Music Chart RP Style - w/c 1 Feb 2021

For weeks and weeks and weeks now I've been saying that Hans Zimmer is the Maestro. Ever since I saw The Lion King for the first time, ever since I saw Pirates of the Caribbean and Gladiator for the first time, I knew he was my favourite soundtrack composer.

He is so talented. And if you watch this YouTube clip here of him introducing his Masterclass, you'll see that he sees a story on a blank page, where millions of other people will just see a blank page. From the epic strings of the Gladiator Battle Waltz to the 'discombobulated' pizzicato of the Sherlock Holmes theme, Hans Zimmer has done over 150 film soundtracks, all unique in their own ways, all with different emphasis on different instruments. All with different stories to tell.

Aw man, I wish I could watch him working, or know how his head works. He is just pure talent, and to get the chance to work with him for just a day... I would sell my own soul to do that. I really would.

Hans Zimmer is the man that made me fall in love with film soundtracks. He is the man that is essentially the reason why I love film so much, because a HUGE part of a film is its soundtrack. In my opinion, if a soundtrack doesn't work, the film doesn't, and it's a huge turn off for me to have an unsynchronised soundtrack. Without a soundtrack, your film is bland and senseless... it's silent and awkward. The soundtrack tells the story when words can't... and Hans Zimmer gets that right. Every. Single. Time.

And for that reason, we have a bumper edition this week. This time we have 20, because I can't just choose 10 Hans Zimmer tracks, I really can't. There are so many films to choose from, and even though there are so many, it's impossible to find a fault with any of them. They're different, each theme different, each lead instrument is different... And it's as he says: you start with a blank piece of paper, and you tell a story.

Take it away, Hans...

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5uvGPB5HsOhdICfOxGVqDZ?si=pqaYuwOrRbq4zOIhnRuQrQ

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NUMBER 20.

Woad to Ruin - King Arthur

At over 11 minutes it’s quite long... but I like this track because it has a little bit of everything in it. If you listen to the tracks individually, you'll hear every part of this one. You hear what I like to call the Knight Motif - strings from the prologue, accompanied by the low tenor choirs - followed by the building timpani. You then move to a more fast-paced horn accompanied by faster drums, as the knights grow up. You hear the love song, followed by the fast-paced building of the Saxons come through, getting faster and faster, building as the tension grows. But my favourite bit is the end. After a few seconds of silence, the Knight Motif comes through again. That bit always reminds me of the final quote from the film, as the three fallen knights' horses gallop across green hills: "And as for the knights who gave their lives, their deaths were cause for neither mourning nor sadness. For they will live forever, their names and deeds handed down from father to son, mother to daughter, in the legends of King Arthur and his knights."

NUMBER 19.

Homeland - Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

After listening to Spirit's soundtrack a couple of weeks ago in Rob's playlist, I had to bring it back. The strings in this are utterly beautiful as the film makes it way through epic scenery of the untouched American Wild West. Over waterfalls, crossing buffalo the grass, you get an up-close image of Spirit's Homeland, and what he later fights to protect. The music builds as you meet his herd, with the music softly finishing as it fades to 'Here I Am' as Spirit is born. As the horses can't speak - Matt Damon is purely a narrator - the music really does tell the story here. The Homeland suite is heard again, very briefly near the end, when Spirit realises where the humans are going... and he can’t let them reach his homeland.

NUMBER 18.

The Battle - Gladiator

"At my signal, unleash hell." People always say 'I can hear a bit of the Pirates of the Caribbean in this', well actually guys, Gladiator came first... so I think you can hear a bit of Gladiator in Pirates of the Caribbean. It's another long track, at just over 10 minutes, but the length of tracks - especially for long battle scenes like this, are important, because it's telling you the story of the battle without having such a disjointed track. You've got the pride at the beginning, the decisiveness. This then quietens down as the speeches are made, followed by the signal, and as the music starts to build, at 5m52s it leads you into the charge, which is the main pride of the piece... Let's be honest, if the charge doesn't work, then the Romans have had it, so naturally, the soundtrack version of it has got to work, too. And it really does. It really, reeeeeally does.

