It is hard to imagine a better “director – composer” duo than Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. I think in future I will write about all Danny’s soundtracks. But this one is definitely the best and needs to be mentioned first.
They both say that they don’t even need to discuss the sound, Elfman always gets the vibe. Nightmare is a real rock opera, stylistically and lyrically between Halloween and Christmas and musically just genius. The movie is about magic holiday towns and the main idea is “people” from Halloween Town discovering the Christmas Town and organizing their own Christmas. So the music is an incredible mix of positive melodies and gloomy parts.
Elfman (who is from Russian descent) takes a lot of inspiration from old works of Russian classical composers. Also he is guy who totally understands the vibe of goth culture. By the way he sings one of the main roles (Jack Skellington) in this masterpiece filled with orchestral overtures, choral Halloween songs and even jazzy parts. Not forgetting the lyrics… a true masterpiece, recently re-released. So if bands like Marilyn Manson, Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco cite Danny Elfman as one of their major influences you should check it out, maybe it will inspire you as well.
