Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

We score fans sometimes wonder what we would do if Zimmer disappointed us with a score. Frankly the last couple of years, we haven't seen a bad score (at least musically speaking, Pearl Harbor at least had themes) and a daring approach like Black Hawk Down at least gave us the realism of true war. But how much people anticipated on the next animated score, it would never be The Lion King or The Prince of Egypt. So, directly they said "Zimmer wrote nothing new" and "uninspired fun". Good for them but if any score can give me at least one piece where I can have fun or emotion with, then it is not uninspired like anymore. At the end of my first listen I immediately stated that indeed nothing much new appears, especially the last tracks. But on the other hand, it already catapulted me into heaven with one of the most fun tracks of the year, so I was gonna be disappointed one way or another. Now, the other reason why people perhaps will be disappointed is Bryan Adams. Just like Elton John on The Road to El Dorado, he takes each song for his account and just like The Road to El Dorado has one duo song with another artist. However, luckily different from The Road to El Dorado is that we have received much more score and just like (I know, I'm getting repetitive) it contains one piece that sets my soul on fire. Enough if you consider that I wasn't expecting something of just a 20 minute score.

Let's begin with the begin and tackle the songs of Bryan Adams. Perhaps good to know is that Zimmer co composed a few, just like Gavin Greenaway and Steve Jablonsky (who is also responsible for additional music). Usually with these releases, the first few tracks are the best, simply because after a while the same voice starts to drag. And truth be told, it is exactly that. 'Here I Am (End Title)' is the best song, containing both a good spirit and an enjoyable background style of music. 'You Can't take Me' is a typical Bryan Adams song and 'Brothers under the Sun' is more the spiritual entrance, as it uses even an ethnic panflute which is enjoyable and reappears in track 13, there is that additional music for a part. To remember of the songs are the duo company of Adams and Sarah McLachlan in 6, the main theme accompanying the song of Adams in 7 and 15 and the rather hoarse voice of Adams in 9, which is quite frankly not suitable for younger kids. More, if you notice the lyrics, they sometimes sound the same but after repeated listening luckily you skip that cliché. Moving up to the score of Hans Zimmer. First he gets already a chance in track 8, 'Here I Am' where he already states the fun that returns with a bang in 'Run Free', one of the few tracks so far giving me more for my money than first imagined. Such a fun track, containing fast rhythms, finales a la Backdraft mixed on the fun of Radio Flyer and a hell of a pace, almost John Powell like. So, be ready to expect a bang of a track.

The next track 'Homeland (Main Title)' states the main theme in a very enjoyable fashion. And the next two tracks don't offer much to recommend, but are enjoyable nonetheless. 'Rain' has the same wit of True Romance and 'The Long Road Back' contains some background music but stays enjoyable to listen to. Overall, it is enough. People already stated that Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron doesn't offer much new but then I'm wondering what they are anticipating. I'm a big Zimmer fan but I wasn't expecting a next The Prince of Egypt. So, I wasn't setting any high standards. On the other hand I want something that makes the score at least recommendable and I got that, so frankly I'm extremely happy with what I got. Spirit is indeed not the new masterpiece of Zimmer but for the 20 minutes, it does entertain me. Even the songs have an average to good feel, though they lose value after a time. So expect just one fun, utterly fun track and let that be the standard to grade it by. Oh, and if people have problems with Bryan Adams taking the center stage, I couldn't agree more. I'm not angry for him taking up the most space on this score because I appreciated them to a degree. But when I want a Bryan Adams CD release, I will visit the pop record staple, not the film music section.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimaron "Promo"

