More Music from Gladiator

Decca Records

Music Composed and Arranged by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard

Orchestrated by Bruce Fowler, Yvonne S. Moriarty, Walt Fowler, Ladd McIntosh, Elizabeth Finch, and Jack Smalley

Conducted by Gavin Greenaway

Produced by Ridley Scott, Pietro Scalia, Hans Zimmer, Klaus Badelt, and Alan Meyerson

Release Date: 2001

     I don't think anyone truly recognized what an impact Ridley Scott's Gladiator would have on movie-going audiences around the world. Now, with the Academy Awards looming in the not-to-distant future, it looks like the film could walk away with a nice horde of Oscars. 

     Looking to cash in on the success of the film, Decca Records has released a companion album for the original soundtrack release. This is in no way similar to Sony Classical's move on the score to The Phantom Menace, as the original release of Hans Zimmer's score was quite complete. There are only a handful of tracks on this CD that make up the remainder of the unreleased cues from the film, and most of them are rather inconsequential. Instead, the bulk of music consists of alternate and unused cues. This is quite an interesting move on Decca's part because this disc seems more like a "special feature" audio CD that tracks the development of the score as opposed to an expanded album such as Back to Titanic or More Music from Braveheart. 

     As with Decca's release of Hans Zimmer's subsequent score for a Ridley Scott film, Hannibal, there are quotes sprinkled throughout the disc. While the selected dialog is some of the best from the film, and I found that it worked rather well in the context of album, I know that there are those out there who will find this infuriating. While none of the unreleased cues are affected (the dialog pieces only appear on the alternate cue tracks), I'm sure this is only a small consolation for those who absolutely hate the idea.

     The music is all pretty good, and a lot of the dudak (an ancient Armenian instrument) material that wasn't incorporated in the final score is here. The alternate mixes of the end title "song" are pretty interesting, but probably the most remarkable track on the whole album is The Gladiator Waltz. This was Hans Zimmer's original synth demo for the opening battle sequence. It is really quite stunning that his synth work closely resembles the final product in sound. I had no idea that a synthesizer could be capable of what it sounds like here. Even the brass sections (which is often something that gives away the electronic origin of the music) sound great. The track also has a lot of musical ideas that were cut down or tweaked before the final "live" version was recorded. For those interested in the technical aspects of the score, this is a great track.   

     The linear notes are very informative with a  track-by-track analysis from Zimmer himself. This release really seems to be aimed at those interested in learning how the process really plays itself out, and towards this end it succeeds quite well. Otherwise, unless you just want as much stuff that Zimmer wrote for this film as you can get your hands on, you might just want to stick with the original release. ***

Track Listing

1 - Duduk of the North (5:35)

2 - Now We Are Free (Juba's Mix) (4:39)

3 - The Protector of Rome (1:28)

4 - Homecoming (3:38)

5 - The General Who Became a Slave (3:05)

6 - The Slave Who Became a Gladiator (6:14)

7 - Secrets (2:01)

8 - Rome is the Light (2:46)

9 - All That Remains (0:57)

10 - Maximus (1:11)

11 - Marrakesh Marketplace (0:44)

12 - The Gladiator Waltz (8:27)

13 - Figurines (1:04)

14 - The Mob (2:25)

15 - Busy Little Bee (3:50)

16 - Death Smiles At Us All (2:32)

17 - Not Yet (1:33)

18 - Now We Are Free (Maximus Mix) (3:49)

Total Running Time: 55:28