The Dark Knight Rises

My fellow Amazonian seekers of The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack: RISE! That, my friends, is the triumphant call I hear over and over in my head as I valiantly listen to this mind-blowing soundtrack. Now don't let this review fool you -- I am no "experted" aficionado of music, as many other reviewers appear to be. With my ill-knowledge of all things music theory, rather than write individual track reviews, I'll write this review based off the roller-coaster of emotions this soundtrack has PUNCHED into my soul. That's right -- PUNCHED. I hope this unconventional review won't offend you or embarrass Amazon. Fingers crossed. To start, I am a fanatic of the Batman series and franchise. If I told you how many times and how many hours I've spent listening to the first two films' soundtracks, you would probably call the police. Seriously. Almost every darn-ed day for the past many years, I have valiantly blasted Zimmer's darkly sweet and sweeping crescendos into my mind and soul. They've brought me through dark times of life and light times alike, and always end up bringing me back "home", so to speak. So on the cusp of this most recent and final addition to the Batman trilogy, I have eagerly anticipated the soundtrack release as giddily as a little child on Christmas Eve, frantically hopping back and forth in front of the fireplace, waiting for Santa to come plunging down that chimney with my soundtrack. Only for me, Santa's first name is "Hans", his last name is "Zimmer", with his middle name possibly being "THE BIG MAN" -- that's how much explosive hope and excitement I've held for this soundtrack. With the movie's trailers building up to this soundtrack's release, I've eagerly gobbled up and savored the bits and pieces of music from this coming soundtrack. And the one piece that's gripped me the most from the trailers is the track I've most anxiously awaited: "Rise" But alas, dark times befell me when the 30-second samples from the soundtrack were officially released onto the net a few weeks ago. "Was this it?" I worriedly pondered. "Was this what this grandly epic soundtrack was going to amount to?" I was scared, I'll tell ya, having just those 30-second samples. I knew we were going to need this soundtrack in the dark times ahead. When the one-minute samples were released, I was even more scared. "Oh no... Please Hans, please say this isn't so..." I'd say it in my mind, almost afraid to keep listening. "Please Han-sy, please just say this isn't so. This isn't how this soundtrack can turn out. Not this. Not now." I almost cried. Almost. But while I couldn't see it at the time, I would be soon to realize that my fears were unfounded, and merely my own personal "dark night of the soul". When the full soundtrack was officially released for streaming online, I cautiously, solemnly pressed play and awaited. And I'll just put it simply by saying: MY. MIND. WAS. BLOWN. K, here's where the review may start to get a bit crazy: I have listened to this soundtrack 40+ times over the past week. I know you don't believe me. That's ok. Most people don't. But seriously. I listen to this soundtrack about 8-10 hours a day, every day, eternally looping: In the car. At work. Walking around town. Swooping through the park like Batman. You may think that last one is just an allusion. But it's not. Stay tuned. This soundtrack is a beautiful conglomeration of the first two movies' soundtracks, swirling together the previous melodies, rhythms, and themes, but with plenty more bombastic-blastic action and grand, sweeping, up-and-down emotions battling out on an epic scale before us. The soundtrack builds up slowly, like a thief creeping into the night. It's dark. It starts real dark, alright. Ominous. As in "Oh my gosh, what is going to happen to Batman when this movie starts??" It begins to speed forward like a runaway freight train. While "The Dark Knight" soundtrack personified the movie's villain, the Joker, with harsh, chaotic, "electric" cords of gritty insanity and disarray -- like nails shredding chalkboard -- this soundtrack's villain, the almighty Bane, is just as well-paired with the movie's score. Bane, the movie's villainous monster of godly strength, is (assumed-ly) personified with monstrous, low-pitched, and booming brass horns, and pounded together with the thunderous drums, all in staccato-like frequency. While listening, I imagine myself clad in the black bat-cape and cowl, deftly dodging and somersaulting in-between the thunderous, elephant-stomps of Bane's tree-trunk-like legs, pounding the earth's ground with echoing tremors. I tread lightly and dodge quickly in rhythm with the violins, all while keeping a watchful eye on and dodging between the crushing blows of the horns and drums. It's ominous, it's powerful, it's scary. It's like a symphonic earthquake of good and evil in my mind, leaving me worriedly wondering if I'm going to be crushed in my cubicle at any moment by the ominous and shattering slams of the trombones. But alas, we're accompanied with just as triumphant and heroic moments as the previous soundtracks. Gosh, I just get excited thinking about it. When the hero's violins come sweeping in, I literally have to start moving around quickly as they sound; sometimes I even start running (if I'm outside). And believe it or not, sometimes (often) I not only have to jump up and throw a couple fist-pumps of victory into the air, cheering on what Batman must be heroically punching through in the movie's moment, but I also just have to break out my air-violin and start rapidly sweeping my bow back and forth in time with our hero's symphony, even to the point of sweating. Crazy, yes. Goodness, the violins just sweep you up and away! Dare I even mention that between the fist-pumps and bow-swings, I've even swung my arms fully out to the sides as my imaginary "bat-cape" and gone soaring through the imaginary winds of "Gotham" under the wings of my cape, keeping a watchful eye in the public park for any trouble below. Or someone calling the cops on me. Last of all, but absolutely not least, we have the final track... "Rise". Simply put, and in my honest opinion, this track is so beautifully, mournfully beautiful, taking one through the whole gamut of emotions -- from triumph to sadness to mourning to victory - it's so legendarily-awesome that I feel it should be titled in all-caps and have a handful of exclamation marks tacked onto the end of it, like this: "RISE!!!!!!!!!!!" And even that wouldn't do it justice. Good golly, that's how much it moves and sweeps me through my own imaginary Gotham of emotion. It's composed of moments from all three films' soundtracks, ranging from the triumphant, bat-swinging melodies of fast-moving violins and drums, to the sad, soft, solo-grieving voice of when Bruce's parents died, and then descending slowly, mournfully, upon the grand finish line of our Dark Knight's trilogy, a closing anthem of darkness, but also hope -- one that surely will leave us wide-eyed with