NUMBER 17.

A Watchful Guardian - The Dark Knight

Sorry (not sorry) about another long one. This one isn't technically on the original film score soundtrack, but on the special edition disk, but seeing as I've already used my favourite one (Aggressive Expansion) this one is definitely a very close second. And you have the two signature Batman horns with the first 10 seconds of the track... the ones that Hans Zimmer was referring to in the YouTube link... So good. Again, same as Woad is Ruin, due to this mostly being a credits track, it's all the best bits in it. But my favourite bit comes at 4 minutes dead, with the start of the drums complementing those French horns again. Aw man, goosebumps. I can't not drum along with that. This is, of course, then followed by the proper Batman Begins theme at 4m28s, which is usually when he appears in one of his gadgets... I told you this track has everything.

NUMBER 16.

Discombobulate - Sherlock Holmes

I think i like this one because its so unusual compared to Hans Zimmer’s normal stuff. And the wonderfully wacky use of the violins suits the wonderfully wacky personality of Mr Holmes very well. It starts off slow but then speeds right up... throwing us into this new world of Sherlock Holmes. I haven’t seen this film in a while, but I was actually relatively impressed by both Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as the Holmes-Watson duo. Fresh off the Iron Man boat, 2008-2009 was the start of a beautiful few years for Downey Jr, what with him exploding back onto screens after his run-ins with drugs and alcohol abuse, and even if Benedict Cumberbatch later blew him out of the water as BBC’s Sherlock, I still very much enjoyed this film, and it’s sequel. Guy Ritchie is a Sherlock-directing genius, and Hans Zimmer has got the character of Sherlock Holmes down to a T.

NUMBER 15.

The Crown Main Title - The Crown

Now I am going to throw a controversial statement into the mix here and say I’m not really a huge fan of the series. I understand why it’s so huge, and I’m sure once I properly get stuck in and watch all episodes consecutively, my mind will be swayed... but for now, I prefer to focus on other shows or other films. But one thing I do love about the show is it’s opening title, both the music and the graphics. When I was watching the first episode, I loved it, but I genuinely hadn’t realised it was Hans Zimmer until just the other day. But when I saw it was him, I thought to myself that maybe that’s why I like the music so much? Probably... but it just goes to show how important a Main Title could be. Not that Netflix needs any help with that...

NUMBER 14.

Flight - Man of Steel

When people think of the music from Superman they think of John Williams, they don’t think of Hans Zimmer. When Superman Returns came out in 2005, I’d heard that Hans Zimmer had been asked to score it, but he turned it down, saying he wasn’t in the right place at the time to write it, so they turned to John Ottman. In my opinion, the only good thing about that soundtrack was the Main Title, which was derived directly from the original Superman theme John Williams composed for the 1975 film. But fast forward a few more years and Hans Zimmer gets asked again, this time by Zack Snyder. And could he say no? Nope. But he has help. He has Junkie XL, who has worked on things like Divergent and Mad Max: Fury Road. When you get two composers working together - especially two completely different composers like Zimmer and Junkie XL - the results can be varied. But in this case they’re awesome.

I feel like I’m going on longer on this track, but I’m only doing it because of how important it is, both in terms of the soundtrack itself but also the story it tells. This track, Flight, is the track where Superman finally embraces who he is, after receiving the answers he’s been searching for his whole life. It’s a start, a new start, and at the beginning you get the hope as the music starts to build as he starts to realise his potential and what he can do, laughing as he sorts out how he can fly. Then it tones down again as he crashes, before looking up to the sky, breathing in the sun, and realising again where his power stems from as a soft tinkling on the piano is accompanied by a beautiful single voice. The music then builds again as he pushes off the ground and shoots up into the sky, finally in control of his own powers and his own destiny.