Promo's are usually always around, because there's always the full picture of the score material the composer wrote for the movie. And so there is one for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Hans Zimmer's animation score of 2002. The album he had to share with Bryan Adams, and while this was not bad since at least the songs were featured in the movie (not like Road to El Dorado), Zimmer's material still was lesser then the songs. But another comfort was that Zimmer's themes at least were heard as song material. But a promo consisting of some 30 minutes more is tempting he? And still we don't hear that much new, we have some more main themes, or basically instrumental versions of the song material. But not one time do we hear even seconds of Bryan Adams singing on this CD, which is nice considering it still has to be a score promo and not an all round promo per se. When hearing the full picture, the songs didn't bother that much and the score on the release was good enough, but also 50 minutes satisfies my appetite and so both releases are comforting products for Zimmer fans, they only have to decide what they want, score and songs or score alone. The opening track is basically score and song material molded together, but then track 11 and the score material of 8 on the commercial release. 'Swimming' has guitar and growing synthesizers for the nice smooth effect. And while 'Young Hearts' also shows the instrumental version of the song "Brothers under the Sun" with its nice flute melody, its also the addition of the main theme colliding ala Days of Thunder which makes a nice welcome in the end.

New tracks while not bringing something remotely new are 'Investigating' (playful with ethnic flutes) and 'The Long Road' which repeats the same material from the already released track 'Rain'. 'Iron Horse Camp / Pulling' is like 'Train Escape' and 'Canyon Chase' all centering around the 'Run Free' melody, snippets from one moment molded in these tracks, and while 'Canyon Chase' is covering the fastest melody with moments of new action material, its all heard together in the wonderful track 'Run Free', when heard as final track is a terrific closer to the album. New moments are for 'Triumph over the Colonel' in which we hear a brief but heroically new version of the main theme and 'Fallen Rain', with guitar and strings creating a slightly dark emotional feel. The long released 'The Long Road Back' and the new 'Reunion (Love Found Us)' (with its relieved tones with guitar ala Days of Thunder) are there to tighten the score material. For score material length, it receives a 3 and a half, for listening pleasure a 3 and a half, yet however not much new is heard and earth shattering its not like other expanded albums have come to be. Yet Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is there for the non Bryan Adams fan, and for the Zimmer fan who wants what the maestro composed. And of course those are Days of Thunder like lovers which you especially hear in this version. To tell you the truth, both versions do satisfy me, but I can't deny that I will pick the expanded release quicker, to only give the song 'Here I Am' of Bryan Adams one whirl and that's it. Not your necessary Zimmer addition if you have the original release, but it does bring 30 minutes of extra score material, and while mostly the same, its nice to know there are many more versions of the wonderful 'Run Free' material.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron: *** Score: *** Songs: ***
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron "Promo": *** Score: ***

\ľľľ/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Here I Am (End Title): Bryan Adams + (4.44)

2. I Will Always Return: Bryan Adams + (3.58)

3. You Can't Take Me: Bryan Adams ++ (2.56)

4. Get Off My Back: Bryan Adams (2.48)

5. Brothers Under The Sun: Bryan Adams +++ (3.57)

6. Don't Let Go: Bryan Adams and Sarah McLachlan ++ (4.02)

7. This Is Where I Belong: Bryan Adams + (2.21)

8. Here I Am: Bryan Adams + (4.31)

9. Sound The Bugle: Bryan Adams ++ (3.54)

10. Run Free * (6.21) Excellent Track

11. Homeland (Main Title) * (3.41)

12. Rain * (2.49)

13. The Long Road Back * (7.11)

14. Nothing I've Ever Known: Bryan Adams + (3.52)

15. I Will Always Return (Finale): Bryan Adams + (2.46)

* Soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer

+ Co composed by Hans Zimmer

++ Co composed by Gavin Greenaway

+++ Co composed by Steve Jablonsky

Total Length: 60.01

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron "Promo"

1. Homeland / Here I Am (6.22)

2. Swimming * (2.34)

3. Young Hearts * (5.43)

4. Investigating * (2.21)

5. The Long Road * (4.10)

6. Rain (2.50)

7. Iron Horse Camp / Pulling * (3.21)

8. Triumph Over The Colonel * (0.53)

9. Fallen Rain * (3.08)

10. Train Escape * (2.23)

11. Canyon Chase * (2.49)

12. The Long Road Back (7.11)

13. Reunion (Love Found Us) * (2.47)

14. Run Free (6.25) Excellent Track

* New track not featured on the original release

Total Length: 53.02

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

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