The Weather Man (Bootleg)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Zimmer remains a man who surprises, sometimes so in simplicity, sometimes so in mystery that fans often wonder why he remains to do that. Simple, he doesn't like repeating himself and even though he knows all too well that the MV sound is merely repeating used ideas, he therefore leaves the scoring tasks mostly to his followers (like Badelt or Jablonsky). But when he himself is at the helm of projects, he does the opposite of what fans expect of him. Like Thin Red Line, Pearl Harbor and now The Weather Man, a much hyped movie and thereby score. Its released now in promo and bootleg format and was considered briefly as Oscar material apparently. Not that it holds the quality to that but considering that 3 of the nominated scores are merely based on the movie's critical acclaim, it could have been that Weather Man was nominated, if the movie was heralded just a little more. Again, nothing Oscar quality like, but you have to wonder just how THEY vote. Anyway, with that said, I already pinpointed that its not Oscar material and again, Zimmer surprised me, because its not just a dramatic comedy score, its more introverted than that. Introverted in the sense it barely contains strings, definitely no brass and even the instruments are more creating moods then themes. Like track number 1 'Pling Plong', the word says it already. Its a creative tinkling of the theme of the score, which is a simple yet again catchy little tune which is somewhat amusing but nothing more then that. With 'Monochrome' we have a more bouncy little tune, which is more or less the piece you can hear in the begin of the trailer, but its not that; Perhaps Zimmer composed it too but its not found on this bootleg.

But the more you hear the tracks, the more you realize, it could have been more, it could have been different. And the first time, that's a disappointment, the second its a realization Zimmer just again showed more of his versatile voice. 'You Should Carry More' is more introspective tinkling surrounding the theme while the most introspective piece of all is 'Visions of Spongebob', but here the eerie strings bring back the mood of Thin Red Line. 'Living Funeral' is the theme intertwined with tinkling sounds before 'Hot Apple Pie' shows one of the score's most interesting moments. Its again an eerie piece, but the piano and an added violin add perhaps mysterious but interesting emotion to it which makes it again new of him, new for us. With 'Melanchromy' the same eerie emotion is brought before us but here the piano makes more the link then the violin. 'Who Knows?' is another eclectic piece with guitar twangs and a funk to it, and when the guitars grow you reach a Family Man like funk which feels and breaths Danny Elfman like in spirit. With 'Weatherman' we end a rather short album with again a plunky soft mood, the theme is back in the middle along with the violin as binding tool. The question is now, what's The Weather Man now worth? Well, for some its surprising, for some new and fresh, for others a wasted opportunity for which no trouble should have been made. I'm in the middle part, its not really much but its unique from Zimmer's side, and from a fan's perspective its perhaps all what's needed. I do know that there will be moments missing from the score that could have changed my impression (good or bad) and I know if Thomas Newman gets positive acclaim for it, why not Zimmer? Honestly, its not in the same league of Newman's creative fare but what's missing from the album that we haven't heard yet? The Weather Man gives us little answers but a surprising soft score that perhaps does more or less for others.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Pling Plong (3.19)

2. Monochrome (2.33)

3. You Should Carry More (0.49)

4. Visions Of Spongebob (2.15)

5. Living Funeral (1.18)

6. Hot Apple Pie (1.17)

7. Melanchromy (3.15)

8. Who Knows? (1.54)

9. Weatherman (3.46)

Total Length: 20.26

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

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