Customer Reviews

Kingdom of Heaven [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am into Rock and Jazz music and not a classic listener at all.
Kingdom of Heaven is a different story with different sounds. Living in the Middle East,
The music in this CD was born from the greatest movie I have ever seen.
The sound is a blend of Classical and little Arabic which could not fit any better in the Region I am living in.
Jerusalem, Beirut, Tripoli, the land of the Crusades and the Arabs. The music of this album is the perfect atmosphere this region creates.
Watch the Movie; (The Director's Cut) then choose a relaxing day; put this CD in your CD player and enjoy.
A 5 star CD. A 5 star Movie
I have later bought The Music of "Alexander" and the music of "The 13th Warrior", that is After reading many reviews on Amazon about them as well;
After listening all these CD's; They are good music to buy but.... my personal opinion: Nothing Comes close to the music of "Kingdom of Heaven"

1 Great soundtrack recommendation : The thin red line.
Just Added Recently: I have just heard a new album that could be nicely compared to Kingdom of Heavens, titled: "An Ancient Muse" by Loreena McKennitt. This one is another great CD.

Kingdom of Heaven has a fantastically understated score that is completely enjoyable. Harry Gregson-Williams has crafted perhaps his best score for the Ridley Scott epic. Although I am a huge fan of Gladiator, Scott's choice of Gregson-Williams seems inspired after listening to the finished score. He combines light European choirs with traditional Middle Eastern music, powerful and ethereal at the same time. What makes a score great, is the ability of the composer to musically relate to the characters of the movie and become not necessarily a separate element, but a part of the whole. If the score says just as much as the characters than it is successful and Harry Gregson-Williams' Kingdom of Heaven score is a real character in this epic film.

First off, I'd like to explain the title. Harry Gregsom-Williams already proved himself to be quite the composer with Shrek and Shrek 2. However, they are Shrek and Shrek 2. Not exactly the most respected genre of scores. So to pull off such a dramatic piece as Kingdom of Heaven should really propel him, especially with his role in the Chronicles of Narnia movie(s).

Now to the actual score. It was a real pleasure to listen to as it contains a wide variety of music. You have a "Heavenly" choir whose involved in basically half the score. Then you've got a mix of both contemporary scored music (John Williams, Hans Zimmer, etc.) and Arabian wood music. Williams was also thee producer of the album along with Peter Cobbin, and they made sure that we got enough of both types of music to be satsisfied, but not too much as we would get tired of it.

There is no particular style that you would be reminded of while listening to Kindom of Heaven, but a large mixture of them. Certainly the most influential style to this score would be Hans Zimmer (who was originally picked by Ridley Scott, who worked with Zimmer on Gladiator). But there is also some pieces that might remind people of Carter Burwell's "Alamo." Williams and Shore types could also be heard here.

A guide to these great tracks:

1. Burning the Past--Well people with experience with scores know how the first track always sounds. Afterall, they need to put a slow paced score in order to fit well witht he credits and title. However, this is one of the best opening scores I've ever heard. It's got a very heaven;y feel to it as the chorus sings like mourners. Sometimes I get the chills listening to it. Very unique instrument use, too. Don't know what it is exactly. Turns out that the tune in this track is also the suspense/mourning theme.

2. Crusaders--Here, as is the case with may films, is where the main action theme is introduced. It is a very good four beat theme. Granted, it's not the most original one, but it still is a good listen and works well with a movie.

3. Swordplay--I thought that the beginning of this tune was a bit unfitting for this score. It reminded me of something you'd here from an old sailor movie.
However, it got back to the mood of the original score after those first few seconds.

4. A New World--The first real relaxing track on the soundtrack. Very good wood and string instrument use. Introduced to the more gleeful theme, which will be better used later in the CD.

5. To Jerusalem--Like I said, Gladiator is awesome. Wait- this isn't Gladiator? would have never known from this trck. A bit too similar for my likings.

6. Sibylla--This is a typical love or mourning theme (kinda ironic how those two are so easily lumped together).

7. Ibelin--This is my favorite track on the CD. I know I'm probably showing bad taste, but this is the one song I like to just keep replaying over again. It has such melody to it. It is also the prime showcase of the more gleeful theme. It's the type of music that would typically be played as the caravan is entering a great city, or maybe during a dance, or something of that sort. Probably the best use of Arabic music I've heard on any soundtrak.

8. Rise a Knight--There is more of the suspense theme introduced in the first track on this pre-battle type piece. It's a great track to go along with the scene in order to set up what will happen in the rest of the movie.

9. The King--This is the longest track on the CD at 5:45. It starts of really slow with some nice vocals, but then it starts to get more upbeat in the middle.

