> Iīm sorry for the double post. I cant delete it.

No offense taken.

> Precisely. Why do you think they resonate so well? The chords he uses to
> support his themes are the most directly appealing to the human hear
> because they make the first part of the natural harmonic serie -
> C1,C2,G2,C3,E3,G3,B flat3,C4, D4.... (C,E,G - I) (G/B/D - V). Therefore a
> melodic sequence only based on I and V will always sound automatically
> appealing to the ear. Itīs natural. Itīs a natural game of
> tension/distension/tension. Itīs perfectly effective (but extremely
> simple). Thatīs why tonality is the most natural musical system. Of course
> if a composer like J.Williams uses atonal passages, polyrhythmia, modes
> and stuff like that, the music will not be very entertaning or hummable.
> Yet is a much more effective and interesting music. Zimmerīs music on the
> other hand is so homophonic, chordal and consonant that his simplicity is
> immediately noticiable even for a non-musician. Is a linear repetion of
> rhythmic and melodic structures (extremely simple structures) based on the
> same damn bass.

Well, I'm not saying Pirates 3 is up there with John Williams classics. i love intricate, dense, and strongly varied works and normally prefer effective and interesting music over simply pure entertainment. I felt this Zimmer score was less homophonic than many of his others...yes, it still went back to those tendencies, but it was still enjoyable and interesting enough that I liked it. No, I'm not giving this score a five-star rating cuz it's nowhere close, but the score was effective and infectious for me.

And I'm not even going to bother talking about all those chords, cuz I'm sure you're absolutely right. Why can't more people be better at criticizing composers as opposed to "This guy sucks" commenters?

> James Horner is a musician. He knows everything Zimmer doesnt know. Heīs
> just an idiot when he steals from other composers.

Amen on the stealing. Though I don't think Hans Zimmer isn't a musican. Yes, James Horner is more accomplished and, let's face it, just better, but that doesn't take away from Hans' ability to write music. And Horner doesn't know everything Hans doesn't...if he did, he would learn that ripping of yourself is occasionally an annoying trend and would've stopped it a while ago.

> Itīs surprising to use woodwinds? You must be kidding me. Just because
> Zimmer doesnt use them it doesnt make it more surprising. Every composer
> uses woodwinds.

1. It's surprising for most Zimmer music, at least in the way they were used. 2. NO DUH EVERY COMPOSER USES WOODWINDS. I own...a lot (don't remember the number) of scores and have figured out (gee, it took a while) that there is a musical section called the woodwinds. I'm not saying that simply because Hans used woodwinds he's a genius. But it did add a better dimension to the piece, which is why I feel it's one of the better cues Hans has written in quite a while, sort of like how I think this is the best Zimmer score since King Arthur.

> Because there is no depth. Thereīs a bass and a melodic line above it. The
> other instruments simply duplicate one or the other. Itīs a lazy process.

OMG! You found the word I was looking for! (I'm not being sarcastic) I think it's absolutely stupid for people to criticize Hans for being a bad composer because he isn't...even in all his simplicity and self-repitition, he's still amazingly effective and infrequently great. But lazy is exactly the word that describes him; he never seems to want to take his music to the next level, always settling for second best or "hey, this sounds good, so I won't put anymore thought into it". Sometimes that second-best can still be really good...and sometimes you can go, "wait, I'm not listening to King Arthur". At World's End represents Zimmer being less lazy than usual, and for me (obviously not everyone), the result of that extra effort was a much better score than previous pirates installments. Maybe if Zimmer put in the extra effort all the time I'd be ranking King Arthur and the Last Samurai up there with Gladiator and Crimson Tide...pity.

As for Up Is Down, I think there's depth. It's not immense and it's certainly not superb, but it beats a solitary bass line. And the cue's fun, which is really the reason I liked it..."fun" never really comes to mind in a Zimmer score.

Once again, the stop zimmer fanboys box is clicked