As a big JRB fan, I will enter your "fun debate" with a contrary view. SFANW is probably my least favorite JRB score. While I agree that it contains some great songs (e.g., "I'm Not Afraid of Anything"), I find much of it to be melodramatic and overwrought (e.g., "Flying Home"). It's great to hear the new synthesizer-free orchestrations, though sometimes the added musical forces intensify the tendency of the songs to be bombastic.
SFANW was a showcase for a very promising but immature songwriter with wide-ranging talents. By the time of his next score for Parade, I think JRB was writing more subtle songs that are filled with subtext, making them more satisfying for me. |
