From the perspective of a film score collector, the most interesting observation about the music for Blood Diamond is that it sounds in many parts like a true Hans Zimmer score. Maybe Zwick had Tears of the Sun in mind when consulting with Howard, but, conversely, maybe Howard achieved the sound completely by accident. Either way, Howard proves in Blood Diamond that he can expand upon Zimmer's styles better than Zimmer himself. The concept of Blood Diamond is this: take a simplistic set of themes and rhythms and flesh them out with outrageously diverse sounds and mix them into a result that defies the underlying simplicity. While the primary theme resembles the qualities of a tribal song, it also follows stereotypical, minor key progressions of a very basic Media Ventures theme. Howard often hands this theme to a unified string section, furthering the connection. The action pieces feature frenetic, rhythmic pounding of varied percussion and quick brass spikes also reminiscent of a score like Tears of the Sun. A nearly constant electronic element is also present, from the synthetic wailing of a guitar to an extremely powerful base. A solo flute over percussion, solo female voice, expansive bass, and heavy strings in "Crossing the Bridge" absolutely begs for comparison to similarly harmonic sequences in Zimmer's Beyond Rangoon. Where Howard manages to excel beyond this Zimmer template is in two areas: pacing and instrumentation. The selection of specialty instruments has already been applauded, to some extent, though a special mention also needs to go to the merging of the two different choirs for the project. When Howard inserts his set of vocals over a percussively powerful thematic progression (as in "Solomon Vandy"), it's more elegant and authentic in its rendering.

The superb pacing of the score is a carry-over from Lady in the Water, a Howard effort from earlier in 2006 made irresistible by its keen sense of movement. The simplicity of the title theme in Blood Diamond allows Howard to roll it along as effortlessly here as he did in Lady in the Water. Several sensitive cues extend lengthy performances of this theme, and while it may be repetitive in the fact that it has only one measure of variation in its bars, its highly exotic conveyance is addictive. The light electronic presence at the end of "London" is complete proof of the effectiveness of synthetics in a stunningly beautiful role amongst a full orchestral and choral ensemble. The action material is not quite as listenable, and with their faint similarities to the brutality of Black Hawk Down, wild cues like "Village Attack" and "Fall of Freetown" will interest you for only one listen. Overall, Blood Diamond is a fascinating, but somewhat unrewarding listening experience. If only Howard had been able to fuse the pacing and mixing of the softer cues in some way to make the action cues flow with better consistency, the score could have been magnificent. As it stands, parts of it suffer from a hyperactive bass region caused by incessantly rolling percussion. Still, the six or seven conversational cues featuring the title theme, along with the harmonious "Crossing the Bridge" cue, make for a very strong listening experience apart from the film. On the other hand, the rap song featured over the end credits of film is a horrific inclusion (Zwick actually had a hand in writing that trash?), and score collectors will be well served by ignoring the songs at the end of the album. The score has its flaws, but with some rearrangement on your own compilations, what you get from Blood Diamond will be extremely satisfying.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download