10. The Battle of Kerak--Well you can probably guess what this one is like based on the title. Of course, the action/battle theme is promenent here along with some new very enjoyable suspense pieces. HGW is proving to be quite the action composer.

11. Terms--Two very chilling vocals (one male, the other female). Something out of the books of Troy or Gladiator. Overall, it makes a good post-war music. Then a more upbeat drum piece, followed by a Lord of the Rings-ish battle tune.

12. Better Man--This is a combination of the opening track and "Terms." Then there's some more Arabian music so you can get your fix. Very much like Pirates of the Caribbean at the end, too.

13. Coronation--This is the type f track where you know something important just happened in the movie but the score just bores you to death.

14. An Understanding--This starts off with an exotic female vocal with an arabian music background. It then goes on with many other choral effects.

15. Wall Breached--One of the best tracks on the CD. Great use of the drums, as you could imagine with this title. Then it becomes one of the best suspense moments in the score.

16. The Pilgram Road--Some charming wood music to lead off this track, followed by some more Gladiator-type drum and string music (you could have told me Zimmer did this score and I wouldn't be surprised).

17. Saldin--Well this one almost put me to sleep. However, I know that there are a lot of people that love these type of tracks. To each his own.

18. Path to Heaven--Just a typical "wrapping up" piece here. Another heavenly tack with the choral in it besically the entire time.

19. Ibelin Reprise--I am here to proclaim in behalf of soundtrack fans everywhere that not every theme ever composed has to have words put onto it at the end. They tried to do it with the gleeful theme and it just didn't work out well. It seemed really out of place and almost hurts the ears.

So bottomline: I thought about giving this a four star rating for some of the Gladiator copying music and the annoying song at the end, but I decided the the things that were actually original in this score outweighed the things that weren't. It is a Heavenly score and is sure to please soundtrack fans of all types. A great buy.

Music for Ridley Scott's films seems always to have some element of controversy. His latest, a very good, and accurate treatment of the Crusades, "Kingdom of Heaven," is not completely immune from this. First and above all Harry Gregson-Williams has done a wonderful musical score for this film. Avoiding cliches, but interweaving interesting Middle Eastern motifs, this is a score that enriches the portrait of another age and a new world. The soundtrack album is representative of this achievement and works well on its own (a capable production by Sony). Still, this writer was stunned when, during a highlight scene, music by Jerry Goldsmith from "13th Warrior" emerged. Granted it is fine music, and it worked very well in this scene, but usually in the past Goldsmith suffered the indignity of having his music cut or replaced in several of Scott's film subjects. This puts a bit of a cloud over Harry Gregson-Williams' efforts here, and that is really too bad because he produced a very good score that will not disappoint.

I've reviewed this album once already, but when I did I'd just bought it and hadn't really listened to it all the way through. Reading over it now I realize there's lots I could have said but didn't because I was upset that Vide Cor Meum hadn't been included. Now I accept that the soundtrack only has pieces that were composed for the film by Gregson-Williams, and that makes sense. So while I'm still annoyed that certain key pieces weren't included, I understand why. So I'd like to review it based on its own merits, not what else I thought should have been there.

The first track, "Burning The Past", is one of my favorites. It's slow, pretty and solemn and sets the tone for the rest of the album very well. It's also easy to sing along with.

"Crusaders" is a lovely vocal piece that is heard several times in the movie, and is more the kind of "epic action music" you like to hear in these kinds of films, but definitely doesn't have a generic feel to it. It's the kind of thing you can listen to outside of the context of the movie.

"A New World" and "To Jerusalem" are some beautiful instrumentals, one slow and one with a catchy beat. They have an obviously modern sound but don't feel out of place in an ancient setting.

"Ibelin" is a happy, busy tune that sort of makes you want to dance or some other strenuous activity. It's fun.

"Sibylla" is really more about Ibelin than Sibylla, but is very soft and beautiful and can work for both.

"The King" is my favorite from the album. It sometimes plays over battle scenes but it's mostly King Baldwin's personal theme and marks his presence in the movie quite well. It's simple but beautiful and effective like a good motif should be.

The final piece is "Light Of Life" by Natacha Atlas, whom I've gotten to be a fan of lately, and it's a reprise of "Ibelin" with lyrics in Arabic. Natacha is a very talented singer with a disciplined voice which captured me immediately. I much prefer her traditional and dance-inspired work to her hip hop inspired work, but it's all very good.

The first ten or so songs on the soundtrack have been playing pretty steadily on my mp3 player for about a month now, and I haven't gotten tired of them. Gregson-Williams is a very talented composer and I'll be seeking out more of his work in the future.