NUMBER 13.

The Oil - Dunkirk

The one word you can take away from this track is urgency. And it’s a very poignant scene, because it’s the only scene where the 3 timelines collide. The three timelines - the Mole, the Air and the Sea - have separate time scales, and these work incredibly well. The Mole is shot over 1 week, the Sea is 1 day and the Air is 1 hour. I didn’t think about it until just now... and despite being the same 3 notes all the way through, you really do get the sense of urgency as it starts to build, with more instruments being added to that base layer until you reach that climax at 4m21s and then again at 5m. And as that climax comes into picture - the British plane deciding to fire at the German bomber - the music accelerates to a head. At over 6 minutes, it does take a while to build, but I think that’s how the track works so well. It really builds the suspense. Are all the soldiers going to make it? Is Tom Hardy going to miss? Is the oil going to catch up to the hero boat...? So many questions both asked and answered in this piece of music. If you haven’t seen it, just watch this scene... and towards the end, when the music starts to build, you’ll see what I mean by a sense of urgency! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyPWT8f-TZo

NUMBER 12.

Up Is Down - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

I love how playful this track is. It’s when Jack and crew are essentially in Davy Jones’ locker with little hope and no way to get back, when Jack works it out. But of course, Jack being Jack, he doesn’t tell them. He just makes a game of it until they work it out for themselves. They all run from side to side over the deck, rocking the boat, until it turns Upside Down. And hey presto... Back in the real world. This isnt my only Pirates track from Hans Zimmer, but I think it is probably my favourite. It’s got all the Pirates theme in it, in all its playful, bouncing glory, and as the song goes on, you can hear them all running from side to side and it’s hilarious.

NUMBER 11.

Never Take Off The Mask - The Lone Ranger

This is the opening track to The Lone Ranger, and as a Wild West superhero - with the coolest horse ever - the title of the track kind of speaks for itself. I love the beginning: the lone violin with an electric guitar having a kind of conversation. Aside from the opening Disney credits - yes this is a Disney film! - the opening shows us years in the future - 1933 San Francisco (the opening shows the Golden Gate Bridge under construction) where the Lone Ranger's Wild West has been reduced to a travelling circus show. But there is one that remains who remembers it. A kid goes into the exhibit, and there he finds Tonto - the Lone Ranger's sidekick - and as he's dressed the same, white hat and black mask (see above) and calls the kid Kemosabe. When the kid takes off the mask once he's traded his peanuts for a dead mouse, Tonto points at him and says, "Never take off the mask." Also, apart from The Social Network, this was my first Armie Hammer film. And to be honest I think he looks quite good as a Wild West super cowboy.

Interesting fact: the actual theme to The Lone Ranger - the original TV series - is William Tell. Now I love that piece of music anyway, even without the Lone Ranger attached to it (to be honest, who doesn't?). Rossini's masterpiece has danced around our car on many a road trip and I was so excited to learn there was an extended track of William Tell on this soundtrack, predictably called 'William Tell Overture'. But seeing as it's another long track, at just under 10 minutes, I thought I'd choose the shorter favourite instead...

NUMBER 10.

King of Pride Rock - The Lion King

This has got to be the best track of the film, once you fast forward through the first 4.5 minutes. It's the very end, after Simba has defeated Scar and the fires are being put out by the rain, bringing water back to pride lands again, after years of drought. After hugging Rafiki, he steps up the slope and walks to the edge slowly. He then looks up and the clouds part... Mufasa says 'Remember' (cue goosebumps) and he has that look of determination, the look of 'wow I'm really King' and then he roars his heart out. But the bit I really love is the choir part at 4m20s. Choirs really are a force in making a song sound more epic, and I'm not just saying that because I sing in one. It gives the piece that extra oomph, and here, despite packing a punch anyway, the choir takes it all the way.

NUMBER 9.