bat-like wonder. I kid you not -- I'm listening to "Rise" right now as I write this review, and even now after I've listened to it oh, so many times, I still get teary. I get teary almost every time. Not afraid to admit that. The slow, drawn out tones of what has previously been the hero's theme of valor and courage -- particularly, the ending theme of The Dark Knight -- but now in the slow-motion of sadness, as if one were slowly sinking toward the bottom of the sea, looking longingly upward to the dimming light, one hand reaching for that light as they slowly, sadly descend into darkness. That's the image that comes to mind when I listen to this, seeing myself as the one slowly sinking through that dark, beautiful ocean of sadness. (Again, I don't know any happenings in the movie, and I'm not alluding to any actual scenes. I'm purely sharing what plays out in my own mind as the emotions sweep me away.) But all is not lost, friends. All is not lost. The track slowly begins to pick up momentum, slowly, ever so carefully transitioning back into the hero's anthem that we've come to know and love. As the pace picks up, hope begins to restore. Faith begins to alight once more. I start ascending through that dark ocean of sadness, swimming upward toward the light, clawing through those dark waters as the light begins to brighten around me, until I finally explode up from that black sea and up into the sky, bat-cape extended, streaming upward to higher realms, finally reclaiming the all-seeing height above as Gotham's silent guardian... watchful protector... DARK KNIGHT. (Don't worry, I haven't actually acted this last one out. ...Yet ;) ) In conclusion, buy this soundtrack. Please. Please buy this soundtrack and just never let it stop playing. Let it sweep and swoop and swoon you along its concluding journey, finally leaving one and all to... RISE!!!!!!!!!!!

I was extremely excited for this score, and - in short - it's passed my high expectations and manages to ramp up the "epicness" even more than the Dark Knight's score, which I doubted was possible until hearing this! Zimmer manages to bring old sounds back from the first two scores, which tie things together well (almost too well at times, some parts are copy/paste jobs from previous scores) but he almost always incorporates something to freshen things up! That being said there were a few things I wasn't crazy about on this score. The first and most glaring was the way the chant was mixed into things. I was expecting the chant to be a very prominent part of this score, with variable performances (maybe even some that would border on screaming the chant). Unfortunately not only does the chant get mixed relatively into the background in the tracks it appears, but there's nothing in the way it sounds to even suggest it's any different than the recording we got in the trailers, back before Zimmer's big "record your own chant!" promotion. That's not to say I don't still LOVE the sounds of the chant and they really add an interesting flair when it appears (not to mention the novelty of the 5/4 time in Bane's music, which is unique and refreshing amongst a lot of current scores). I was also dissappointed by the new themes included. The "Catwoman" theme, if you want to call it that (they never specifically call her "Catwoman" in the movie) is interesting and the echoey piano is a nice change from the dark strings, but ultimately the theme doesn't go very far - only appearing on the album once (though the cymbal sounds backing it crop up subtly a few times), and in the film twice. I would have liked to hear a bit more of it, perhaps vary the instrumentation a bit. Finally, the chromatic lines are reminescent of Zimmer's Sherlock scores, not a bad thing but worth noting. While working on The Dark Knight, Zimmer had made a promise that the Batman "theme" would be expanded upon to it's fullest variation in this final score. He claimed that what we hear in Dark Knight was "just a small taste" of the grand theme he had in store. However as far as I can tell this expansion is not found anywhere in the score, for any of the major themes for batman (the two note "heroic fanfare", the Da Vinci Code-esque "emotional theme", and the darker batman theme heard on low basses/cellos). So I was dissappointed by this lack of expansion. The most we get is the two note horn fanfare gains a few extra notes in "Imagine the Fire" which is a fantastic track. There is one moment of EXCELLENT thematic development in the score that is only heard on the bonus track "No Stone Unturned" which can be found with the physical CD as a download. In the last minute of this track we hear the two note horn fanfare changed into a two note cello ostinato, which shifts keys and eventually settles into F major, which is simply fantastic if you're musical enough to notice and appreciate the variation presented there. It can be heard in the beginning of the film when Gordon goes to give his speech about Harvey Dent, and it's wonderful sounding :) ---- All in all this is a GREAT score by Zimmer, and easily the best of the three Batman Scores. Unlike the Dark Knight which felt like it was missing music in the initial release, if one is able to collect the four bonus tracks available online for this score you really have a fairly complete collection of the music in the film (except perhaps a few tracks for more intimate scenes). Having seen the film and heard the music in it I can say confidently that all major parts of the score are well represented. Also, unlike The Dark Knight this score also has most of the tracks in chronological ordering (with a few exceptions, however some tracks are repeated in the film in a few places) and the way many tracks flow into the next is nice and makes for an enjoyable experience. GET THIS SOUNDTRACK if you enjoy Hans Zimmer's music for the Batman series. If you need to own only one score, get this one over The Dark Knight or Batman Begins, for it's by far the most epic and intense of the three, and just well done all around. If you can manage to collect all of the bonus tracks available, personally I've found this to be a good track listing that puts the tracks in mostly the right order and maintains connected tracks/makes a good listening experience. Feel free to comment if you have other track orderings you like: 1. A Storm Is Coming 2. On Thin Ice 3. Gotham's Reckoning 4. Mind If I Cut In? 5. Underground Army 6. Born In Darkness 7. The Fire Rises 8. Nothing Out There 9. All Out War (Bonus Track from ticket sale) 10. Despair 11. Fear Will Find You 12. Why Do We Fall? 13. Death By Exile 14. The Shadows Betray You (Mp3 Bonus Track) 15. Risen From Darkness (CD Bonus Track) 16. Imagine The Fire 17. No Stone Unturned (CD Bonus Track) 18. Necessary Evil 19. The End (Mp3 Bonus Track) 20. Rise My final note...the remix tracks at the ends of Zimmer's scores need to stop...nobody's buying this score for a random [not even that good] dubstep song where more score could have been put in. It's not TERRIBLE...but even so...

