I really hope that the rest is more interesting... this just sounds like Gladiator and Man of Steel in lite... which is strange because when I first listened to MoS I thought it was Zimmer lite... His declining musical complexity is what I don't like about his music since 2010 (with some exceptions). How does sound a Zimmer score in 10 years? just one note playing for 2 hours straight?
Thanks for the detailed analysis. I have a similar break with him but more in the latter "Pirates of the Caribbean" era. I appreciated his earlier works and felt he was developing interesting ways of incorporating orchestral music and building in layers. The repetitiveness and bombast was getting a bit in the way but you could still hear layers of interesting ideas that predominated in scores like "The Rock" and "Broken Arrow". "Gladiator" had a nice mix of stuff as well and for the most part managed to tone down the more abrasive bombast during the action music, but it was still evident. "Pirates of the Caribbean" is when it really turned into a loud mess, almost like Zimmer had written himself into a trap and completely gave up.
"Gladiator" also began to mark the end of the time where Zimmer would speak negatively about his own music. A bit afterwards he became effusive with framing everything very hyperbolically - maybe it was the transition during the whole legal battle over Media Ventures vs. Remote Control...
After that I feel like with the perceived musical trap Zimmer created for himself, the only way he thought he could get out of it was doing things "differently" or more "experimental". "Dark Knight" had interesting moments, but the stuff I found myself drawn to was mostly James Newton Howard's contributions. It's very easy to just focus on a "different" idea and "experiment" in order to be different, but it runs the risk of abandoning a creative path and stifling creative growth. I think the post-"Gladiator" era is when Zimmer reached the limits of his musical knowledge and rather than investing in growing that by learning more about music itself he chose the easier route of experimenting with a lot of different toys and gadgets.
It has resulted in some kind of interesting "high-concept" for most of his music, but the compositions themselves are very simplistic and still have the rather stunted orchestrations that Zimmer got stuck with in "Gladiator".
I'd agree with this. You'd have to be lacking some serious common sense to not understand why this is a problem if that's really what's happening.
Normally I would agree too. But it's up to the owner of the sandbox, not some self-endowed hall monitors who can't get unstuck from the past. I believe it's the present that we should deal with. Anything else is not up to us.
I am more convinced than ever that Totoro is Andre Lux.
I am more convinced tha ever that Khan is Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwustle-gerspurten-mitzweimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm.
Could you spell that again? I think I missed an umlaut.
I am more convinced than ever that Totoro is Andre Lux.
I am more convinced tha ever that Khan is Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwustle-gerspurten-mitzweimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm.
Could you spell that again? I think I missed an umlaut.
It has resulted in some kind of interesting "high-concept" for most of his music, but the compositions themselves are very simplistic and still have the rather stunted orchestrations that Zimmer got stuck with in "Gladiator".
Only seems to be the animated scores that receive more involved composition and orchestration.
I really hope people go into this with realistic expectations and a clear understanding that this is NOT a film score and is simply a glimpse into the creative process…
Destined to be a divisive album (what Zimmer album isn’t?), it definitely has its highs (“I See You In My Dreams”) and lows (“Shia-Hulu’s”). I get a Dark Phoenix/Inferno vibe, which is no surprise considering Steve Mazzaro and Andrew Kawczynski worked on all three.
