Music Composed by Hans Zimmer
Rating: *** 1/2

I should probably get this out before I start the review: I guiltily-but-giddily loved the three major themes from the first Pirates of the Caribbean score, didn’t care much for the monotonous aural assault that made up the rest of the soundtrack, and felt that the sequel score was an obnoxious and schizophrenic mess with a few outstanding moments nevertheless. In general, the traditionalist in me lamented the fact that Zimmer’s pop anthems supplanted the rich Korngoldian tradition of sea-faring adventure while the fanboy in me got giddy goosebumps whenever Jack Sparrow leapt to Zimmer’s insanely catchy triplet-driven theme. The latter is actually the same basic effect that Korngold’s music has on me when I watch the old Errol Flynn swashbucklers - so in my mind, Zimmer was at least occasionally doing something right. I bring this up because you pretty much need to know where somebody stands on this musical franchise in order to know whether or not you can respect that person’s opinion on this latest installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World’s End. And now you know whether or not you should bother reading further.

Hans Zimmer

If you’ve hated Zimmer’s approach to these films from the start, you’re probably not going to be swayed by anything on offer here. It’s a little more traditional than the first two scores, but Zimmer isn’t exactly about to overhaul his entire musical idiom to satisfy a handful of traditionalists in the film music community. If you loved the first two scores, there’s quite a bit for you to enjoy, but you’re going to have to be a good sport if you were hoping for more of the same. Because while most of the themes from the previous films return in some form or another, they rarely feature in anything more than a musical cameo. Which means that if you, like me, were jonesing for an hour of Jack Sparrow triplets, you won’t get your fix here. For some of you, this will fill you with so much irrational anger that you won’t be able to play the album without hurling it across the room (which may be hard if you already have the CD in your stereo). This was essentially my first reaction, but after the CD survived the crash, I found myself compulsively returning to the album over and over again. Despite my better intentions, I couldn’t stop returning to the goddamned thing, and I still can’t. While I could probably say the same thing about my heroin addiction, I’m actually inclined to say that my crippling addiction to the At the World’s End score has something to do with the quality of the music itself.

There’s really no secret to that quality – simply put, the score holds up as well as it does because it has such a great and elaborate new theme at its core. The melody has so many different segments and counterparts that it almost seems like five different themes that happen to play in counterpoint to each other. Ostensibly a love theme, Zimmer goes at great lengths to demonstrate its versatility — the theme swashbuckles through an Irish jig in “Up is Down,” blazes through Morricone’s “Man with a Harmonica” template in “Parlay,” yearns through a beautiful oboe solo in “I See Dead People in Boats,” and charges through a conclusion both thrilling and tender in “Drink Up Me Hearties.” Not every variation works, but at their best, the theme and all of its separate components (which often get the chance to strike off in their own direction) make you forget all about your crippling original-Pirates-themes addiction.

That’s the good. The bad is that while the album isn’t anywhere near as bombastic as Dead Man’s Chest, it also takes itself far more seriously. I can usually go along with Zimmer’s unapologetically simple pop foundations when he’s only asking me to have fun, but I tend to have a lower tolerance when he asks me to take those simple foundations seriously. His translucent, Mahler-by-way-of-Yanni melodrama works well enough in new-age pieces of Hollywood schmaltz like King Arthur or The Da Vinci Code, but it doesn’t feel appropriate at all in this setting. This was already evident in the last reel of Dead Man’s Chest, where Zimmer’s overbearing melodrama practically buried the film, destroying any of on-screen tongue-in-cheekery in its wake. I don’t know if this approach is any more appropriate in At the World’s End as a film, but it definitely feels overbearing on the album. Large sections of tracks like “At Wit’s End” and “Calypso” really suffer because of this, and even the new theme occasionally suffers under this treatment (I cringe when it gets milked in a gushy arrangement midway through “At Wit’s End”).