**Updated** I want to bring to everyone's attention that in order to get all the bonus tracks you must buy the soundtrack TWICE: once here and once on itunes. I bought the itunes version to get two extra tracks and I highly recommend them both. I almost lowered my score to 4 stars given you are not purchasing the complete soundtrack on Amazon or itunes. There is even a track that you can ONLY get by purchasing your movie tickets at movietickets.com which I have not done. This trend, which began with DLC for video games, is not befitting the consumer and I am a bit annoyed. That being said, I added my thoughts on four of the five bonus tracks below. Quite by accident, I noticed that the entire soundtrack was available for streaming on Empire Online legally, a week before it comes out officially. I have been looping the soundtrack since and it is epic. Hans Zimmer is by far my favorite composer alive trumping even John Williams in my mind. Zimmer is responsible for my favorite themes and soundtracks scoring everything from the Lion King to Call of Duty. His work with James Newton Howard on the first two movies was sensational, but this is the first time going it alone in a Batman movie. Zimmer admitted that he had no problem working on the "Batman" half of the scores, but relied on Newton Howard for the "Bruce Wayne" aspect. This dynamic is reflected in this soundtrack as the love themes are notably absent. This is clearly a dark movie. In its place are the haunting chants and melancholy strings which provide volume to the entire score. Many of the recognizable themes from the original two movies make a reappearance in this score but not in an bad way. The old is mixed with the new and Zimmer often reinterprets his old themes to give them new life. "The Storm is Coming" is clearly an introduction. It is a short track that is about half a minute and probably is played with the corporate logo as the film begins. "On Thin Ice" seems to convey an emotion of looking back at the previous films and the devastation Gotham has endured. It is filled with sad strings and a hint of the looming terror. We are introduced to the final theme played throughout the soundtrack. It is quiet but reminds me of "528491" from inception which preceded the great "Mombasa" action track. "Gotham's Reckoning" is clearly the first set piece of the movie. I remember hearing it when I saw the first six minutes of the film in IMAX in December. I am not going to spoil what happens, but suffice it to say it is the first time we meet Bane and he makes quite an entrance. The track uses entirely new music. On my first play-through it was unremarkable, but put it on a good car audio system and the layers pop out. The bass on this track is taken from Zimmer's inception playbook. The tone is foreboding and terrifying but beautiful. It is almost all electronics and drums while introducing us to Bane's theme (the chants). "Mind if I cut in" is my least favorite track. I agree with the other reviewer that this is an example of where Newton Howard would have filled this void. This is a slow track with piano and violin. It reminds me of a detective track where a character is looking t uncover some mystery. My guess is this is when we are introduced to Selena Kyle. "Underground Army" is another quiet track with lots of electronics. It has a menacing tone as if evil plans that are being made by Bane and his henchman. It introduces a few new melodies but seems like an average track at best. "Born in Darkness" looks back at Batman's past by echoing themes from the "Batman Begins" but appears as another quiet filler track. "The Fire Rises" is the second major action music which introduces some new themes and horror elements with minor notes, strings and drums. The track seems to depict (and this is just a guess) Batman's first encounter with Bane. There are lulls in the action which build to intense loud action queues. This track must be listened to on a great audio system to reveal its layers. I find this track to get better with repeated listenings. Zimmer certainly uses his inception style in this track with the heavy electronics towards the end. "Nothing Out There" sounds like its straight out of the "Dark Knight." It quietly repeats the piano (love?) theme from the previous movies but never utilizes the full orchestra. It is another filler track. "Despair" is filled with new and old music blended together. He reinterprets his "Dark Knight" music from "Why So Serious" by throwing in a long cello build-up with the famous two note themes. The second half of the track is a reinterpretation of the end of "I'm not a Hero" from the previous soundtrack as well. While it repeats alot from past soundtracks it remains fresh and exciting. "Fear will Find You" seems to be another action sequence against Bane. Zimmer uses the chants for the first time alongside intense drums and electronics mixed with the old themes and the new theme from this movie. The two are seamlessly integrated. You will think you know the track straight out of "The Dark Knight" and then it will take a new and unique turn. It could be construed as a remix, but I think of it as a fresh take. "Why