Thread: Danny Elfman Vs John Williams

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Who do you personally think is a better composer? Danny Elman or John Williams? Elfman has created beautiful masterpieces such as Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare before Christmas, Beetlejuice, and lets not forget Tales from the Crypt. John williams on the other hand has done Jaws, Jurassic Park and Harry Potter. Elfman is completely self taught & was also the front man in Oingo Boingo, however, John Williams has been in the game much longer and conducts his own music. Who will it be folks? Let the voting begin!

I guess I would lean more towards Elfman, because his stuff is just so fun, but still has that nice underlying touch of darkness.

Plus I could waste away hours playing the tales from the crypt theme.

No vote. They are incomparable. Very distinctly different styles. I generally prefer to listen to Danny Elfman's work, but I tend to find myself humming Williams' pieces at random.

I gotta go with John Williams. I like a lot of Elfman's work, but sadly most of it is just variations on a central theme. The tempo is the same on a lot of his work, arrangements are the same, and it seems the only change is notes. Williams's work is much richer and more diverse from a music perspective.

It all depends on what you mean by "better composer." In terms of cultural influence, Williams, hands down. His work is iconic and transcends the medium of film (one word: Jaws, two words: Star Wars, two letters E.T.). In terms of the haunted world (in a darkly whimsical sense), Elfman gets the nod. For me personally, I enjoy both immensely (although I fear their best work is in the past....)

Jaws is an excellent example of why I like Williams. 99% of people think of dum-dum-dum-dum when they hear John Willams and Jaws mentioned, but they've never bothered to listen to the other tracks on the soundtrack such as the sea chantyish Man Against Boat, the flowing The Great Shark Chase, or the wonderful end title music. No, all they think about is dum, dum, dum, dum.

When you look at the range of work Williams has done, from the theme to Lost in Space to Midway, Black Sunday, Superman, the Indiana Jones movies, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, the Sunday Night Football theme... there's just no comparison of that range and scope of music with Elfman.

I think the only "movie" composer who you can equate with Williams would be Elmer Bernstein. I would put Elfman in the same category as Jerry Goldsmith. Both great composers, but you know in an instant when you're hearing one of their pieces because they all have similar traits.

Interesting to compare but I cant live without either. Nightmare before Christmas is one of my favorite movies but when I am looking for a good soundrack to put on it is Jurassic Park.
They are both great!

I like both of their work for sure, and I cannot say one is better than the other. They are totally different. But I like john williams better, he has done some of the worlds biggest movies and those tunes are a part of my very life. Although the same can be said of elfman also. Williams has the edge for me personally.

This is like comparing AC/DC to James Taylor. Both make terrific music, but completely different styles / genres. I like Elfman's music because it always sounds just a bit twisted. And I like Williams, too ... if the end of the theme to E.T. doesn't give you goosebumps, nothing will. I will say that Williams music has played a larger part in my own life ... Star Wars, Raiders, E.T., Schindler's List, even Harry Potter.

Elfman is significantlyt more original -- Williams takes very strong influence from a lot of composers. Certainly, Williams wins on dramatic effect, though.
Even though I would rather listen to an album of Williams' music, I'd have to say Elfman is a better composer because it doesn't sound like he re-wrote someone else's stuff.