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Rango
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Co-Composed and Produced by:
Co-Composed and Co-Arranged by:
Heitor Pereira
Co-Composed by:
John Thum David Thum Rick Garcia Kenneth Karman Gore Verbinski James Ward Byrkit
Co-Arranged by:
Lorne Balfe Tom Gire Michael Levine Dominic Lewis Adam Peters John Sponsler Geoff Zanelli Louis Knatchbull William Malpede
Conducted by:
Nick Glennie-Smith
Orchestrated by:
Bruce L. Fowler Walter E. Fowler Kevin Kaska Elizabeth Finch Rick Giovinazzo Yvonne S. Moriarty
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LABEL & RELEASE DATE
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Regular U.S. release.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... only if you desire a faithful musical souvenir to reflect
the zany personality of the film, with endless parodies and movie quotes
endearing to concept enthusiasts.
Avoid it... if you're interested in hearing a cohesive Hans Zimmer
score, because much of the short soundtrack consists of predictable
Latin or faux-Western musical cliches written or arranged by others,
often poking fun at famous Western scores or Zimmer's previous works.
BUY IT
 | Zimmer |
Rango: (Hans Zimmer/Various) Lampooning the Western
genre from a new, comically reptilian angle is Rango, the first
foray into animated features for director/producer Gore Verbinski and
famed special effects company Industrial Light & Magic. Praised by
critics for its sharp, easy-to-follow visual sense and a thankful return
to 2-D, the early 2011 film has also received kudos for its smart
handling of the Western genre, lovingly addressing all of the
stereotypical characters, locations, and scenarios that made movies like
Blazing Saddles so entertaining. In this case, a chameleon lizard
named Rango naively takes on the challenge of becoming a sheriff in a
small Old West town, encountering challenges from nasty antagonists, the
landscape, and within. Everything in the film is executed with a tongue
lodged firmly in the cheek, taking nothing about the concept seriously.
Returning with Verbinski for another project is his usual crew,
including star Johnny Depp and composer Hans Zimmer. The director is
well known to have had a collaboration with composer Alan Silvestri
disintegrate in the process of making the first Pirates of the
Caribbean film, shifting to his partnership with Hans Zimmer from
The Ring and sticking with him for all of his motion pictures
since. The small bit of irony in that situation is the fact that
Silvestri had written music for Verbinski's The Mexican in 2001
that could have served as a foundation for what was later required in
Rango. As one might expect, however, the soundtrack for the 2011
movie became something of a marketing bonanza, bringing together a few
Latin-related artists to provide songs to compliment Zimmer's score.
That score, not surprisingly as well, is a massive collaborative effort
that includes ten arrangers and six orchestrators and once again stirs
up the ongoing debate about how much of this music should really be
credited to only Zimmer on the movie poster and front cover of the
album.
The only other major composing credit for the
Rango soundtrack goes to Heitor Pereira, Zimmer's longtime
assistant specializing in the area of Latin-flavored, guitar-driven
flair, and John and David Thum, who wrote the two original songs
performed by Los Lobos for the production and had some of that material
incorporated into medleys within the score. In only three tracks
featured on the album is Zimmer afforded solo writing and production
credits, the remainder of the score cues arranged by a plethora of his normal
Remote Control staff. Call these laborers "arrangers" if you must, but
the term ghostwriters will always enter the discussion so long as
Zimmer's material is adapted by his army of assistants in such a high
number of stylistic directions throughout these types of scores.