do We Fall" is one of Zimmer's finest as it builds to a swelling climax with strings and drums. Batman is clearly defeated in spirit but is convinced to try one last time. (This is another guess). It builds to epic levels before breaking out in the Batman drum and string theme. "Death By Exile" is a filler track that offers little to nothing but an additional track listing. At 23 seconds it should have been combined with the next track. "Imagine the Fire" is the most epic track and contains many new action queues coupled with old familar themes. It reminded me of "Mombasa" from his Inception score and "The Chase" from Batman Begins. This track has everything from old themes to electronics to strings and drums. This track completes the soundtrack and demonstrates Zimmer's abilities to orchestrate a climactic final encounter with Bane (another guess?). "Necessary Evil" clearly depicts the aftermath of the final battle. I feel as though there are hints as to the outcome but no certainties. It is a suspenseful track as the movie has not yet been released. It quietly references the Batman theme introduced in this movie. "Rise" This is Zimmer's playground to end the film on an epic note. It is very much like "A Dark Knight" from the last soundtrack but is a slower (and more epic) version of the final track soundtrack which sends chills down your spine. The swelling strings and slow pace allow the orchestra to really shine. This track again hints at the outcome of the movie without being definitive. Clearly it depicts loss, but on what scale? I love this track, but it is not long enough. It is the final Batman track we will hear from Zimmer, so I wished it would be more like the 17 minutes of the last finale. **Update** "No Stone Unturned" is a bonus track that I just downloaded. Essentially, there is nothing specifically new here but it remixes the themes from all the movies as an action piece. It is absolutely a must have for any fan of the soundtrack. Its an exciting track that adds to the intensity of the overall score. At 7 minutes, it is an impressive piece. "Risen from the Darkness" is another bonus track which is similar in principle to the first one. It again remixes old themes with the new and adds one more action track to this terrific soundtrack. Again it's nothing groundbreaking or new, but gets the action music swelling in new ways. "Bombers of Ibiza" is the final bonus track and is clearly has the touch of a different composer. It's all synthesizers here and clearly what you think of with normal remixes. This track I could do without. It almost feels like club dance music. It's not bad but also not memorable. There is even a little dubstep mixed into the track. With the new tracks, the first two listed are clearly the work of Zimmer working in the studio to put together old familiar themes to make them into exciting yet generic action tracks. These first two do feel like they could be played somewhere in the movie and could have been added to the original soundtrack. The final track is a standard third party remix which has some nice rhythm but comes across as dance music. **NEW UPDATE** These are my thoughts on the itunes bonus tracks. "The Shadows Betray You" is a track you get from the itunes version and I feel disappointed it was not included in the original soundtrack. It is a very dark track with synthesizers featuring the new themes. It almost sounds muffled, (perhaps a reference to Bane's mask)but in an intentional awesome way. I recommend finding this track. "The End" is another itunes track clearly the credits and all I have to say is WOW! I feel upset that this track was not included in the soundtrack as well. I love this track. It is slow and brooding and is very unlike the other tracks. It is ominous and intense and features the familiar themes but with a Darth Vaderesqe breathing in the background. This is a very dark ending. I hope they release a more complete soundtrack or where you can pick these songs up individually. **End of Update** Obviously the movie has yet to be released and will likely enhance the listening experience of the entire soundtrack, but it doesn't need a movie to be considered a spectacular accomplishment. Unfortunately I don't have the musical training to properly convey my emotions regarding this soundtrack, but hopefully the tone of the review demonstrates my enjoyment of this score. Everyone expects the best from a Hans Zimmer score as they do with Chris Nolan and Zimmer does not disappoint. I will be looping this soundtrack for weeks to come no doubt. Words fail to describe how much I love all of Hans Zimmer's work and must be experienced rather than listened to. Together the three Nolan-Batman soundtracks rank up there with Lord of the Rings and the original Star Wars as the best trilogy scores of all time. Listen to this soundtrack often and on a great audio system with strong bass. Your ears will thank you for it and your neighbors will forgive you (I hope) for the vibrations. **NOTE** I also saw that there are additional tracks that come with the physical CD, so I preordered it as opposed to the MP3 option. Ill add my thoughts once the CD comes.