Tennessee - Pearl Harbor

There isn't a specific reason why I like this song in the Pearl Harbor soundtrack more than any of the others. I just really like the way the piano and the strings come together. Despite being about a love triangle where two friends - who are closer than brothers - both fall in love with the same girl at the same time Pearl Harbor is bombed. It is literally about Brotherhood. Not just between Danny and Rafe (Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck) but amongst all the boys serving in the Army at the time. They fly because they know they have someone up there protecting their back. But the imagery here in the film is just a video of a crop-duster flying around the fields of Tennessee. When I saw Hans Zimmer live last year, this was the one they played, and the images in the backdrop were awesome. And I'm pretty sure Josie and I watched the film pretty soon after. It's a great film, and I'd recommend it.

NUMBER 8.

What Are You Going To Do When You Are Not Saving the World? - Man of Steel

Another Man of Steel one. It was between this and Terraforming - the battle basically - but this one edges it. It's the ending scene. After everything's calmed down, as the piano and the cellos start to build, Clark Kent is talking to Mamma Kent, and she asks him whether he's given any thought to what he'll do when he doesn't have to save the world. He answers back this, and I really love it: "I gotta find a job where I can keep my ear to the ground. Where people won't look twice when I want to go somewhere dangerous and start asking questions." After that, the chatter disappears as he cycles in to his new job, his lumberjack shirt and tie... you see him put on the glasses in the elevator, and then... he smiles at Lois. And boy do I love that smile. Same as with so many other Zimmer pieces, I love how the music builds in this. Just as it did when he was learning to fly, Superman is understanding this other side to himself, and where he fits in. Loads of people hate on this film, but I actually genuinely really enjoyed it. And although it will never be as good as the Marvel films (although I would controversially say this was better than Marvel's 2013 film Thor: The Dark World) it is just as entertaining and does actually get the story across.

NUMBER 7.

Davy Jones - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

I love this one because despite being the bad guy, it shows Davy Jones has a heart. Even if he doesn't physically have one... technically. He keeps a locket with him at all times, which reminds him of the one he loves, and it shows that bad guys have soft sides too. Then of course, it escalates into the louder, organ version of it and I love that the song works both ways. You can hear the choir as the track builds (again with the building!) getting faster paced until it fades back down into the soft tones of the music box. It's like the whole spectrum of Davy Jones' emotions all in one song, and it works so, so well.

NUMBER 6.

Is She With You? - Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

My favourite part of the film is most definitely this. I'll be honest - and this isn't a controversial opinion I don't think - but Batman vs Superman was a bit of a dud... especially compared to what I'd previously thought of Man of Steel. But this scene rescued it from the jaws of complete crapness. Now at this point, we haven't met Wonder Woman in her own movie yet, but from images Bruce Wayne finds of her, by the time she shows up, Bruce knows who she is. And we know who she is. Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL have used the electric cello for Wonder Woman's theme, and I ABSOLUTELY love it. We played this with our orchestra - with the electric cello - and it sounded SO GOOD. It just doesn't work with any other instrument. I love how powerhouse her theme is, because that's exactly what she is. Without her, Supes and Batman would have been flattened by Doomsday. We all know she's a badass anyway, but the music just rightfully backs that up.

Interesting fact: The soundtrack for Wonder Woman was actually scored by Rupert Gregson-Williams, but the original theme came here first.

NUMBER 5.

Dream Kitchen - The Holiday

I think this picture sums up this track perfectly. This track is Iris' tour around Amanda's amazing home and as she goes from the front gate to the living room, to the kitchen, to the pool, to the gym... and then ending with the huge bed in the master. The track is playful upbeat and I can never stop myself from drumming my fingers along. I had to include The Holiday in my list because it is the film I can understand through and through just by listening to the soundtrack. I was on holiday in Italy once and the parents of the family we were staying with were watching it, but in Italian, and I could tell what part of the film they were watching just by listening to the soundtrack, which PROVES just how important a soundtrack is to how successful a film is. And I just love the ending. It ends as she jumps on the bed, as I know WE ALL DO when we enter any establishment that has a bed bigger than your own. Well... I do anyway!

