The Prince of Egypt

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

It was bound to happen, Disney may be the ultimate animation studio alive but Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks has brought probably the most amazing animation movie ever, with spectacular scenes they created the breathtaking city of Jerusalem, with groundbreaking imaginary the Red Sea was parted and with a package of similarities they brought characters to live, see which person they are portraying once you find out which voice is supporting that drawing. Combined with a superb cast who breath more life into there characters then overacted persons in sitcoms and a dazzling score and song combination, this movie is one of the ultimate tributes to movie magic. Part of that success has to be given to composer Hans Zimmer, who composed the stunning score and had helping hands like Harry Gregson - Williams, John Powell and Gavin Greenaway to construct and develop the songs. Hans Zimmer didn't had a easy part into the movie's role, he had to bring the majesty of Egypt to life and to underscore the act and power of God. And also the insertion of actual sounding Egyptian music had to be inserted to make it all sound so believable.

The score opens with the hit song 'When You Believe', performed by Diva's Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. The key song for the movie was 'Deliver Us', the central point of the story, the oppression on the people of Egypt. Brought to life by the late vocalist Ofra Haza, this track is a stunning piece of power and intelligence. All the songs are impressive to say the least, maybe not all for their lasting impression but others merely for there power like 'Playing with the Big Boys' and 'The Plagues' or for it's Broadway feel like in 'Through Heaven's Eyes'. The actual score of Zimmer is fairly present on this disc and has some stunning moments to offer, with the main theme as it's ultimate pride of the score, with magic presented in 'The Burning Bush' and with the Almighty's power in 'Red Sea'. It's not hard to get goosebumps during these moments of the movie and score. But there were some excellent moments missing from the album that were placed on a different score later that year, like the Chariot Race, the River of Blood and The 10 Commandments at the very end of the movie. These moments offer more stunning score of Hans Zimmer and were sadly forgotten for the fans of the score and picture. The songs were performed mostly by stand up singers but in the case of Steve Martin and Martin Short on track 8 and Ralph Fiennes on track 12 we can make an exception, Michelle Pfeiffer did an excellent job during the superb reformation of 'When You Believe' by the way.

All these moments with the combination of songs and score work like a charm and are a perfect example of what producers well surely can make of a interesting subject. Only the 4 pop entries at the very end of the album are regrettable, they are not bad but create no sense of interest in my part. Take your wallet or money and head for your local shop this instant. Because The Prince of Egypt is pure majesty. Every person will find something of interest and score fans can only wonder what kind of brilliance Hans Zimmer has offered us on this disc. And know this that Hans himself wasn't sure if the score would sound good, he said that the music during the burning bush was one of the most difficult pieces he had to compose ever, but the result is worth the money of this album alone. The Prince of Egypt is a piece of art, every cue stands as a gift from God, to you to find out which part of the album you find most impressive. Only those pop entries make the songs on a whole less impressive. This is a score I will treasure for all my life and it's quality rises higher then the Red Sea may ever come.

The Prince of Egypt "Promo"

When The Prince of Egypt was released as an album in 1999, it was an undefined success. Score collectors came in the reign of one of Hans Zimmer's most mature compositions, it was a score full of memorable themes and it had an orchestral power that equaled God's scope and supported naturally the breathtaking visuals created by the computer wizards on screen. Only 2 things were wrong about that album, and it had to do with the same idea, necessary score was missing and replaced by lousy and unnecessary commercial songs instead. While the original songs written specifically for the movie (sung by the actors themselves) are still considered to be some of the best ever to be found on CD, it were the crappy additions of Boyz II Men and so forth that made the album lose its value a bit, only because several key scenes of Zimmer's score could not be included on it instead. With the promo that emerged with the video release this changed, and by god it proves that the music that was missing was (and is) of vital importance to an already brilliant score. Naturally we will return as always to 'The Chariot Race' and its dazzling music, which evidently is a great musical ride, energy, the themes together and simply Zimmer giving an orchestral rush, it couldn't be more then a necessity. But when you hear then the rest that was missing, you come to one conclusion, this probably is one of Zimmer's best scores, if not his most mature and most epic score of all!

