Pirates of the Caribbean

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Leave it to Jerry Bruckheimer to come up with exciting summer movies to entertain us all the way during the bloody hot summers. And leave it to Alan Silvestri to score them. Well, laddy you are wrong since Bruckheimer only deals to none other than Hans Zimmer. And if he doesn't want, can't or isn't willing, then one of Zimmer's most careful clones will get the job done. Everybody was looking forward to Silvestri's ideas and music since he on an adventure ride is like tasting the almighty impressions of Cutthroat Island already over our lips, but Bruckheimer had other and wiser plans since only MV was qualified to score the piece. Bruckheimer has produced successful and entertaining movies, with the pumping action music so gloriously overscoring them. But this is not an action movie like Enemy of the State or The Rock but basically an adventure ride full of action and then different composers call for the situation. Jerry Goldsmith or Alan Silvestri. But after Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt were mentioned as substitutes, only Badelt was left onboard with dozens of co composers and orchestrators to get the job done, they used however themes that Badelt and Zimmer wrote. Badelt has proven with The Time Machine that he can deal with situations like these and compose totally non MV sounding scores. But Bruckheimer wanted the MV sound and so he got it, with Zimmer overproducing it, Badelt overscoring it and the rest overbringing it. Media Ventures stands for fun and the known sound and its really surprising how well this score works in the film, but Pirates of the Caribbean is anything but original since the stamp of MV is all over the place. Take it from me, the score is a thrill ride, but one that walks the plank towards unoriginal waters.

That doesn't take away that Pirates of the Caribbean is nonetheless fun, one that doesn't require intelligence to actually dig what's coming your way. And still, its a jig that opens the cheap synths in 'Fog Bound'. The main theme briefly states its present at the end soft. 'The Medallion Calls' by then states the second theme of the score, a typical MV march which is enjoyable as totally heard before, and further 'The Black Pearl' introducing us a Peacemaker like clone theme, action, heroic and fun it may sounds, it all sounds typical close to what we heard before. 'Swords Crossed' by then states its loud wings with an overblown, loud and totally thrilling action piece after 1.41 which is stunning in its energy as completely unfitting for the genre of swashbuckling adventure. It again works flawlessly for the scene but when you listen and expect something completely different, you can't feel but think this is a nightmare in pirates' hell. 'Barbossa is Hungry' is a much better to appreciate track because it doesn't bring relentless action music but snippets of powerful fanfares with a great percussion beat behind the music, giving it more a feel that this is more fitting then the MV action music. 'Moonlight Serenade' explodes after some calm music with the main theme and the powerful action music of track 5 returns in the first part with the main theme in 'To the Pirates Cave!'. Together, the same techniques are used in more powerful energetic versions to create enjoyable pumping pieces which are more unoriginal then the time they started the first score track of the album.

With the astonishing loud and synthetic versions of the main theme in 'Skull and Crossbones' and neither action theme appearing in the overbearing (even though it captures a brief sound of heroic coolness never to be heard) in 'Bootstrap's Bootstraps', which does end with a great main theme statement, the end of the powerhouse is nearing itself more loud then ever. 'Underwater March' states the main theme synthetically cool enough to like it and somewhat relieving is the calm music during 'One Last Shot', with the jig and an emotional relieving statement of the main theme. I like 'He's A Pirate' the best because it signals the music of in the grandest fashion with the colliding of the main theme and Peacemaker like theme in most astonishing order, even though it brings the same as everything else. Sadly the best action adventure piece during the end isn't heard on this CD but I guess many people pointed that out already. Pirates of the Caribbean is your typical powerful anthem, with its relentless action music, choir underscoring it even more, with its various action themes and co composers helping all a bone into the proceeding. The fact that so many composers added additional music to the score secures that the dozen of action themes all barely differ from one another, making it solid in the proceeding if unoriginal at all. But the question is this, why bring a total MV like score if you've got Badelt which could bring a total non MV score in the place, like The Time Machine proved? Simple, the producers wanted that and they got it, a thrilling MV action score full of adrenalin and unoriginality. Yet swashbuckling it is not because it supports the movies like action stock. Fun, but it had to accompany it like swashbuckling adventure music and that is what's it all about. Laddy, secure your swords and pump up the pressure, because Pirates of the Caribbean blows your stack of gold out of the water for good. Fun intended but a thrill ride for the wrong genre, even though it makes utter sense during the picture, which concludes again a review that doesn't make any goddamn sense.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Fog Bound (2.16)

2. The Medallion Calls (1.52)

3. The Black Pearl (2.16)

4. Will And Elizabeth (2.08)

5. Swords Crossed (3.15)

6. Walk The Plank (1.58)

7. Barbossa Is Hungry (4.06)

8. Blood Ritual (3.32)

9. Moonlight Serenade (2.08)

10. To The Pirates Cave! (3.30)

11. Skull And Crossbones (3.23)

12. Bootstrap's Bootstraps (2.38)

13. Underwater March (4.12)

14. One Last Shot (4.45)

15. He's A Pirate (1.30) Excellent Track

Total Length: 43.38

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

=== Link to Composer Site: Klaus Badelt ===