Otherwise, everything you need to know about the soundtrack is summed up
by this statistic: 35 minutes of music over 20 tracks. That's the
breakdown of the commercial album, and really the only practical way of
presenting the music given how compartmentalized its final development
seems to be. The two Los Lobos songs are offered at the end, and a
series of source-like blends of song and score exist in several tracks
provided by Rick Garcia. The two Pereira tracks are pure Mexican
stereotype source additions, guitars and trumpets unashamed of their
unoriginality. There's one medley that uses music by Richard Wagner and
Johann Strauss as well, integrating "Ride of the Valkyries" directly
into the tone of the score. Otherwise, you have about ten cues of
Zimmer's thematic and instrumental tendencies adapted into recognizable
variants. His solo cues are "Rango Suite," which touches upon all of the
thematic material referenced through the later arrangements, "Rango and
Beans" (a largely subdued and inconsequential cue), and "The Sunset
Shot" at the end, a good finale that is unfortunately cut short at its
conclusion by a very abrupt edit in the mastering. The other cues
liberally quote and manipulate the themes in Zimmer's main suite, often
making very clear references to previous Zimmer scores.
As one could predict, Zimmer's long established love of
Ennio Morricone's Spaghetti Western music is clearly an influence, and
the parodies of the classic genre style is joined by John and David
Thum's cute rip of Elmer Bernstein in "We Ride, Really!" The
contemporary side of the score owes a bit to Robert Rodriguez's music,
too. Some of the rhythmic sound effects employed by Zimmer late in the
suite are reminiscent of early Danny Elfman personality. More
interesting for Zimmer collectors will be the parodies of Zimmer's own
early mannerisms, including several passages and thematic progressions
seemingly lifted directly from Broken Arrow and Point of No
Return. A fair amount of spritely spirit of a swashbuckling nature
points back to Muppet Treasure Island more than Pirates of the
Caribbean. The heralded open trumpet sequences from Crimson
Tide make a return at the end of "It's a Miracle." Once again,
Zimmer handles prancing comedic movements through staccato pounding in
the base region, and despite some of his ensemble's attempts to breathe
life into the score through dynamic instrumental humor, the recording's
shaving of the upper and lower reaches to maximize gain levels once
again betrays that intent. Ultimately, the music for Rango
achieves its goals, and Zimmer's army of assistants managed to supply
the score with the appropriate stream of parody. But at the end of the
day, there's very little unique substance to be heard in this score, and
the choppy album presentation won't likely appeal to film score
collectors. While Zimmer has produced some outstanding music for
animation in the past, this one is unfortunately closer to the format
and quality of the Madagascar scores. With many of the cues
overlayed with dialogue from the film, the Rango soundtrack album
is clearly meant as a souvenir for enthusiasts of the film, as such
succeeding in emulating the wacky personality when heard in context.
Otherwise, it's a lightweight effort from Zimmer, one that once again
proves his immense capability in regards to coordinating the talent
around him. ** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check: |
For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.93
(in 98 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.95
(in 277,221 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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Zimmer Hate Evengan - March 28, 2011, at 6:04 p.m. |
1 comment (1704 views) |
Total Time: 34:54
1. Welcome Amigo - performed by Rick Garcia (1:08)
2. Rango Suite (6:00)
3. Certain Demise (0:26)
4. Medley: It's a Metaphor/Forkboy - performed by Lard (0:45)
5. Welcome to Dirt (1:01)
6. Name's Rango (1:34)
7. Lizard For Lunch - performed by Jose Hernandez, Anthony Zuniga, and Robert Lopez (1:28)
8. Stuck in Guacamole (0:23)
9. Underground (3:20)
10. We Ride, Really! (0:53)
11. Rango and Beans (1:07)
12. Medley: Bats/Rango Theme/Ride of the Valkyries/And Der Schon Blauen Donau, Op. 314 (4:31)
13. The Bank's Been Robbed - performed by Rick Garcia (0:24)
14. Rango Returns (1:18)
15. La Muerte a Llegado - performed by Rick Garcia and George Del Hoyo (0:47)
16. It's a Miracle (2:00)
17. El Canelo - performed by Los Lobos (0:46)
18. The Sunset Shot (0:56)
19. Walk Don't Rango - performed by Los Lobos and Arturo Sandoval (2:50)
20. Rango Theme Song - performed by Los Lobos (3:28)
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The insert contains extensive credits, a list of performers, and
a fold-out poster, but no extra information about the score or film.
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