors"

(James Newton Howard - WaterTower)

Howard's sequel score is spellbinding and exciting.

Favorite tracks: "The Kelpie", "Nagini", "Irma and the Obscurus"

(Michael Giacchino - Back Lot)

Creepy and mythical music for the thrill-ride sequel, especially the haunting 'Fallen Kingdom' theme.

Favorite tracks: "Nostalgia-saurus", "Raiders of the Lost Isla Nublar", "At Jurassic World's End Credits Suite"

(Mark McKenzie - Sony Masterworks)

The ever-underrated McKenzie provided an exceptionally moving score for the animated feature.

Favorite tracks: "You Could Be Anything", "Dapper Duds", "Auschwitz Cries"

(Alan Silvestri - WaterTower)

Silvestri's rousing score is a fun throwback to the era celebrated in the movie.

Favorite tracks: "The Oasis", "'Arty' on the Inside", "Looking for a Truck"

(John Powell - Walt Disney)

Powell proves himself a grand fit into the Star Wars universe, his distinct style meshing well with a rousing Williams theme.

Favorite tracks: "The Adventures of Han", "Lando's Closet", "Savareen Stand-Off"

(Nicholas Britell - Decca)

Britell's nicely sardonic music was one of the uneven biopic's strongest elements.

Favorite tracks: "The Lineman in E-Flat Minor", "Dick's Heart is Healthier Than Ever", "Conclusion - The Transplant"

(Alan Silvestri - Back Lot/Intrada)

One can only imagine the drugs Robert Zemeckis was on when he made this movie, but if the wonderfully varied music is anything to go by, Silvestri (wisely) turned them down.

Favorite tracks: "Welcome to Marwen", "Deja Spills Some Milk", "Hogie vs. Meyer, Part 2"

Runners-up:

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Carter Burwell), Bumblebee (Dario Marianelli), Colette (Thomas Ades), Creed II (Ludwig Goransson), The Girl in the Spider's Web (Roque Banos), The House with a Clock in its Walls (Nathan Barr), The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Roque Banos), Mary, Queen of Scots (Max Richter), The Miracle Season (Roque Banos), Operation: Finale (Alexandre Desplat), Red Sparrow (James Newton Howard), A Simple Favor (Theodore Shapiro) and Vox Lux (Scott Walker)

My favorite albums of 2018:

Amarcord (Nino Rota - Quartet) - Rota's engagingly playful score does a sterling job unifying the film's many disparate threads.

Another Stakeout (Arthur B. Rubinstein - Intrada) - Rubinstein's rollicking score made for a far stronger mix of buddy comedy and straight thriller than the film itself managed.

The Bride Wore Black (Bernard Herrmann - Quartet) - Though the Herrmann/Hitchcock partnership was dissolved by this point, the composer hadn't lost his touch for scoring twisty thrillers, as evidenced by this re-recording of his score for the Truffaut thriller.

Colossus: the Forbin Project (Michel Colombier - La La Land) - Colombier gave the supercomputer thriller a delightfully eccentric score. Seriously, with music like this, it is truly unconscionable that his talents were thrown away on the likes of Folks! and The Golden Child.

Dracula (John Williams - Varese Club) - Both Dracula scores (and releases) from last year were marvelous, but I have to give the (slight) edge to this lush effort from Williams, with its lovely main theme and a nicely quirky motif for Olivier's Van Helsing.

The Mummy (Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada) - One of Goldsmith's best late period scores - for the immensely entertaining adventure - is rich in exotic flavor and excitement.

The Mummy Returns (Alan Silvestri - Intrada) - An unashamedly over-the-top sequel deserves unashamedly over-the-top music and Silvestri delivered with gusto and several memorable themes.

Murder by Death (Dave Grusin - Varese Club) - The all-star mystery spoof featured a delightful score from Grusin, thankfully rescued from obscurity.

On Deadly Ground (Basil Poledouris - Varese Club) - This environmental actioner showed Steven Seagal going mad with power, though he had the foresight to have Poledouris' music supporting him.

The Sandlot (David Newman - La La Land) - Newman provided some wonderfully eclectic music for the nostalgic kids' comedy.

Small Soldiers (Jerry Goldsmith - Varese Club) - A return to Gremlins territory for Joe Dante yielded a much bigger (and more emotional) score from Goldsmith.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Alan Silvestri - Intrada) - A savvy mix of exciting action, mournful blues and Stalling-esque wackiness; one of Silvestri's masterpieces.

Other amazing releases:

Airport '77/The Concorde: Airport '79 (John Cacavas/Lalo Schifrin - La La Land)
Alien 3 (Elliot Goldenthal - La La Land)
Baby...Secret of the Lost Legend (Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada)
*batteries not included (James Horner - Intrada)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Wojciech Kilar - La La Land)
Firewalker (Gary Chang - Varese Sarabande)
Grizzly (Robert O. Ragland - Dragon's Domain)
Heathers (David Newman - Varese Club)
The Man with One Red Shoe (Thomas Newman - La La Land)
Mickey, Donald and Goofy - the Three Musketeers (Bruce Broughton - Intrada)
Nate and Hayes (Trevor Jones - Intrada)
No Way Out (Maurice Jarre - Notefornote)
Prehysteria! (Richard Band - Intrada)
Q - the Winged Serpent (Robert O. Ragland - Kronos)
Remote (Richard Band - Intrada)
The Return of Swamp Thing - Chuck Cirino - Dragon's Domain)
The Silence of the Lambs (Howard Shore - Quartet)
The Valley of Gwangi (Jerome Moross - Intrada)
WarGames (Arthur B. Rubinstein - Quartet)
The World is Not Enough (David Arnold - La La Land)