Soundtracks

[piratelassie]

I knows there's been lots o' rumour swappin' hereabouts concernin' POTC 2 an' 3. I were wonderin whether anyone knows if Klaus Badelt will be composin' the soundtracks again.

I unnerstands if taint possible ter tell, but I were curious the same

[Christine]

Not sure if it be the same composer for the sequels. I think it is tho. Bess had mentioned somewhere on here to be prepared for more great music.

[Charity]

If it will be only half as good as the music in the first movie it will ROCK!

It's fantastic :)

[Mission]

No, Badelt will not be scoring POTC II and III. He's working on a bunch of other scores right now. According to musicfromthemovies.com, Hans Zimmer, who produced the score for the Pirates of the Caribbean will compose the scores for the two sequels. Of course, that's sort of misleading too...

The cognosciente on the movie music website on which I post say that Zimmer doesn't really compose the scores. He's so popular in the business that he's sort of like a clearing house for composition: he gets the job and farms it out to other unknown composers. Then he puts his name on it.

Even Badelt was chosen by Zimmer to score the first movie - my understanding is that he had a lot of help from other composers. It was considered by many film score afficianados to be a hodge-podge mess of a score. I liked it fine, though.

I expect the next one will be similarly scored due to the popularity of the last one.

[Captain Charlotte Savvy]

As I recall, anyway, even Badelt didn't really compose the music for PotC. There's a bit on the PotC DVD with Gore and Johnny where Johnny asks, "So, who _did_ compose the music for the film, exactly?" and Gore answers, "Oh, something like six people." Badelt was the main composer and all, but a bunch of other people were composing for it, too.

Sooo ... this is still all cool. :) As long as they keep the old themes and add in some new ones, they really can't go wrong anyway. The original PotC soundtrack remains my favorite musical soundtrack no matter what mood I'm in; it's just fabulous.

[Caraccioli]

Now that we have all three and I've given AWE a good listen (or dozen), I can create a proper playlist! They are either "In the order that I like them" (the first 7 or 8 tracks) or "In the order that they make the most sense to me" (the rest).

1. Jack Sparrow (Dead Man's Chest) - by far my favorite POTC track and the most-played tune on my iPod. (189 times and counting).

2. Up is Down (At World's End) - the best track on the new album IMO. Jaunty and fun

3. Wheel of Fortune (DMC) - My favorite kitchen sink track. (A kitchen sink track throws everything but...well you get the idea.) For whatever reason, I like it better than the k.s. track I Don't Think Now Is the Best Time from AWE. Although that one is decent enough as well.

4. Skull and Crossbones (Curse of the Black Pearl) - contains the best version of the POTC main theme by far. Better than Drink Up Me Hearties and He's a Pirate because of its intensity IMO. This is almost a k.s. track.

5. The Medallian Calls (CotBP) - [appears to be a misnamed track - should be Introduction of Captain Jack or some such, but many of the tracks on this CD are misnamed - I suspect because it was put together in a hurry. This may also explain why the divisions between songs are not very well planned. This detracts very little from this soundtrack, except when individual tracks are pulled out. Like I've done here. ]

6. Dinner is Served (DMC) NOTE: I have edited the waltz or whatever that nonsense at the end of this track is out - this is ONLY the native music. Otherwise it would have to be at the bottom of the list somewhere. If it were on the list at all.

7. Multiple Jacks (AWE) - A goofy rendition of Captain Jack's theme. I like it. Plus it has the stone crab theme.

8. He's a Pirate (CotBP)

9. I Don't Think Now Is the Best Time (AWE)

10. Drink Up Me Hearties (AWE)

11. At Wit's End (AWE)

12. The Black Pearl (CotBP) [Appears to be misnamed] -Note: CotBP songs that I like in best order IMO start here.

13. Will and Elizabeth (CotBP) [Appears to be misnamed]

14. Swords Crossed (CotBP) [Appears to be misnamed]

15. Bootstrap's Bootstraps (CotBP) - This also contains the intense version of the main theme and it could have been up there in place of Skull and Crossbones had they left the key change part of this tune (where Governor Swann is fighting the animated, amputated, undead arm) in instead of editing it out. Who chose to remove that?!

16. Blood Ritual (CotBP)

17. Moonlight Serenade (CotBP)

18. To the Pirate's Cave! (CotBP)

19. Singapore (AWE) -Note: Goofy music that doesn't match other music on CDs IMO that I like begins here

20. Davy Jones (DMC)

21. Two Hornpipes (Tortuga) (DMC) - Note: this is actually a favorite of mine, but it is so jarringly out of place amidst all the other material that it got moved down here. This is definitely a "top of this list" sort of track, though and it is one of the few here that appears in other playlists of mine. In fact, it and Jack Sparrow are the only two tunes on the top 25 list that the iPod generates for me (positions 1 and 8, respectively.)

22. Underwater March (CotBP) - I love the last half of this but find the first half slightly too depressing in tone for repeated, standalone listening. It really should be two different tracks IMO. (I should probably edit it.)

[Iron Bess]

You have WAY too much time on your hands!

[Caraccioli]

Actually, I post on a soundtrack site and if something has crossover potential...well, it gets crossed over. I have written dozens of soundtrack reviews and have gobs of soundtracks; my iPod library is at least half composed of them. They definitely get the most listening time when I am on the road. My Top 25 list is mostly soundtrack tunes. It's great stuff for ideating.

" I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ... I get most joy in life out of music." -Albert Einstein

"I draws what I likes and I likes what I drew..." -Bert, Mary Poppins

[Blackbead]

And in three hundred years, I hope that people will be listening to Williams just like we listen to Bach and to Horner just like we listen to Mozart and to Goldsmith just like we listen to . . . you get the idea.

BB

[Caraccioli]

I have always thought this was an interesting possibility. Several people on the site where I post are quite dogmatic in their insistence that movie soundtracks are not classical music. Yet, most of this music has its roots there. Even Williams admitted that he used Holst's The Planets as inspiration for his original soundtrack for Star Wars.

In the end, it's probably irrelevant - you could just as well insist that each composer's body of work or even each piece should be in it's own category. Categories are really quite arbitrary at their core. I notice that the classical music radio station I occasionally listen to puts movie tracks and even Broadway show tunes in their rotation. I recall one such station having a several hour show devoted specifically to soundtracks. I imagine the best soundtrack tunes will be played well into the future just as the best classical music is played today. Most of the stuff will probably fade away over time, just as most of the lesser known classical music has.

[The Doctor]

Those we consider "classical" composers were the "pop" stars of their time.