Volume 2 of Film Music of Hans Zimmer on 2 disc CD featuring nearly 2 hours of great film music!
Review:
*The 2007 two-CD set Film Music of Hans Zimmer presented 23 re-recorded
excerpts from 18 scores by the prolific composer who, in his 50th year, had
already worked on over 100 movies while becoming one of the handful of top
Hollywood soundtrack writers. So, it necessarily left some things out, notably
any of the music from The Lion King. Four years later, this second volume, again
credited to the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, presents another 23 cues
from 18 visual works, although this time one of them comes from a television
mini-series, The Pacific. Proceeding in reverse chronological order, the
collection begins with some music from the fourth installment of Pirates of the
Caribbean, subtitled “On Stranger Tides,” and it also includes a healthy
complement from the third and second films in the series. Zimmer remains the
go-to guy for summer blockbusters like those films as well as, for example, the
two Batman titles directed by Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins and The Dark
Knight, as well as Nolan's brainy sci-fi thriller Inception. Zimmer more than
justifies his association with such efforts with his stirring, anthemic music,
which mixes orchestral flourishes with electronic underpinnings. He can be dark
and troubling, too, when called upon, as he is in the cue from The Dark Knight
called “Why So Serious?” The album's second disc is even more varied as it
draws on music available for but not used on the first volume, in particular
that for animated films like Madagascar and The Prince of Egypt. Zimmer is
equally inspired on these efforts and maybe even a bit more zestful, which makes
it notable that the album contains nothing from his recent efforts in this
field, such as Kung Fu Panda, Megamind, and Rango. Maybe next time.8
All Music Guide – William Ruhlmann