Gladiator

Love the soundtrack. Shipping was fast.

This is a soundtrack that has impressed me greatly and which I would listen to several times a day while I worked. The themes were not necessarily unique - I can hear Sigfried's Funeral March from Wagner, Holtz's Mars from the Planets, lovely Celtic music, Spanish guitar work, and much more. Each fits perfectly into its location. The Roman empire was huge, encompassing a quarter of the known population of the entire Earth. The music moves from location to location - from the military machine that was the Roman Army in the depths of Germania, across to the middle east, and back into Rome itself. You take that journey through the music - the strength and honor of the Roman soldiers, the code of the gladiators, the love, the deception. There are common themes running through the music, and yet each piece represents and entirely different slice of the world that was the Roman Empire. There are other similar soundtracks that I've loved - those to Excalibur and Conan the Barbarian come to mind - but in those cases they often just lifted classical works known for their power. In this case Zimmer created entirely new works which pay homage to those classics but bring them to a new level, tailoring them to fit within the pathway of the movie. There's even a second CD you can get if you want more of the music, but this one is a definite must-have. You don't get familiar with the tunes as you replay them. Instead, you find even more nuance, even more meaning in the songs you thought at first were 'less good'. I consider this a masterpiece up with my favorite classical music CDs.

Loved the movie, loved the iconic music from Lisa Gerrard and hans Zimmer. To be honest I'm surprised I didn't already own it. I am also surprised how intense the music is without the movie. The cd arrived unbroken and works well. I am considering buying a second one for a friend.

I originally bought this record for one song but when I started listening to the rest it made me feel immersed.

I ordered this sound track for my brother, and he stated he is enjoying listening to it!

This is an epic score that perfectly fit the movie. In fact, I think it adds immensely to the movie, especially in the sweeping battle sequence and in establishing mood in later scenes. The score balances extremely powerful orchestral pieces by Zimmer with Lisa Gerrard's quieter and deeply affecting passages. With respect to orchestral film music, Zimmer reminds me of John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, and James Horner at their best. I suggest that one should not be bothered by Zimmer's borrowing from Holst and Wagner -- Williams is notoriously guilty of it as well, although in a sneakier way (he hides his thematic borrowing while Zimmer makes no attempt to cover his tracks.) I have come to view this technique in film music more as an homage to great classical music from the past. In fact many great composers from the past borrowed thematic elements from each other. In the end one should judge a musical score not as an original music composition, rather for its ability to establish the mood and enhance the dramatic tension of what is happening on screen. In this regard, this music is supremely successful. Trust me that this movie would be much weaker without this musical score. This is one of the finer musical scores to come along in years.

This is a truly a beautiful soundtrack from the movie gladiator. It really puts me in a relaxing mood.

Loved the movie and the soundtrack.

It's always been a delightful experience to hear Lisa Gerrard sing the beautiful sounds she creates with her enchanting voice. Coupled with the great Hans Zimmer it was a given that the music score of Gladiator was going to win awards and so it did picking up best original score in the Golden Globes and BAFTA. For me Lisa Gerrard is the sound behind the success of this collaboration and the atmosphere she brings to the score is spine tingling. I once had to undergo a life threatening operation alone in a foreign country with nobody I knew closer than nearly six thousand miles away. As I was taken to the operating theatre I was permitted to have my MP3 player and I was comforted to listen to Lisa Gerrard singing "Sanvean" with Dead Can Dance. If heaven had taken me at that time I'm sure it would be full of incredible sounds like this. Check out her singing it live on youtube "Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) - Sanvean" Gladiator as a collaboration works really well and if you have seen the film you can easily imagine scenes from it as you listen to the music. When you play the album I suggest you play the tracks in sequence and with a player that allows "uninterrupted" transition between tracks. This is especially important for the last 3 tracks that can be played in sequence to create more than eight minutes of naturally flowing music that brings the story to a sad but ultimately liberating conclusion. Amazing, emotional and an epic story told in a most passionate collaboration of sounds and composers. Thoroughly recommended and sure to leave an impression on you.

oh the emotions.... love it 10/10

Super

Como todas las BSO de Hans Zimmer, espectacular.

Disques vinyles de bonne qualité, ils sont épais, lourds, environ 181 et 183 grammes vérifiés sur la balance pour ces galettes. Galettes propres, pas de poussière ou autres pollution, exemptes de rayure. Pas de voile pour le 1er disque et quelques faibles ondulations pour le 2nd sans conséquence sur la qualité d'écoute; les trous centraux des disques sont serrés mais qui semblent se relâcher après quelques insertions ! Bonne qualité de pressage, pas de bruit de surface ni sur les blancs séparant chaque morceau ni sur les plages musicales (pourvu que cela dure), mon exemplaire présente toutefois quelques craquements... dommage (j'ai inspecté les disques, ils ne semblent pas présenter de défauts, curieux). Excellente dynamique, très grande richesse spectrale avec basses très basses et profondes et des percutions qui martèlent les morceaux. Très bon niveau de gravure qui permet de ne pas de pousser l'ampli dans ses derniers retranchements. Pochette double où l'on retrouve des images extraites du film, je regretterais qu'il n'y ait pas plus d'informations sur les morceaux, instruments utilisés sur chaque morceaux (c'est vrai c'est un orchestre quasi ou presque symphonique mais quand même)....il y avait de la place... Comment résumer en quelques mots la musique de Gladiator? "Magnifique" ? "Envoûtante" ? "Poignante" ? Suite de nombreux morceaux aux thèmes richement élaborés, alternant le thème guerrier, des passages extrêmement tourmentés et d'autre bouleversants, des passages vocaux sublimes de Lisa Gerrard. Certains pourraient arguer de quelques répétitions un peu trop appuyées au niveau des musiques, je ne le pense pas, ces sont des variations réussies pour coller aux émotions que le film veut faire passer, emphase nécessaire. Homogène, et sans morceaux faibles, je mettrais en exergue les suivants: -"The battle" présente un des thèmes réccurent du film, morceau avec emphase avec des cuivres aux superbes sonorités -"Earth" ou est présenté le 2 nd thème avec des cordes, violons, altos, violoncelles.. -"Sorrow" morceau triste (Maximus découvre le massacre de sa femme et de son fils) où Lisa Gerrard nous régale de son très beau (exceptionnel) timbre de voix dans le grave / bas médium , à rapprocher "d'Elysium" plus dans le haut médium me semble-t-il. -"To Zucchabar" Hans Zimmer introduit Djivan Gasparyan un virtuose du "duduk" (un instrument ancien, à vent, arménien au son très pur). -"Barbarian horde" le thème principal nous est présenté avec encore plus de force, de puissance et de majesté. -Le final avec "Honour Him" , mais surtout avec "Now We Are Free" Cette chanson est assez particulière puisque la langue ne nous est pas compréhensible, chant sublime, transcendé par Lisa Gerrard et sa voix particulièrement touchante et remplie d'émotion. Oeuvre puissante et intimiste à la fois, grandiose. Difficile de ne pas se laisser envahir par ses émotions à l'écoute de cette musique de film. Que j'écoute encore et encore avec la même émotion et un plaisir renouvellé. Merci Mr Hans Zimmer et Mme Lisa Gerrard pour cette musique.