The Thin Red Line

The Thin Red Line

Music Composed and Arranged by Hans Zimmer

Score Produced by Hans Zimmer

Orchestrations by Bruce Fowler and Yvonne S. Moriarty

Music Conducted by Gavin Greenaway

Release Date: 1999

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     The Thin Red Line is one of those scores where you just pop it into your CD player, turn the volume down low, and keep it’s soft music just on the edge of your consciousness. Just strings of progressing chords. And in my opinion, this is what makes The Thin Red Line stand out for me. When I’ve become tired of Independence Day, Starship Troopers, and the like, or I just want to have something slow and quiet playing in the background while I work, this a CD I can turn to.

     Not that it is without some slightly annoying pieces. Track 2 (The Lagoon) is very eerie as it starts off with a mournful male voice chanting for a minute or two. Another track consists of a choir singing something in a foreign language, which doesn’t appeal to me all that much. Still, some tracks are just excellent. Journey to the Line stands out among all of them. It starts out slowly and softly and then builds and builds until the end. It is by far the best track on the whole CD. This is also the only CD besides the Goldsmith Star Trek scores in my collection that makes use of the "blaster beam" instrument (called the "cosmic beam" in the linear notes). It will be instantly recognizable to anyone who knows what it is in track 5 (appropriately titled "Beam"). Though the CD is pretty long for only having 11 tracks, the very nature of the music keeps this from being a problem.

     If you’ve decided you need to look for something different from all that "orchestra-crashing" I can’t recommend this one enough. An enjoyable listen in its own unique way. ****1/2

Track Listing

1 - The Coral Atoll (8:00)

2 - The Lagoon (8:36)

3 - Journey to the Line (9:21)

4 - Light (7:19)

5 - Beam (3:44)

6 - Air (2:21)

7 - Stone In My Heart (4:28)

8 - The Village (5:52)

9 - Silence (5:06)

10 - God U Tekem Laef Blong Mi (1:58)

11 - Sit Back and Relax (2:06)

Total Running Time: 58:49