Trying to properly assess a movie score based on an album, especially before the release of the actual film and with the inability to properly gather all materials necessary to form a comprehensive consensus, is obviously not an easy task, especially for a soundtrack of this caliber. That being said, I've decided to base this particular review solely on this album alone - i.e. how thematic ideas are presented on the album, the flow and cohesiveness of the CD, and just the scope of the music in general. After all, the officially-released soundtrack is meant to be the testament of the music as a whole. One thing Zimmer has managed to achieve is the creation of a unique and different atmosphere within the music, allowing this entry in the trilogy to have its own identity, without completely disregarding the continuity of the franchise. Zimmer employs further use of heavy electronics to compliment the orchestral sounds, giving the score a scope reminiscent of his work for Inception, but staying true to Batman all the same. Some of the continuity of the soundtrack is inevitably lost due to the lack of James Newton Howard, however, and Zimmer makes definite attempts to mimic his styles and sounds to try and make up for the loss, but the absence is noticeable. Tracks like "On Thin Ice," "Mind If I Cut In?" and "Nothing Out There," when they don't directly plagiarize JNH's music, make it quite clear where he would have fit right in with the project. Even so, one can find a certain level of aesthetic appreciation on the surface of Zimmer's attempts to fill in the blanks while still retaining his own style ("On Thin Ice" remains one of my favorite tracks of the album). An obvious element that can be credited to the identity of this soundtrack is the introduction of the antagonist Bane. The now instantly-recognizable chanting seems to reciprocate Zimmer's unconventional handling of The Joker in The Dark Knight - but instead of reserving the chant solely for Bane, Zimmer manages to make it a part of the score as a whole, tailoring it to compliment various other elements of the music. As far as the music that is exclusive for Bane, however, Zimmer reserves his most vicious and brutal orchestral techniques to date. Sporadic brass and violent strings heard in tracks like "Gotham's Reckoning," "The Fire Rises," and "Fear Will Find You," best highlight these ideas - though, they are admittedly handled a bit haphazardly on the album itself. I suppose the reason for this is that, instead of presenting the music in the form of theme suites, as per usual for Zimmer, the album is almost entirely composed of cues arranged and edited for the film. This admittedly makes the thematic ideas lack certain cohesiveness. While these suites will most likely see the light of day in the near future, it's disappointing to have to wait until then to be able to absorb Zimmer's full and fleshed-out thematic ideas, all the while having only butchered film cues to see what Zimmer was trying to do. Another important introduction is that of Selina Kyle/Catwoman. This is most likely where James Newton Howard would have taken over, but instead, Zimmer employs the use of slinking sound effects and mysterious piano dances to accompany the cat burglar. The end result is fitting - in fact, it's almost too fitting, to the point where the only interesting or unexpected thing about the direction Zimmer took with this side of the music is how obvious that direction was to take. I suppose I may have gotten my hopes up too high as far as expecting innovation, what with Zimmer scratching cellos with shards of metal for The Joker and recording hundreds of thousands of primal chants for Bane. It gets the job done, and it's certainly something we haven't yet heard in this franchise before, but as far as trying to capture the character goes, it's done in a way that seems so obvious as to become uninteresting. On the flip side, another thing Zimmer has managed to achieve with this soundtrack is his fulfillment of the promise of escalating the scale. Tracks such as "Imagine the Fire" do the best job of making clear the sheer scale of the music at hand. While some of the renditions of prior Batman themes tend to be a bit more of a downgrade from the previous franchise entries (the rendition of the Batman theme at the end of "Rise" and the short stint around 30 seconds into "Necessary Evil" seem oddly disappointing as far as sampling goes), there are just as enough moments where Batman returns with more power and force than ever before. That being said, another achievement of this album is that Zimmer manages to bring the music full circle, employing just as many themes and sounds that practically ooze Batman Begins as pay tribute to The Dark Knight. If you can forgive the identical sampling of "Prison Nightmare" from Batman Begins at the beginning of "Born in Darkness," the soundtrack manages to tie together all of these elements from each previous installment in the franchise in stride. Had the album representation been a little better, this would certainly have been another five-star effort from Hans Zimmer. Zimmer has managed to weave together elements from the previous two installments of the franchise while also introducing many new ideas and perspectives on the music to fully bring together Bruce Wayne's journey. It falters mainly from superficial detriments that will hopefully become less prevalent as the soundtrack is further expanded through upcoming special album releases and obviously the release of the film itself. ~ A truckload of bonus tracks will be available from all sorts of different promotions and mediums. The digital bonus tracks, "The Shadows Betray You" and "The End," play more like remixes and don't cover any new ground whatsoever. The CD-exclusives, on the other hand, are much more interesting. "Risen from Darkness" is an excellent (somewhat overbearingly-electronic, but it's forgivable) tribute to the epic themes of the franchise, and "All Out War" is a much quieter and haunting track that seemingly meshes the darker themes of The Dark Knight (think "Sonar System" and "Like a Dog Chasing Cars") with a style almost strangely reminiscent of Hans Zimmer's work on The Ring. I have yet to hear "No Stone Unturned," but it certainly sounds interesting - I've been told it's more of the case of "Risen from Darkness," intermingling themes from the franchise with a reprise of the "Train Fight" from Batman Begins and even introducing some new elements. Here's to hoping even more music and a fantastic film is in store for us down the road.

