“The Dark Knight: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” by Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
It's already been 15 years since this one dropped??
Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick marks the 15th anniversary of the film score that arguably established the Hans Zimmer sound as a mainstream commodity.
Genre: Soundtrack, Classical
Label: Reprise
Release Date: August 12, 2008
Vibe: 😰
Less than a month into its theatrical run by the time this soundtrack was released, The Dark Knight had already scored the record for the biggest opening weekend in box office history and was well on its way to grossing $1 billion. That context is important because, without the ravenous appetite for all things related to Nolan’s blockbuster, Hans Zimmer’s score and, by association, his signature sound, may not have infiltrated pop culture in quite the same way. As a result, this score, along with this work on Inception two years later, became instant classics and spawned a legion of devotees and imitators that, besides John Williams, I don’t think has been equaled before or since.
In reality, Zimmer is only one half of the compositional brain trust on this record. James Newton Howard of The Sixth Sense and Signs fame adds a low-key yin to Zimmer’s bulldozing yang, contributing spare, bucolic moments of quiet pathos to queues like “Blood on My Hands.” They’re much-needed breath-catchers mixed in with the propulsive tracks that underscore the film’s now-iconic set pieces, including opener “Why So Serious?” and “Like a Dog Chasing Cars.” Though far from subtle, there’s a compelling case to be made that The Dark Knight soundtrack invented the modern action score: dark, brawny, and unafraid to push your senses to the breaking point.
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