This soundtrack has some EXCELLENT music on it. The main theme is very moving, the Coronation song, the Crusader theme and the 'Path to Salvation' are all very nice, even stunning at times. There is some interesting Turkish music which adds the Middle Eastern 'flavor' that we all expected from this movie. Much of the music is, however, very subtle. Upon repeat hearings you will pick up variants of the 'main theme' in places you didn't notice before. If you aren't 'into subtle' you probably won't like this soundtrack - it requires attentive engagement and offers a rewarding experience for him who engages it.

I love soundtracks and this one is one of the best. The music is very emotional and I enjoyed it even before I saw the movie. Now when I listen I can visualize the movie the scene! "The King" is one of the most emotional tracks and without spoiling the movie you will have deep emotion for this character and the music brings you to that place.

I've been a HGW enthusiast for quite some time, and to be honest was quite pleased to see the switch between Zimmer and him. I decided to purchase this score due to the choral work featured in the samples. The terse 30 second tracks convinced me this would be a good buy. I have never spent $15 more gladly.

The purpose of a review is to give the reader an assessment of whether they'd like the product or not; I will begin. First, what the score isn't. It isn't your generic pompousy Zimmer score. This is -nothing- like Zimmer's King Arthur, HGW's MGS3 soundtrack. Different from Gladiator as well. You have occassional rise-ups with minimal brass instruments (unlike Horner's brass abuse in Troy). The main instruments you have are the electric cello and violin, and the chorus. Nothing bombastic; I cannot stress that enough.

It reads like I'm highlighting it's non-pompous nature as to say pompous scores are bad. No. I enjoy outwardly thematic scores too. What I want to point out is that this is an epic score that's different from your traditional epic scores.

That does not, at all mean the soundtrack is monotonous. Definitely not. Listen to the samples. The samples are nothing compared to the real thing, and I thought the samples were great. You're going to get elevating cues obviously for the battle scenes, but not like you know them. The chorus is never overpowered, and is layered on top of an orchestra and drums. It's effective and powerful.

I cannot think of a single cue that doesn't work in this soundtrack. The continuity is amazing and very representative of the time period. Too often do people exclaim "OMG...This is the best ____ I've ever seen/heard". I am not one of those people. I sincerely believe this is at the top of HGW's works. If you are still uncertain, and will watch the film, keep your ears open and listen to the score.

The soundtrack for Kingdom of Heaven is an interesting blending of early music, themes and instruments that recall the Middle East and purely descriptive music for the action. Harry Gregson_Willimas made use of a wide variety of instruments that range from Middle Eastern instruments, tribal and ethnic drums, viols and a modern orchestra. The result is a stunning score that successfully blends all of the diverse elements into music of great beauty and power.

Burning the Past begins the film with a lovely plainchant setting for female voices that also figures in the second track "The Crusaders." "Sibylla" is scored as a love theme conveying the emotions between her and Balian. "Iblin" is beautifully descriptive of an exotic location using Middle-Eastern instruments. The section called "The King" is marvelously descriptive of the silver-masked ruler of Jerusalem with a sad plainchant the develops into a more mysterious and contemplative theme and finally the tempo picks up as if describing how the sick king rouses himself when his kingdom is in danger from the desire of his own knights hunger for warfare. "The Battle of Kerak" builds nicely from the quieter preparations for battle, the battle itself and the aftermath of the slaughter of the Crusades. "Terms" introduces a more "Islamic" tone with the chant that occurs toward the start of the track, which develops to recall the Crusaders using a male chorus before returning to the plainchant of women's voices. The main battle music "Wall Breached" begins with a brief hint of clashing weapons followed by the women's chorus in a sorrowful mood before breaking into a burst of drums, after which there are some contemplative moments before the battle music returns along with a war cry. The music for "Saladin" was interesting for its contemplative music that recalls sadness more than triumph. The score closes with a setting for voice of the earlier "Iblin" music that sounds more exotic than the original.

This is an interesting score that blends man musical styles expertly giving us a score that is descriptive without being bombastic. We are not loaded down with battle music but music that tends to by more psychological and descriptive of mood. If you found the film enjoyable or you did not the music will make a favorable impression.

I Bought this cd right after I saw the movie ( which I highly recommend as well) and loved it the minute I put it in my cd player. It blends all the antiquity of the european choirs with middle eastern styles. The album really brings you on the wave of what this character in the movie went through and brings you through his haunted beginnings into his glorious days as a crusader defending the Holy Land. I truly recommend it to all sound track collectors and music lovers alike.