music Is Hans Zimmer Overrated?

[Carbon Maestro 1,003]

Now before you report me to the moderators on how crazy this post is with the HZ fanboys/fangirls, let me clarify: I enjoy his music, however, I think that Hans Zimmer gets way too much attention for the quality of content that he makes.

 

Now let's delve into orchestral music. Yes, Hans is a veteran professional who pioneers in new sounds that are very hard to replicate but easy to emulate. Yes, he's made soundtracks for Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, Dark Knight, and some music for these very popular and highly grossing franchises.

 

But personally, I find Thomas Bergersen, Howard Shore, John Williams to be far more detailed and expressive in this field of music. The amount of D minor songs in HZ's repertoire makes up a large sum of his compositions. He just happens to be well known because he composes for many different Hollywood movies, however I do not think he's the most gifted composer. However, you probably will have a different opinion.

 

So, what do you think?

Edited June 4, 2014 by Carbon Maestro

[CT-1138 3,182]

I find that too much of Zimmer's music is the same blaring sound. The only music of his that has really stood out to me is his music for Amazing Spider-Man 2 and his compositions for Lion King. Zimmer has a love for horns, and I think that kinda effects his work.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Dinos4Ever

[[NULL] 906]

As much as I like his work, I do think he get's more credit than he deserves. I don't necessarily mean I think his music is liked more than it should be, but he's also credited for music he hasn't composed. (For instance, people think he composed the entire soundtrack for Crysis 2, when he only did the main theme.) And yes, I think that too many people use the Inception "BWAAAAAAAH!!". Although to be fair, that's not really Hans Zimmer's fault.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

I do not think that he is the best composer ever. But the things he does compose for really fit his style. He has a very blaring, horns sounding, end of the world themed music, and the movies like the dark knight, inception, and the Modern Warfare games had a dark and grity enough tone to really fit with his music style. But I find him to be a very "type cast" composer, and have yet to really hear him compose anything that goes outside what he is known for.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Go to filmtracks.com, which is a film score/movie music review site, and there you'll find quite the opinion of Hans' work, for the most part.

 

I like his stuff, but it gets old somewhat quickly. The only real exception to that, for me, was the first Da Vinci Code movie.

[Megas 27,727]

It depends, he makes some great stuff like the Lion King soundtrack, but a lot of his action movies scores sound really generic

[Banul 3,831]

Personally, I love Hans. However, part of that is probably that he's the only movi music guy whose name I recognize apart from John Williams.

[King Sejong 859]

   From Hans Zimmer I love his soundtrack for Black Hawk Down, just the same as The Lion King, Backdraft and Armageddon, but for action films and video game score, it does sound generic, try listening to his Call of Duty : Modern Warfare soundtrack. I think people rate him too high, and ignore other talented composers like : John Williams, James Horner, Danny Elfman, Basil Poledouris, Joe Hisaishi, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, Ennio Morricone  and Michael Giacchiao, all of whom have given us some amazing musical score, for some of Hollywood's finest films, but for anyone who is willing to listen beyond Hans Zimmer, you will not be disappointed, each of these composers have given us some extraordinary music, from the zany, eccentric of Danny Elfman, to classical ensemble of John Williams and James Horner, for the video game world Michael Giacchiao gave us Medal of Honor and Call of Duty, yet I will not take away any credit from Hans Zimmer, my favourite soundtrack is still Black Hawk Down, it really conveys the desperation of combat, to the melancholy of the fallen, and that to me at least is a great soundtrack, so if you hear well, seek out the composers and hear their music.      

[Khaoios 1,970]

I have to agree that Hans Zimmer (btw, my favorite soundtrack, he composed was the Last Samurai) is rated to high, b/c there are other composers who are amazing and i can go on forever on who they are. 

 

For the record, he's 1 of 10 of my favorite composers, since i enjoy music, myself. 

[SveciaDash 364]

I like Hans Zimmer, however I do prefer Two steps from hell more.

[Guest]

I'm a fan mostly because of his work on Gladiator (my favourite film and score). 
The last film I saw featuring his music was The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which for the most part was rather underwhelming.

[Washougal_Otaku 1,020]

I'm going to say "No," simply because I have no idea who that is.  I get that he's been involved with the creation-process for various movie soundtracks, but to me, this type of question is like asking "Was John Olerud the best First Baseman to ever play for the Seattle Mariners?"

[Kay Dreamer 884]

A lot of people seem to forget Zimmer didn't actually compose the soundtrack to the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Klaus Badlet did. Zimmer composed the next two, but he can't be credited with that fabulous main theme.

 

I don't think the attention is completely undue. True, there are other many other modern orchestral composers with equal or greater skill, but fame doesn't always work in line with talent. (In fact, it rarely does.) He's still incredibly skilled at what he does. The Lion King soundtrack is a true work of art. His scores are percussive, driving and often highly melodic, which is great for soundtrack work. The rhythmic and melodic elements are probably what give his music such enormous popularity.

 

Is he the most brilliant modern orchestral composer around at the moment? Not by a long shot. But his music is still good, and his fame isn't undeserved.

 

Also, as a music teacher, I don't give a flying feather how good or crummy I think a composer is; if his/her music gets the kids to pick up their instruments and get excited about orchestra, I'll take it and run with it! I can work on infiltrating their minds from there. (It helps that I adore film and game soundtracks myself.)

 

@,

 

Someone else who understands the brilliance of Joe Hisaishi! His music gives me shivers. It's so amazing.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Kay Dreamer

[Carbon Maestro 1,003]

 

 

if his/her music gets the kids to pick up their instruments and get excited about orchestra, I'll take it and run with it! I can work on infiltrating their minds from there. (It helps that I adore film and game soundtracks myself.)

 

Haha, this is so true. Back in High Schoo, when we play Bartok for orchestra, everyone whines a bit, but when we played a medley of the Dark Knight, our orchestra become heavily engaged into it. The audience also gave a standing ovation because of the name.

[Guest]

I would say in some areas, yes - people tend to overrate him as the greatest composer of all time. Now, don't get me wrong, this guy has made some pretty goddamn good scores. Ever heard the soundtrack in The Rock? Maybe his best, imo.