*Note: I have officially changed this review's rating from 4 stars to 5. Reason? I bought the Amazon, iTunes, and physical store bought CD version because all 3 have different bonus tracks. Does that seem like I'm welcoming a ploy by distributors to get screwed out of $30? Maybe. Fact is, I'm privy to the trick and have absolutely no problem throwing down on this particular product. Turns out, I made the best decision possible because the best track on any of the three albums is the bonus track "No Stone Unturned". Additionally, three of my favorite 6 tracks of TDKR are bonuses. My decision has been vindicated and my rating for this overall album just went from 4 stars to a strong and solid 5 stars. Amazing stuff.* I won't give you a track by track breakdown, simply because I genuinely think people absorb music individually and differently. But I will say that after listening to the entire album, straight through, without having seen the movie or knowing the plot (other than my knowledge of the comics and what I've seen in the trailer) I have this to say: Clearly there is some serious business going down in this movie. The sheer force of the music is overwhelming, intimidating, and completely indicative of the stakes. Whereas the battle between chaos and order for Gotham were on the line in TDK, TDKR must be returning to Begins territory: an unequivocal struggle of two unbelievably powerful forces (Bane and his army vs. Batman and, for his sake, his) with nothing less than the very life of Gotham in the balance. This is my only assumption having just heard Zimmer's soundtrack. It is that powerful. It screams desperation, mourning, power, anger, and finality. Any Nolan Batman or Hans Zimmer fan must have this album. Is it better than Begins or TDK? I don't know yet. I probably would not say so right now. If for no other reason than the fact that Hans has subtly shifted the tempo and instrumentality of the signature two-note rising crescendo horn Batman motif (I'm officially calling it Bale's Batman theme) as well as the sweeping heroic and pulsing action Batman themes easily recognizable in Begins (Molossus) and TDK (Introduce A Little Anarchy, and especially A Dark Knight). This may or may not be intentional but I don't love it. It feels different in a way that I'm not quite welcome to. I'm guessing that watching the film may change this feeling. **Note #2: What I was really listening for to put this album above Begins and TDK was this: a synthesis of Bane's music, Catwoman's music, and Batman's signature heroic themes as well as cues from previous tracks Molossus and A Dark Knight, along with some evolutions of those signatures to really round out the finality of Batman's journey. The standard 15 tracks, seemingly, did not contain those specific things and thus seemed disjointed and unfulfillinf in a "truly great album" kind of way. I didn't want these because I'm some music stickler. It's because those elements, coming from Hans Zimmer, would make me feel things that one can only feel with truly great music. As it turns out, after buying all three versions and listening to the album straight through again 3 more times, Hans actually did bring it. No Stone Unturned, Risen from the Darkness, The End, Rise, and Imagine the Fire all bring it. And they bring it in big ways. This is officially the best soundtrack of the trilogy. And it is a truly great, all-time, 5 star type album, when listened to, in entirety, with all bonus material. Hans, if you're reading this, I apologize for underestimating you. And album distributors, if you're reading this, go self-fornicate with a steel spiked rod for making me doubt the Zimmer by spreading the best tracks across multiple albums so that I had to engage in a Horcrux hunting adventure just to get to the best stuff. End rant.** In any case, the album is well worth getting and listening to straight through a few times. Enjoy The Dark Knight Rises. If it delivers the way most believe it will, then it will almost undoubtedly go down as the end of the single greatest crime drama, superhero franchise, and possibly greatest film trilogy of all time (yes, that includes the Godfather, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars). P.S. Bane's Earth shattering chant: De-shey, de-shey, ba-sha-rah, ba-sha-rah = "He rises, he rises" in Morrocan Arabic.

This score was everything I hoped it would be and then some. The chanting we hear in the trailers is in the track "Gotham's Reckoning;" however, we also hear the themes from the other two soundtracks. For example, "Fear Will Find You" has The Dark Knight Theme from "I'm Not a Hero" and the disc's exclusive bonus track "No Stone Unturned" has "Molossus," "I'm Not a Hero," and the Batman Begins piano theme for when Bruce remembers his parents in the track in different places, while still adding new themes and sounds. The score can be best described as music that takes the old themes and expounds on them. The actual tracks on the disc are great, and worthy of about four and a half stars in my opinion. "Mind If I Cut In?" is an excellent theme for Catwoman and portrays mystery with some darkness which the sample will display really well; "Imagine the Fire" is a great action track that takes "Molossus" and Bane's theme to create a very exciting and bold song; "Despair" starts slowly with the batman synthetic theme (the one used in Batman Begins when he disappears during the scene on the docks) and then culminates in the familiar batman two note brass theme; Finally, "Rise" sounds more like a credits song where many of the themes, old and new, are played through the longer song. The Bonus Tracks, on the other hand, give the score a stronger rating. As I already mentioned, "No Stone Unturned" is an excellent action piece. There is also "Risen from Darkness" which opens with the Batman synthetic sounds (the one which the credits open with-or the beginning of "A Watchful Guardian" for those who have that song) and moves into a more synthetic action song. "The End" is a very somber song that stays more of a background song, displaying sadness. The last of the bonus songs, "The Shadows Betray You" opens with background ominous music that builds and adds Bane's chanting theme with his instrumental theme from "Gotham's Reckoning," staying at a steady pace that started with the background music. Overall, I would highly recommend this soundtrack. However, this soundtrack is not complete without the bonus songs, which means you need to to buy "The Shadows Betray You" and "The End" form iTunes individually and then buy the disc in order to get the rest of the bonus songs (The remix is available both from the disc and from iTunes so be careful not to buy it twice). As a bonus, the disc version also comes with a sticker of some kind that contains the bat symbol that is on the cover of the soundtrack. The sticker looks like it is a car window sticker. This soundtrack is a must have for the fans of the previous two scores because it blends the previous two scores in and makes great songs from the combination. Buy the soundtrack, you won't be disappointed.

I was very disappointed with the quality of this vinyl. I was really hoping to hear a very crisp and clear rendition of Han Zimmer on vinyl, instead the mix was very flat and distortion of highs. I hate to say that I prefer the CD version. And you know they could have done a much better job.

Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard reinvented one of the most popular superheros of all time. Their score was so iconic and so defining that it shaped actions scores for years to come. They changed how superhero films were scored and almost every movie in Hollywood was temp tracked with their music. Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan built an amazingly perfect world for Inception. So much so that James Newton Howard didn't want to get in the way of their partnership and bowed out of the final chapter with no hard feelings. Zimmer tackled this beast solo after crafting what is one of the most iconic villain motifs in the Joker's one-note theme. For The Dark Knight Rises we get to experience the most visceral, intense and primal score Hans Zimmer has ever composed. There is nothing sweet and sensible about this. In pure Holst fashion he lays on the intensity thick and never lets up. The reason this review is late is because for the first time in my life I consciously decided to wait and hear one of Hans Zimmer's scores for the first time with the film and not on CD. The CD looked at me and mocked me on my desk for weeks. I almost buckled, but I'm glad I didn't. The score is a snowball that grows and grows until the final act when it steamrolls you into an emotional wreck. Pure fire burns within the sounds of this supremely aggressive listening experiences that is without a doubt one of Zimmer's finest accomplishments as a composer. Deh-Shay Deh-Shay Bah-Sah-Rah! This is the chant that echoes throughout the film and is the "rising" motif. Hans compiled thousands of voices from fans all over the world to make this chant. The score itself rarely touches back on its roots from the first two. Hans of course brings Batman's theme and boy when you first hear it in the film it raises hairs on the back of your neck. The score overall is extremely primal and percussion prevails in the soundscape. When the score gets loud it does get loud and I would safely bet this is the loudest mixed score I've ever heard in a film. If you thought Inception was loud then you're in for a surprise. It broods and bubbles as tension rises and when it finally breaks it has the power to melt your soul and then inject it with adrenaline. This is the most brilliantly executed action score I've ever heard and in that regard it's pure perfection. I found my heart rate increasing from just listening to the score again after seeing the movie, it has that much power over you. It infuses itself within you and when it rises so do you. Bane's character doesn't necessarily have a theme that the Joker had as Hans is more or less scoring our hero's struggle from the depth's. Selina Kyle's theme is one motif that manages to stand on its own and it's very well played. He does humanize the villain though and we actually feel empathy for Bane in the film. The brilliant part is that this score would be as perfect as it is even if the first two films never existed. It has that kind of standalone power. But since the first two films do exists it also serves as the last piece in the puzzle as the arc comes full circle. The ending is so emotional that Nolan just lets the music play in the film. Hans incorporates a lone boy vocal that is so simple, but so brilliantly touches on Bruce Wayne's character that when you make the connection in the final moments it can be overwhelming. The final track "Rise" closes everything out in brilliant fashion. The Dark Knight Rises is a charged adrenaline rush that will make you feel like you're running for your life while your knees are about to buckle from being emotionally drained. This is an exhaustingly thrilling experience that will stand the test of time as a benchmark in action scoring. Hans Zimmer didn't just give us the best superhero score of all time, but the best action score of all time. The sound of this film will be copied for years in the same way The Dark Knight and Inception were. This score has defined the genre once again and has given us a rich character journey from Bruce's childhood to his journey's end. In sound Hans was able to capture terror, fear, shock, pain, yearning and the desire to overcome. The desire to rise. This score is perfect. From the rumblings I've been hearing though this shouldn't be the only release of this score. If I were you I'd bet on more coming real soon.

Ho dato 5 stelle di valutazione xkè per chi ha visto il film sono bellissime le canzoni che lo accompagnano! molto suggestive! ti fanno ricordare ogni scena del film! Mi è piaciuto che hanno raccolto tutte le tracce in un cd audio,le canzoni sono composte "stile opera" xò non annoiano x niente! anzi! ti fanno venire voglia di rivedere il film per individuare la traccia numero nel pezzo di film... Consiglierei il prodotto a tutte le persone che hanno visto il film,non può mancare il cd con tutte le colonne musicali!

