> Predictable from a strictly musical point of view. Every composer has a
> style of their own, from Josquin to Debussy. You can identify them by
> listening to the music they made. Haydn or Bach have predictable styles.
> Yet, they can be profoundly original inside their own style. They can be
> fresh, complex and surprising. And they were constantly evolving .

And Zimmer is no exception. He's also evolving, just not in a direction that some people like. Though there are similarities in his scores, there are also clear distinctions between the musical choices Zimmer makes in the 2000's and those he made in 1990's.

Many of the composers who evolved in the past did so to the ire of establishments that had supported their earlier, more conventional works. And only long after their deaths were their later works accepted by the "experts".

The most controversial of Zimmer's scores tend to be his biggest and most intense ones from the last several years. Being a Wagnerian, I'm partial to that style and recognize how Zimmer has been evolving his synthesizer-heavy variation of it. A lot of people are not, and, to them, it tends to sound the same, just as the music in genres that I don't care for tends to sound the same to me.

It's interesting that Zimmer has developed a crossover appeal both with people who like big orchestral and choral works and with people who like rock (which I don't with only rare exceptions). Normally, the two don't see eye to eye on anything.