I raced to the cinema to buy my ticket to see the long awaited "Pearl Harbor", barely unable to contain my excitement, not about seeing the new blockbuster film, but hearing the new Hans Zimmer score. And it was unmistakably Hans Zimmer, those agonizing appoggiaturas and suspensions, those heavy strings, but to my surprise, a piece of practically flawless, symmetrical musical form. Feeling a little disappointed after the expectation of a work of Mahlerian complexity, I bought the soundtrack recording, and offered the score a second chance to prove itself to me.
One might be forgiven for thinking Hans Zimmer had been transformed from a genius of classical musicianship to a composer of well-orchestrated popular music. Indeed the opening song "There You'll Be" is a traditional movie song, and is beautifully arranged and orchestrated. The remainder of the score lacks development however; the pieces are practically pop songs for orchestra, and show none of the complexity and craftsmanship I had come to expect following such masterpieces as the score to "The Muppet Treasure Island".
Still, these pieces are beautiful and should no-doubt entertain and bring a tear to the eye, although little more work might have brought a few more tears.
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How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Unmemorable
How does it rate alongside the competition
Not applicable
Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Good
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World War II epic should sound like. Zimmer previously explored the American Pacific war in The Thin Red Line (1998), though this time he takes a more commercial dir...
Pearl Harbor Soundtrack -
Hans Zimmer's lush and romanticPearl Harboralbum inverts every expectation of what a World
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War II epic should sound like. Zimmer previously explored the American Pacific war inThe Thin Red Line(1998), though this time he takes a more commercial directi...