NUMBER 4.

Now We Are Free - Gladiator

I had to include this one because of how beautiful an ending it is for Gladiator. Given that it came out over 20 years ago now, I'm hoping it doesn't ruin it for people, but it's called Now We Are Free because he frees the slaves and the final lines are Juba's promise of that now that they were free, he would see Maximus again... but not yet. My favourite bit 1m54s though, as Lisa Gerrard's soft tones transform into a dance-like section as the music builds. And I don't know what language she is singing in, but I like the fact it's not English words. It really fits. If anyone knows, please tell me! I saw her perform this live at Hans Zimmer's concert... and let me tell you, it is just as emotional listening to it live as it is in the film. I always cry at the end of Gladiator... even though I've definitely seen it over 100 times!

NUMBER 3.

Beautiful Lie - Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

This is the very start of the film, as the credits come in. The very first scene... as Batman is introducing us to the flip side of Man of Steel... the day the mankind was introduced to the Superman. He's in a dream, dreaming of the night his parents got killed. I love the voice at the end, the solo voice above the repeating piano and the building strings. But I like the scene in general... And the ambiguous nature to the start of the film that starts you off with questions you know will be answered later. I also think, on it's own, it's a beautiful track, and compared to the use of electronic instruments throughout, the soft piano and voices in this track are powerful in comparison. You don't think about it until the end... but the only word said in that scene, other than Ben Affleck's opening remarks is 'Martha', and I like the way this sets up the film without you even realising. This may be a spoiler alert (but again the film came out in 2016 so people should have seen it) but who knew that the two most powerful superheroes in the DC Comics universe both have a mother named Martha...?

NUMBER 2.

Mobula Rays - Blue Planet II

I love this track for the beauty of it alone. It accompanies David Attenborough's Blue Planet II and it shows nearly 3 minutes of Mobula Rays swimming around the ocean in huge pods (I think they swim in pods?). They are truly amazing though. They can grow to up to 17 feet long, and to attract a mate, they jump out of the sea and essentially belly flop. They are a size down from Manta Rays, and mostly feed on plankton and will only attack when provoked and I think they're really cute. And so graceful. This track gets that perfectly, and again, because the Mobula Ray can't talk for itself, the music does it for them.

NUMBER 1.

Rain - Blade Runner 2049

This film was misunderstood. But I think this film is for the generation that grew up with the original Blade Runner. Personally I think the film was good, but for me it was marred by the fact the 3D camera wasn't working properly in our screen so I left the screening with a headache and not much enjoyment because of it. But having watched it again since, and it's predecessor, there's something incessantly smart about it. Despite the storyline making you believe that Ryan Gosling's 'K' is the human everyone is looking for, it also makes you focus on the visually stunning backdrops, which is exactly what was so immense about the first one. Originally 'set' in 2019 (but filmed in 1982), this new one is set in 2049 and with the bonus of cinema that is able to project futuristic landscapes more easily, does completely wow you. But this track is my favourite. Ana de Armas who plays Joi, who is AI, is standing out in the rain, looking at an advertisement for herself. The score is so atmospheric, and you can almost hear the rain around you if you close your eyes. It's one of the softer tracks, and it stands out because it IS so soft, compared to the futuristic, eery undertones of the other tracks.

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So there we have it. My favourite 20 Zimmer tracks. I could quite happily make this playlist 400 songs long, but then I would be left with no other tracks I could choose from.

The film world is a better place thanks to this man. He's helped to tell hundreds of stories throughout his career, and I hope he scores hundreds more.

Don't you worry though, there are still plenty more tracks for me to choose from in future playlists. And he isn't done yet... :D

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5uvGPB5HsOhdICfOxGVqDZ?si=pqaYuwOrRbq4zOIhnRuQrQ