|
Alan Silvestri's name was originally attached to the first Pirates of
the Caribbean film, and it's a shame that circumstances conspired to
deprive us of a rousing pirate score. The last pirate movie of any note was
the dreadful Cutthroat Island, which resulted in a John Debney
score that is still dear to listeners' hearts, even though the film
itself is often found in the $5 DVD bargain bin. Klaus Badelt is a
composer with whom I've not overly impressed, and yet his score for the
first PoTC film was interesting in places. With the sequel, I was
interested to see if the producers would stay with Bedelt or go with
someone who could afford the kind of sound many fans would like to hear. With the selection
of Hans Zimmer, it seems as if the safe route has been chosen, and yet
one that does offer some improvement over the original.
The style of Badelt's score was squarely in the Media
Ventures territory. Having this style blended with the genre was really
off-putting at first (especially with the refrains of Cutthroat
Island still ringing in one's ears), but it managed to blend in
within the film. With Hans Zimmer in the captain's chair, he keeps the
same foundation that Badelt started while pulling in more of what we
expect from "pirate" music. The score is still Celtic in nature,
an odd choice, but one that we are apparently stuck with. The
digitally-expanded orchestra is still alive and well here, though Zimmer
does provide us with a some breaks from the incredibly over-the-top
action cues (a problem which cursed the first album).
The most notable additions the themes for Davy Jones
and his Kraken. The Kraken theme is easily the most pleasing as Zimmer
uses a very low organ to provide the feeling of a stalking predator during the
opening of "The Kraken". The organ is also used to great
success in the theme for Davy Jones who gets a tragically
romantic theme that is pumped up with the organ (and the
electronically-altered orchestra in places). The introduction
track (appropriately titled "Davy Jones") is book ended with a
"music box" rendition of the theme. It is a really nice touch and
manages to incorporate the aspects of the character in the musical
blend. Zimmer also pulls in different choral moments for Dead Man's
Chest. Whether it be the stylistic wailings of a lone voice for
"Dinner is Served", the ghostly wailings of a heavily processed voice
for "Tia Dalma" or the more usual fare in "Hello Beastie", it is a great
addition to the score and one that gives it more weight than its
predecessor.
But outside of those specific additions, the score
tends to bog down when not referencing either one of the two new themes,
or moments from the original. Zimmer gets atmospheric at times and the
"Hello Beastie" track has a sagging middle that doesn't improve until
the great payoff at the end. It's nice that the score is not
wall-to-wall sound like what the first album was plagued with, but it
doesn't mean that the quieter moments should lack any of the
character that the louder pieces contain. It's also worth noting that
while Zimmer does start to turn the music in a good direction, it is a
very slow, wide turn. It's not so departed from the original and there
is still a refusal here to pay any direct musical homage to the park ride. The closest we come to anything authentic sounding at all is
"Two Hornpipes (Tortuga)" and even then its stuck in the middle of
the album and sounds completely out of place. Even worse if the
god-awful "He's a Pirate - Tiësto Remix" track. The less said of that,
the better as I'll just get angry talking about it. Just a note to
future soundtrack album producers: as a rule of thumb, remix tracks=BAD.
Ultimately, if you could appreciate the Badelt original, you'll find
more to love here. It can be disappointing at times, but Dead Man's
Chest is a more complex score l (not that it means much), and one that
has enough variety to make a purchase worth it for those who own and
enjoy Curse of the Black Pearl. Really, we should be expecting
more from such an entertaining franchise, but we have to make due with
what we got.
Reviewed on August 22,
2006 |
|
See Also
|
