King Arthur

Hans Zimmer

 
" King Arthur and the knights of the power anthems "

Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release

The Legend of King Arthur and his knights, the quest for Excalibur, Merlin, Guinevere and the round table is a known one. But somehow Hollywood thought it could unleash another tale of it, this time the story behind the legend. Of course this is all hoopla so that people would eventually check it out and give it a record braking box office score. And eventually it somehow did all that. The darker tale did lure enough people to the theater and the film eventually received a proper rating and a more than successeful box office success.

Now considering Jerry Bruckheimer was on board, A Bruckheimer sound was needed. And considering Fuqua worked with several puppeteers before (Harry Gregsgon-Williams and Mark Mancina), it was Hans Zimmer that made quite the impact with Tears of the Sun one year before, resulting in the return of Hans Zimmer. The result is this typical but powerful power anthem soundtrack, constructed in the long suite tradition so that fans get the best possible presentation of Hans' his ideas and his intentions.

We open with the song based on the main theme by Hans Zimmer in "Tell me Now (What you See)", a mysterious sounding Moya Brennan guiding the theme powerfully enough towards a satisfying conclusion. Enough for you to dig the sound of it when you start the suite presentation with "Woad to Ruin", a track chockfull of power anthems, both mysterious and powerful. The mysterious side is coming from the ample use of the main theme, while the power is injected through the gunho eruption of rhythms and ethnic growls, unleashing for the first time the heroic main theme in pure power anthem style near the end of the track. Basically an appetizer of all the various styles you'll get during the remainder of the score.

Resulting in suspenseful rhythmic aggressiveness in "Do You Think I'm a Saxon", a couple of memorable versions of the main theme in 'Hold the Ice" and a muscular powerhouse piece called "Budget Meeting". Literally exploding with the ideas of the second track, it's a humongous piece that has one amazing highlight, right in the middle the main theme is called out for a rhythmic action version, literally fueling the adrenaline meter even higher. Or basically the quality Zimmer is known for. In all the excitement, coming up with the power anthem manner by which he keeps setting his scores on fire. The same for the final track, unleashing a couple of emotional charged versions of the main theme in "All of Them", one even more supercharged than the other.

And yet there are things I don't really like in King Arthur, for instance the fact it's not the kind of music you accept and expect in an epic sword and sorcery tale such as this. But like POTC and TDK, it's a sound that you have to accept if you want to live in the Zimmer universe. And IF you accept it, you come in contact with a powerful 'no holding back' attitude that does one thing really well. It literally kicks ass when it's played loud. And once again, somehow in between all the expectations it works on screen, and definitely during the battle sequences. Call it what you will, but King Arthur surely became through all this the power anthem king of 2004.

Favorite Moment - Budget Meeting (4.39 - 5.33)
I love these moments, suddenly out of nowhere the power anthems to make the action even more excitement.

Track Listing

1. Tell me Now (What you See): Moya Brennan (4.38)
2. Woad to Ruin (11.36) Excellent track
3. Do You Think I'm a Saxon (8.46)
4. Hold the Ice (5.45)
5. Another Brick in Hadrian's Wall (7.16)
6. Budget Meeting (9.47) Excellent track
7. All of Them (10.24) Excellent track

Total Length: 58.12
(click to rate this score)  
 
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(total of 22 votes - average 3.91/5)

Released by

Hollywood Records 2061-62461-2 (regular release 2004)

Conducted by

Nick Glennie-Smith

Performed by

The Metro Voices