Days of Thunder (Bootleg)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Of all the composers out there, Hans Zimmer was surely called "Bootleg Boy" way back in the late '80 and early '90. It is good to see that today the composer at hand is well commercialized because he is indeed one of today's hot products. But way 10 years ago, it was different. Because year after year the bootlegs were needed to give the fans what the original album lacked, an overall listening experience. 1 in '88, 2 in '89, 4 in '90, 1 in '91 and let the list go on in that time. Today one of those hot little bootlegs is Days of Thunder. While not entirely brilliant or in the words of Hans Zimmer (the reason why Days of Thunder was never released was because there wasn't any good music in it), it still has everything that made Zimmer great in the '90. And for fans of the German it is all what they need, a gold old Zimmerian sound to spice up that afternoon. For what all people say, Days of Thunder is still a good listen once and a while. Zimmer haters will find nothing new or innovative but mainly for fans it is the creative use of the electric guitar that makes the album worth it and of course Zimmer's usual good theme. The main theme we are talking about is found in a lot of tracks and will receive its prime time version during 'End Title' and also during the final seconds of 'Dawn' which sadly is missing for more then 3 minutes in length.

But mainly it are the excellent guitar riffs that make the race music worthy of particular interest. Tracks such as 'Darlington / First Victory', 'Kamikaze Drivers' and 'The Crash' have strong musical elements which can be found in any good rock band of that time, mainly Iron Maiden for instance which I personally found a good group. The electronic sound isn't far away from other dated scores of the '90, Bird on a Wire, Black Rain, Thelma and Louise and for its use of the guitar to Drop Zone especially. But if that is a problem to you, then Days of Thunder isn't worthy of the hard search. The more romantic aspect from the score is especially close to another soundtrack from that time Green Card, which also works amazingly in context. But as the score progresses, the tracks become lesser in length. Being a bootleg this isn't especially a surprise. So in the end it is the material what matters and the sound that decides. Luckily the sound is more then good, a Media Ventures asset probably and the material will satisfy the fan of Zimmer more then ever. Also worth noting for is sublime musical emotion is 'Car Building', followed by drum rhythms lasting for 40 seconds. In the end I honestly don't know what kind of prices are placed upon Days of Thunder's head but I do know that Zimmer fans should try to find it. It isn't much but I think fans will already figured that out by now. I also continuously watched the movies of those I didn't have the scores of, simply to hear the music. It also makes the listening experience more gratifying. You know what to expect, so in the end it are the better parts that satisfy you the most.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title (3.05)

2. Test Drive (1.23)

3. A New Driver (0.47)

4. Introduction (1.36)

5. Cole's Round (1.00)

6. Car Building (2.45) Excellent Track

7. Darlington / First Victory (4.49)

8. Kamikaze Drivers (2.09)

9. The Crash (1.29)

10. Casualty Ward (1.44)

11. Talk to Me (0.37)

12. Wheelchair Race (0.40)

13. Cole & Claire / Rental Car Chase (3.49)

14. Cole's Call/Dating Claire (1.55)

15. See Me Drive (0.55)

16. Waking Up (0.24)

17. Drafting (0.40)

18. Atlanta / Burning Car (1.16)

19. Cole Vs. Russ (2.28)

20. Reflections (1.00)

21. Asking A Favor (0.20)

22. Drive My Car (0.34)

23. Rowdy's Wish (0.27)

24. Scared (1.04)

25. Harry's Speech / Daytona (1.59)

26. Before The Start (0.54)

27. Dawn (0.46)

28. Victory Lane (2.24)

29. End Title (1.29)

Total Length: 44.47

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Hans Zimmer ===