When I saw the film I was blown away by the music in the opening sequence. It really worked and was unlike anything I would have expected from Batman. That one note that portrays the Joker worked brilliantly in the film. However, I think you've got to be a real Hans Zimmer fan in order to appreciate and enjoy it on the soundtrack. But not all the soundtrack is like that and some of it is very emotional. I have to say that since I have bought this soundtrack and after loading it onto my iPod, it has not left the CD player in my car. This is my new favourite soundtrack and therefore I'm going to give it a track by track review.
Whilst "Why So Serious?" might not be the most enjoyable track to listen to it definitely does make you feel a bit uneasy. Especially when you hear that note. Here's a little extra information for you, if you didn't know it already, Hans Zimmer spent about six months trying to get the Jokers theme to be one note long. He spent most of those months trying to find the right sound for that note. And the end result works amazingly. Unfortunately it doesn't work quite as well on the soundtrack which is why on the soundtrack I much prefer the Batman themes, which are more than one note long.
"I'm Not A Hero" is one of those cues that has a lot of the Batman themes in it and it really does sound great. Unfortunately I found that the cue tended to change a bit abruptly at some points or felt like a couple of the variations of the Batman themes could have lasted a bit longer and been expanded upon. I think the reason for this though is so that the music matches the picture. The best bit from the cue is at the 6:00 mark. It just sounds out of this world. But sadly it lasts less than 30 seconds.
So after the Joker's theme we get Batman's theme and next we get the theme of Harvey Dent/Two-Face. This one was composed by James Newton Howard where as the Joker's theme was composed by Hans Zimmer. I'm not sure who is behind "I'm Not A Hero" but I would guess mostly Hans Zimmer because it sounds like his kind of thing.
Whilst on Batman Begins the two composers work very much together on a lot of the music, for this film Hans took on the Joker and James took on Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Considering they were in separate buildings whilst working on their themes, the themes really do fit into the Batman world, almost as if one composer had written them.
If you look at the characters of the Joker and Harvey Dent/Two-Face you can tell straight away that James' music is going to be more elegant and beautiful. Although saying that, because Harvey Dent does become a villain in the end James does do a great evil section to the track "Harvey Two-Face" with the elegant and beauty at either side of this evil section. The evil section is played mostly on brass and whilst we might not be used to brass in Batman it really does work.
"Aggressive Expansion" is the next track. The opening of this track is one of the Batman themes and is so so good. Sadly the rest of the track isn't quite so good as it slows down and moves away from the action start. It's not bad, but I think that the beginning is just so good that you just want more of it and are disappointed when you don't get more.
Back to the Joker now with "Always A Catch". Most of this track is just a rise with a few big hits and one big low note to finish the rise before we go into a quite Batman section.
"Blood On My Hands" brings back in the theme of Harvey Dent and is really just an expanded part of the first section of the track "Harvey Two-Face". Some how for me it doesn't work as well without the evil section though.
"A Little Push" doesn't really use any of the main character themes and instead is a track that seems to build up fear in the listener. At least that is what I felt. I would probably say that it is a cue written for Harvey Dent because of the use of brass, but I could be wrong.
After an absence of Batman themes for a couple of tracks you need not fear anymore. "Like A Dog Chasing Cars" brings back our hero with a great new expansion of one of the Batman themes written for Batman Begins. This one actually features a real melody unlike many of the other Batman cues. This track also features some great Joker music towards the end that is much more enjoyable to listen to then "Why So Serious?" Perhaps because it is shorter though.
With a track name like "I Am The Batman" you would expect epic drums and Batman themes. Instead though we get quite a minimal sound that isn't a great listen.
But all is not lost for long. "And I Thought My Jokes Were Bad" redeems much of the expectations had for the previous track. But with the title it has this track would not be complete with out the Joker's theme.
"Agent Of Chaos" brings some beauty to the score with a small amount of piano that brings back the theme from the Batman Begins track "Corynorhinus". However, it mixes it in with some Batman drums and quickly moving strings as well as a bit of the Joker's note around the middle. But by the end those drums and quick strings are replaced by slow strings and piano.
But I prefer the faster and more epic Batman cues which is why I really love "Introduce A Little Anarchy". For me this track is in competition with "I'm Not A Hero" for my most favourite track as it contains a lot of the themes from "I'm Not A Hero" but in a more expanded form. The only thing that stops it from easily beating "I'm Not A Hero" is the part at the 6:00 mark in "I'm Not A Hero". Otherwise it would definitely be the best track on the soundtrack.
"Watch The World Burn" is another slow track which takes a while to really build up the emotion. But when it does, it does it well.
However, "A Dark Knight" does it better. At 16:15 this is the longest track on the soundtrack. It is a slow piece that creates emotion in a much more successful way than "Watch The World Burn". Granted it has longer to do so, but that is not what it does with the 16 minutes it has. The emotion is there right from the start of the track to the end, where there is a big powerful and emotional build up with drums slowly pounding away before all is gone and we are left with that one note. The Joker's note.
This soundtrack is my favourite of the year so far and if you listen to it from start to finish you experience an amazing journey with incredible ups and downs. From the powerful ups of "I'm Not A Hero" and "Introduces A Little Anarchy" to the emotional downs of "Harvey Two-Face" and "A Dark Knight". This really is a great soundtrack.
No comments:
Post a Comment