Gros changement par rapport aux bandes originales des films précédents. Pas la présence de james Newton howard. Par contre on retrouve des thèmes de ses compositions précédentes sur le CD. Tout est dans la puissance. La musique est dans la lignée de ce que Hans Zimmer sait faire. Des morceaux sont téléchargeables via un site internet avec le cd. Un sticker du signe de la cover. Les nouveautés sont dans les thèmes de Bane et Catwoman, l'un puissant et flippant, l'autre dans la subtilité avec du piano. Le dernier morceau reprend le thème final de la BO de Dark Knight en version très lente, c'est tout simplement beau. Je conseille de pas écouter trop fort pour apprécier les morceaux de Bane qui comportent de grosses basses. Enjoy

It's been an excruciating wait, but finally we have The Dark Knight Rises, sequel to the Ambitious and excellent "Batman Begins" and the truly Spectacular "The Dark Knight". With a great film should come a great musical score, correct? Well I'm happy to say it does. Hans Zimmer is going solo this time around, after teaming up with James Newton Howard for the previous two Films. 1. A Storm Is Coming This haunting and suspenseful piece is what starts off our Album, and does a good Job setting the mood. 2. On Thin Ice People hoping for the usual Batman theme to immediately take over may be left slightly disappointed as we then enter a soft and emotional piece. Not bad by any means, but not one of the Album's best either. 3. Gotham's Reckoning And here we are clearly introduced to our villain as the drums are rolled out and we get our first dose of the rather adrenaline pumping chant that has featured in every Trailer for the film. A suspenseful and dark piece. 4. Mind If I Cut In? I'll be honest, I quite like this. It's a different type of piece that suggests a certain female character may have a secret Agenda. 5. Underground Army Well now we are really cooking now. More drums and more hints at things to come. Far from the best track, but far from the worst. 6. Born In Darkness Once again we leave our drums and chanting and head back to a relaxed and emotional atmosphere. There is a lot to take from this track, but it was one of the ones I found the least interesting. 7. The Fire Rises Boom Boom Boom. The Drums are blazing now, and the Men's choir is chanting away madly. This is clearly some kind of confrontation, and it rewards it's listeners with a pulse pounding track that is one of the strongest the album gas to offer. 8. Nothing Out There As if the theme of the album type is meant to go from Loud and Grand, to simple and Sad, we once again head back to the emotional and the concerned. A chilling track that I really enjoy. 9. Despair This one caught me completely off guard. Those who expect something slow and or sad will be in for a surprise. This is another pounder with hints of the Epic Batman theme that has followed the films since Batman Begins. 10. Fear Will Find You We have found a rythm now, because more drums and more chanting is headed your way. 11. Why Do We Fall? One of my favorites. Though it starts slow and emotionally controlled, it builds and builds until we are hit with the best version of our favorite Epic Main theme to date. 12. Death By Exile I had to play this again to make sure I actually heard it. It's extremely short at around 20 seconds, but those 20 seconds are filled with emotion and sorrow. I love it. 13. Imagine The Fire Here it is. This is the heavy hitter from Zimmer this time around. It opens with a strange electronic sound that compliments the pounding drums in such a way that it takes over your entire focus. Throw in our favorite theme in the middle, and we have a winner. 7 minutes of absolute Epicness. 14. Necessary Evil Though it starts loud and proud, it leaves on an emotional and thought provoking few last notes. 15. Rise Wabam! And we're off again! Lots of percussion, lots of hints of the big theme, and it leads straight into what I can only predict will be the credits. During the credits we have a female soloist with a little bit of choral. This part is extremely Lord of the Rings esc, and only compliments an excellent track that once again builds to a full instrumental blast. Whew! There you have it! Another outstanding album from an outstanding composer. Let's hope Nolan and Zimmer pair up for even more future projects. Buy this album and watch the film!

Majestuoso trabajo de Hans Zimmer, la banda sonora transmite emoción, drama y majestuidad. Hans Zimmer consigue siempre hacer mejor a cualquier película. Banda sonora imprescindible.

... zumindest was das Nolan-Fire betrifft. Drei Teile der berühmten Batman-Saga sind nun erschienen und der vorliegende Score ist der abschließende. Batman The Dark Knigt "Rises" ist nun zum ersten Mal von Hans F. Zimmer allein zusammen gezimmert worden. Wo in Begins und Dark Knight noch James Newton Howard mit schönem Werk mit dabei war, fasst dieser Score eigentlich alles zusammen, was in den beiden Teilen bisher an Themen bereitstanden. Angefangen vom zwei-Töne-Batman-Theme bis hin zu neuen Themen, die diesen Film begleiten sollen: - Mind If I Cut In = das neue Theme zu Selina Kyle alias Catwoman, das irgendwie komplett anders ist und man vom heraushören niemals denken würde, dass das von Hans Zimmer ist, schon allein deshalb, weil das Theme größtenteils für Klavier ist, was für Zimmer sehr untypsich ist. Insgesamt aber ein ruhiges Theme, das perfekt zu einer Katze passt. ;) - Gothams Reckoning = das neue tolle Theme zum Terroristen Bane. Der Rhytmus geht einen in seinen Kopf und geht da nicht mehr raus. Für das Thema kam Zimmer auf die Idee einen sehr großen Chor von Fans aufzunehmen. Tolle Idee. Der Chor verleiht diesem Drum-Rhytmus etwas mächtiges und jedesmal wenn dann der Chor am Ende mit seinem "Dische-Dische-Basera-Basera" kommt, und am Ende dieses Stückes kein normaler mehr Akkord zu hören ist und jedes Instrument irgendwas anderes spielt, ist Gänsehaut-Feeling vorprogrammiert! - dann gibt es noch einige andere neue, kleine Themen, die man z.B. im zweiten Stück "On Thin Ice" oder The Fire Rises hört. Insgesamt fällt mir allerdings auf, das der Score viel Actionreicher ist, als z B. der Dark Knight-Score, und das dort nicht so viele Stücke zusammengeschnipselt worden sind. Das heißt, das man warscheinlich Synchron zu diesem Film komponiert hat, und nicht wie im Vorgänger, die bestehende, vorkomponierte Musik zur Szene. Zusammenfassend sind einige meiner Lieblingsstellen von den Vorgängern mit dabei. Das Stück "The Fire Rises" ist wirklich der Wahnsinn!! Ein toller Ryhtmus und alte Themen vermischt. Wenn man die 2 kostenlosen Stücke noch mit dazurechnet (die größtenteils Actionmusik sind, tolle Stücke!), ist der Soundtrack genau das, was man erwartet hat. Die Stücke gehen einander über und sind somit alle mit einander verbunden. Das Stück "Rise" fasst nochmal die "traurigen" Howards Themen aus dem Vorgänger "A Dark Knight" zusammen. Ein toller neuer Sountrack, der zeigt: "Leute, das war's!"