Now is a good time to ask this question. It would also be interesting if we list our top 5 over here. My top 5 is:

1. Signs
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Unbreakable
4. The Village
5. Lady in the Water

For me Signs is an absolute and obvious masterpiece. I found it hard to choose between The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but The Sixth Sense is maybe now a tiny bit better for me. It has really grown on me and I think it's highly underrated. I have the complete score and the atmosphere, mystery, emotion and subtlety of the score are astonishing. The Village and Lady in the Water are good scores, but unfortunately a small decrease in quality compared to the others. I miss the mystery and the deep emotion of his previous Shyamalan scores.

Signs of course. It's relaxing, suspenseful and dramatic. What more do you need?

For me it's only one score. These five scores are only one. It begins with The Sixth Sense and end with Lady in the Water, like a story. Masterpiece from start to finish.

Uh.. I must get a copy of Signs then, if you say it's THAT good!

I voted The Village! It's so beautiful! Especially 'The Graval Road' and 'The Vote' .. I can't get enough of it! Seriously!

At the moment I'm hearing Lady In The Water (not through it all yet) which actually seems just as amazing! :yahoo:

James Newton Howard is definetly my favourite composer! :proud:
I'm freakin addicted! :music:
To some extent I feel like saying.. Hans Zimmer, go home!

btw.. Hi, I'm danish and I'm a rookie here! Greetings to all of you! :)

Yep, I agree with Lee. Masterpiece they are, from start to finish. 'The Village' stands first on my list though. The beautifull Violin works of Hilary Hahn are absolutely stunning.

I'm a new user - be nice.

Night's films are all favorites of mine and look forward to each new release. As to best score, it depends. Sometimes the film makes the music better, sometimes it's the other way.

favorite films: Sixth Sense, Village, Lady, Signs, Unbreakable.

favorite scores: Lady, Village, Signs, Sixth Sense, Unbreakable.

overall: Village is my favorite (today).

I mostly listen to soundtracks as a seperate but related part of the film, but not as a surrogate for the film itself.

Has anyone else noticed that Howard's music seems to be getting stronger in each new Shyamalan film? Is Night just trusting James more? It just seems that there is more and more room for the music to make a statement. Or are the films kind of not as good so the music HAS to help more? I don't know.

I really did like the Lady in the Water score a lot (except for the dumb song in the end credits - kind of like Bob Dylan on holy water or something).

You are very welcome, anasazi.

Personally I don't think James' scores for Shyamalan's films are becoming stronger and stronger. They are of a consistent high level, but I think it all culminated in Signs. I don't think anything in Lady in the Water or The Village can reach the intensity of The Hand of Fate tracks of Signs for instance. But that is my personal opinion.

I do think his Shyamalan scores are becoming more classical. I suspect a lot of people are attracted to The Village not so much because of the compositional qualities but more because of the solo violin and the more classical atmosphere of the score. It's a matter of taste.

And of course every film is different and needs a different approach. So it's not entirely possible and fair to compare them. It also depends on the films. For instance a score like The Village would not work in Unbreakable and vice versa. But starting with Unbreakable, Shyamalan is already involving James in the pre-production phase. He does that so that James can already start writing music and get inspiration from the true primal meaning how Shyamalan first wrote it in the script.

"Signs", but you'll have to create a new poll after the next two films. ;)

Signs than Village..the rest are great but can follow...

The Village is definitely a beautiful and peaceful score , one of James's most accomplished work I think even if there is only one theme.

But I also have to say that Signs is THE new JNH sound. Really powerful and thematically excellent. All tracks are interesting. Listening to JNH since my youngest age, I have listened to his evolution and I can sure tell in my opinion that Sign has opened a new era/style for JNH.

But what I found good it's that he still has his good old JNH touch in his scores yet. He didn't forgot his old style which makes him the best and he mixes it with his new style.

I love this composer and his music. This maestro is simply awesome :o)