CRIMSON TIDE

HANS ZIMMER

Rating:

Original Review: I really can't see what all the fuss is about with Hans Zimmer and the Media Ventures lot. Zimmer and his pals Nick Glennie Smith, Jeff Rona, Harry Gregson Williams and John Powell seem to have cornered the market in scoring high-volume action pictures over the last couple of years, but I never really fell in love with any of their work, and I've never really been one for synthesised scores anyway. Having said that, Hans Zimmer's main theme for Crimson Tide is actually rather good: an epic, emotional, deep, resonant piece which really seems to capture the essence of living in the closed, cramped, claustrophobic atmosphere of a submarine. When the music is backed by the rich bass voices of the London Choir the music actually gets better, and when the choir sings the immortal seaman's hymn "Eternal Father Strong to Save", the music is hugely appropriate. I just wish they would have varied a little bit - high octane wall-to-wall synths, driving drumbeats, rock guitars, chanting choirs, long tense passages - it all gets a little bit too much after a while. Another niggle I have is with the presentation of the album: only five cues, all of which are really much too long (Alabama goes on for over 23 minutes, 1SQ for over 15). It would have been much better if these mini-symphonies had been cut down into more manageable chunks. That said, Crimson Tide does make for an entertaining hour's listening. But that's all.

Track Listing: Running Time: 60 minutes 31 seconds

Hollywood Records 162-025-2 (1995)

Music composed by Hans Zimmer. Conducted by Nick Glennie-Smith. Orchestrations by Nick Glennie-Smith, Bruce Fowler, Ladd McIntosh and Suzette Moriarty. Solo trumpet performed by Malcolm McNab. Chorus performed by The London Choir. Choir conducted by Harry Gregson-Williams. Includes extracts from "Eternal Father Strong To Save" written by John Dykes. Recorded and mixed by Jay Rifkin, Alan Meyerson and Paul Hulme. Edited by Bob Badami. Mastered by Dan Hersch. Album produced by Hans Zimmer and Jay Rifkin.


Home Page | Soundtracks | Soundtrack Reviews | Composers | Soundtrack Links

These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1997. 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.