BEYOND RANGOON

HANS ZIMMER

Rating:

Original Review: I really, really wish Hans Zimmer would write music like this more often. When he writes emotional, exotic melodies rather than the generic, bland action nonsense he and his Media Ventures contemporaries have been churning out of late, the German maestro really comes into his own. Put simply, Beyond Rangoon is utterly beautiful - in my opinion, one of the best scores of Zimmer's career. As you would expect with a film set in deepest darkest Asia, the music has a haunting, mysterious quality: using synthesisers and orchestra combined with Richard Harvey's ethnic pipes and dreamy female vocals, 'Waters of Irawaddy' introduces the magical central theme which moves in and out of the score at regular intervals, lending a gentle, heavenly, almost timeless feel to the entire album. The third cue, 'I Dreamt I Woke Up' (which was co-composed by Nick Glennie Smith) floats by beautifully with a definite aura of calm and peace, until the female vocals, shrill pipes and hypnotic percussion kick in with a wondrous combination of Braveheart and Crimson Tide. 'Brother Morphine' presents a further stunning performance of the central theme, 'Village Under Siege' is a little less melodic and a little more tense, and contains one of the album's few action cues, but the final cue, 'Beyond Rangoon', will knock your socks off. Starting with a rapidly paced flute solo, it builds and builds through a series of dramatic action sequences until finally emerging into an incredibly powerful final rendition of the main theme which really does give you shivers up your spine. As a companion piece to Rachel Portman's equally beautiful and haunting The Joy Luck Club, Beyond Rangoon is a perfect score to deliver an authentic taste of the Orient. Thanks, Scott.

Track Listing: Running Time: 38 minutes 34 seconds

Milan 73138-35725-5 (1994)

Music composed by Hans Zimmer. Conducted by Nick Glennie-Smith. Additional music composed by Nick Glennie-Smith. Orchestrations by Fiachra Trench and Nick Glennie-Smith. Ethnic pipe solos performed by Richard Harvey. Recorded and mixed by Paul Hulme. Edited by Adam Smalley. Album produced by Hans Zimmer and Adam Smalley


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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1998. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.