There is another scene which works well with the visuals, the track 'The Nile of Blood' has the theme of "When you Believe" song, but also a heavenly version of God's theme growing as the Nile turns red and moves into brief action music like heard at the end of the score of the parting of the Red Sea. This again is a great track and proves the emotion Zimmer put in his composition. And then you think about it, they also should have included this! But then, you just are blown away by what ends the CD. On the promo it came after the Chariot Race music in the same track, in the film order it unleashes its wings after the mighty God theme versions of the track 'Red Sea'. Here first the "Deliver Us" instrumental theme is heard before you hear a grand and relieved version of the children's tune in the song "When you Believe", it nonetheless follows with the actual main theme of the score, and that is only noticeable when you hear the promo, it is the more Egyptian theme that strikes from time to time attention in for instance 'Goodbye Brother' and here at the end of 'The 10 Commandments' it supports Moses coming down of the mountain with the 2 tablets, and I have to say alone that Zimmer's scoring is of the most powerful orchestral and choral music he ever composed. Sadly this piece of music was not used in the film (replaced by the "Deliver Us theme") but The London Symphony orchestra adds nonetheless epic measurements to that which by god eclipses the strength of Elmer Bernstein' score of Cecil B. Demille's movie! And when he adds after that a final powerful version of God's theme, you will be blown away, trust me. It is the strength, the addition and more the quality of the unreleased music that shows Zimmer deserved an Oscar for The Prince of Egypt, even if he was facing the brilliance of Mulan as the emotional highlights of Patch Adams. And if you simply put everything together of the terrific songs to the unbridled brilliance of the score, you come to a soundtrack that puts every side of film music magic in 1 hour. Showing probably Zimmer's most mature and most epic score of all time!

The Prince of Egypt: ****1/2 Score: ***** Songs: ****
The Prince of Egypt "Expanded Promo": ***** Score: ***** Songs: *****

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. When You Believe: Whitney H. and Mariah C. (5.01) Excellent Track

2. Deliver Us (7.15) Excellent Track

3. The Reprimand * (4.05) Excellent Track

4. Following Tzipporah * (1.00)

5. All I Ever Want (2.51)

6. Goodbye Brother * (5.31)

7. Through Heaven's Eyes (3.41) Excellent Track

8. The Burning Bush * (7.16) Excellent Track

9. Playing With The Boys Now (2.52)

10. Cry * (3.50)

11. Rally * (0.42)

12. The Plagues (2.40)

13. Death Of The First Born * (1.07)

14. When You Believe (4.55) Excellent Track

15. Red Sea * (5.11) Excellent Track

16. Through Heaven's Eyes: K-Ci & JoJo (5.05)

17. River Lullaby: Amy Grant (3.56)

18. Humanity (4.30)

19. I Will Get There: Boyz II Men (4.20)

* Score composed by Hans Zimmer

Total Length: 76.10

The Prince of Egypt "Expanded Promo"

1. When You Believe: Whitney H. and Mariah C. (5.01) Excellent Track

2. Deliver Us (7.14) Excellent Track

3. The Chariot Race * (3.04) Excellent Track

4. The Reprimand * (4.06) Excellent Track

5. Following Tzipporah * (1.02)

6. All I Ever Want (2.51)

7. Goodbye Brother * (5.30)

8. Through Heaven's Eyes (3.40) Excellent Track

9. The Burning Bush * (7.16) Excellent Track

10. Playing With The Boys Now (2.53)

11. The Nile of Blood * (3.45) Excellent Track

12. Cry * (3.48)

13. Rally * (0.44)

14. The Plagues (2.40)

15. Death Of The First Born * (1.09)

16. When You Believe (4.57) Excellent Track

17. Red Sea * (5.07) Excellent Track

18. The Ten Commandments * (3.28) Excellent Track

* Score composed by Hans Zimmer

Total Length: 68.33

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