With the recent success of both Gladiator
and Hannibal, and the buzz that
surrounded Pearl Harbor until it actually came out, Hans Zimmer has
found himself thrust into the public spotlight. Taking notice of this,
Decca has released this interesting album that is a recording of a concert
of Zimmer's work that took place at the Flanders International Film
Festival in October of 2000. While some may view this as just another
compilation that is polluting store shelves around the world, this is
actually quite a nice little package that Zimmer fans might find very
enjoyable.
Most Zimmer fans are aware
that a lot of digital tweaking is done to his scores before they are
finalized, so it is very interesting listen to these selections as they
are performed live. I generally found that there was little difference,
and either the digital tweaking is just done to enhance the sound, or
Media Ventures is home to some very advanced synth equipment (which is
probably the case if you take into account the synth demo from
More Music from Gladiator).
The sound quality is excellent and the performances by both the orchestra
and the vocalists, especially Lisa Gerrard, are top notch.
As to be expected, the CD
begins with the performances of two cues from
Gladiator. The end title track is a must have, of course, but I
would have preferred something different than Am I Not Merciful. I
would have really liked to hear the opening battle cue, but that would
have probably clashed with the overall tone of the concert. Thankfully,
Zimmer picked the absolute best cue from The
Thin Red Line, and I feel that its appearance here is better than
on the original soundtrack recording, though just by a bit.
The Nyah and Ethan
track from Mission: Impossible 2 is also the
best cue from that score as well, but I was disappointed with its
performance on this album. Heitor Pereira is more than capable on the
acoustic guitar, but I wish the piece played a little faster than it is.
The original recording's tempo was much better, and I do miss those
dancing effects. It does get a stronger orchestral background though and
that makes up for most of my disappointments since the string work is
quite good.
The Lion King tracks
I found to be a little bland. I haven't listened to the score yet, so I'm
not sure if Zimmer picked the best cues he could have or what, but I found
these two to be the weakest on the CD.
Overall I was quite pleased
with this CD and I'm sure Zimmer fans will be too. It stands out from
being just another compilation since it is a concert recording and
thus has a bit more cohesion that a simple "Best-of" album. The terrific
performances and nice range of material presented makes this a good buy
for those who have loved Zimmer's work in film. ****