At times, I have a hard time telling whether or not the problem lies in the musical approach or simply in the way Zimmer records his music. In a recent interview, Zimmer revealed that roughly 90% of this music uses zero synthesizers, but the recording technique he favors blurs all of the instruments into such a homogenous wall of sound that they might as well be synthesized. I’ve been harping on the music’s simplicity, but for all I know, Zimmer’s using countless complex harmonies that I just can’t hear because they’re buried under that mass of sound. There are exceptions, and they’re notable, but a lot of would-be epic cues are hurt immeasurably because they sound like they’re coming from a Casio keyboard. I’m sure that the return of the Davy Jones theme in “At Wit’s End” or the return of the Jack Sparrow anthem in “One Day” were supposed to sound epic, but the recording makes them sound like synth mock-ups waiting to be orchestrated.

Still, there are a few occasions where both the recording and the orchestration really open up, and these moments make the album worth having. The aforementioned “Up is Down,” a gleeful lovechild of Lord of the Dance and the countless fantasy scores written by Zimmer’s protégés, is one of the few occasions in the score that actually takes full advantage of the orchestra. In the score’s most complete rendition of the new theme, Zimmer sends the melody and all of its contrapuntal layers through nearly every choir in the orchestra. At one point he even sends a counter melody through a question-and-answer down four octaves and the corresponding instrumental groups — it really makes you wish Zimmer would write (and/or record) like this more often, as he’s clearly capable of it.

The second big exception comes in the mammoth action cue, “I Don’t Think Now Is The Best Time.” The piece features a lot of blatant cutting-and-pasting from various action sequences throughout the trilogy, but it has one dynamite moment that actually will make the entire CD worth purchasing for a handful of people. After running us through a seemingly never-ending cycle of action variations, at the 7:19 mark we finally get to hear the Jack Sparrow action theme in all its glory. If the theme’s appearance in Dead Man’s Chest marked its first fully orchestral appearance, the theme’s appearance here essentially marks its first fully orchestrated appearance. Abandoning its usual homophonic setting, Zimmer actually adds a flurry of counterpoint to the theme, playing off the orchestra’s potential in a way he usually ignores (dig those Goldenthalian horn trills in the background!). He also frees the theme from its signature triplets, allowing it to swing with a little more rhythmic ease in the rollicking 6/8 meter (in the process he even manages to tip his hat to Debney’s Cutthroat Island at the 8:10 mark). It really makes one wish that Zimmer had used the theme more, as it’s clearly more malleable than previously suspected, and it still compels the listener to stand up and shout “Huzzah!”

There are other highlights and even another theme (a dirge for the pirates that quickly turns into a more upbeat, King Arthurian call to arms in “What Shall We Die For”), but I think you get the idea at this point. For all of its flaws, Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World’s End still makes for an extremely entertaining and at times even moving album. It may not be quite as fun as the original, but it plays endlessly better than the second, and the handful of standout cues are as fine as anything Zimmer’s ever written. Plus, the endlessly intricate nature of the new theme and the surprising impressive level of contrapuntal writing means that you actually don’t have to turn your brain all the way off to enjoy a Zimmer Pirates score! Not recommended for all, but anyone who even considers Zimmer a passing guilty pleasure should add this to the list. Now what am I going to do now that I no longer have a good excuse to listen to this on repeat all day?

Music Composed by Hans Zimmer; Conducted by Blake Neely and Nick Glennie-Smith; Orchestrations by Walter Fowler, Elizabeth Finch, Ken Kugler, Suzette Moriarty and Steve Bartek; Additional Music by Lorne Balfe, Tom Gire, Nick Glennie-Smith, Henry Jackman, Atli Örvarsson, John Sponsler and Geoff Zanelli; “Hoist the Colours” lyrics by Gore Verbinski, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio; Recorded and mixed by Alan Meyerson and Slamm Andrews; Album Produced by Hans Zimmer, Bob Badami and Melissa Muik; Label: Walt Disney Records, (D000037102); Availability: In-print; U.S. Release Date: May 22, 2007.

01. Hoist the Colours (1:31)
02. Singapore (3:40)
03. At Wit’s End (8:05)
04. Multiple Jacks (3:51)
05. Up Is Down (2:42)
06. I See Dead People In Boats (7:09)
07. The Brethren Court (2:21)
08. Parlay (2:10)
09. Calypso (3:02)
10. What Shall We Die For (2:02)
11. I Don’t Think Now Is the Best Time (10:45)
12. One Day (4:01)
13. Drink Up Me Hearties (4:31)

Total Running Time: 55:45