The Dark Knight Rises: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

Hans Zimmer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: WaterTower Music
• ASIN: B008645YEE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (131 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,581 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

*** Enhanced CD - unlocks 3 additional tracks! 2 are exclusive to the CD:
Bombers Over Ibiza (JunkieXL remix)
No Stone Unturned (exclusive)
Risen From Darkness (exclusive)***

The Dark Knight Rises Score Composed by Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe Award Winner Hans Zimmer

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 134 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Audiophile & HZ Fans: Please Read! - Needs a double disc release & remastering!! July 23, 2012

By Sebastian Moon

Format:Audio CD

Let me begin by stating, I'm a massive Zimmer fan, and this is not entirely his fault but the music from TDKR is in definite need of a deluxe complete score release.... and a proper studio remastering!! (Big time!)

This CD doesn't present the music nowhere near as good as it should - TDK is far superior in the arrangement and editing of tracks, mixing and producing etc... HZ has confirmed in an LA Times article (see below) that there are 4 suites totalling 21 tracks available for download, but only onto an IPHONE or IPAD, this is not acceptable!

I had to return this CD as it was that bad, I really wanted to switch it off mid way (the music was fine, but it was the presentation... and sound mix... that absoutely killed it for me)

This music HZ speaks of is confirmed by him stating - "This shows more of the process," Zimmer said. "I wanted to divide the two worlds up. It's a bad paradigm, but the suites are like the novel of this thing. The CD is like the screenplay. The CD follows the screenplay precisely. The suites are so much more based on all the more detailed conversations Chris and I were having."

[...]

LETS DEMAND THESE 4 SUITES 21 tracks and all the other DOWNLOADABLE music gets released on CD!

This is a shocking way to finish a classic trilogy like this! Zimmer's music is fine, but it's very obvious that the studio rushed to get this CD out. No care has been taken as how the music was arranged on the CD, it feels like it's been slapped together. As another reviewer stated, there are also excessive gain levels, compression and a loss of dynamics... on many tracks, especially 'Imagine the Fire' and 'Rise' etc... - The richness and depth (especially in the mid range are completely lacking. It sounds CHEAP!.... the sound mix is how they would treat a POP/DANCE album poorly!... - Just like a cheap MP3 compressed download! Yuck!

The FACTS are - they need to start from scratch and release a double disc edition - with a whole new mastering and sound mix on CD!! - This whole download trend is embarrasing! - Serious audiophile and music lovers have sound equipment that is very expensive and which most can only play CD or VINYL, not a USB stick!...

The record company released this CD just for kids... or the masses, basically for people who don't have a refined ear for good quality sounding music. The TDK soundtrack was the exact opposite!! - Audiophiles - compare the two and you'll notice a *massive* difference!

Please let me know your thoughts - We need Watertower Records and HZ to know that his fans and music lovers are not happy!

144 of 163 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars CD was mastered with excessive gain levels July 22, 2012

By zilch0

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love Hans Zimmer's work and although the music itself, in this album, is not his best, in my opinion, it's still enjoyable - at least in those tracks where the recordings were not mastered with excessive volume levels.

Unfortunately, several tracks suffer severe clipping - where the maximum possible gain (volume) that can be recorded in a 16-bit file is reached, causing a severe loss of detail and an overall loss of dynamics throughout the entire track.

The following tracks were mastered with excessive gain: 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15.

That's 9 out of 15, or nearly two thirds of the CD, ruined by poor mastering.

So now we have to wait a couple of years (if ever) for someone to come along and remaster these recordings with reasonable gain levels.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars From the opening track, "A Storm Is Coming" it is apparent that this is no ordinary soundtrack. August 19, 2012

By Robert Carraher

Format:Audio CD

I don't go to many movies, after all I am legally blind so if I want to `hear' a movie, I usually wait for the DVD release. But after the Aurora shootings, I don't know. I think I wanted to reaffirm my right to go freely, anywhere in this country, and not fear for my life or safety. So, I made it a point to take a cab and walk into that theater in Lake Oswego. It felt good, and I actually got a seat about five rows back from the screen, so I could actually see most of the film. I also felt somehow proud to, at least in my mind, confront the stigma this film had and has for a lot of people all because of one deranged monster in Aurora. Another good thing that came out of this is I was reviewing a catalog of books being offered for review and one of those books was published by The University Of Colorado Press, so I made it a point to write the editor and offer to review the book (you'll have to wait for the book review) and it was good to talk to someone who could still keep the beautiful things in the front of their mind after the tragic event.

First thing that I noticed, almost naturally given my limited vision and my back ground as a musician and eclectic fan of many forms and genre of music was the sweep and drama in the sound track. Like the previous Dark Knight film, this one was scored by the Academy- Award® winning composer Hans Zimmer. He teamed writer/director Christopher Nolan to create the music for the final installment of his Dark Knight Trilogy.

From the opening track, "A Storm Is Coming" it is apparent that this is no ordinary soundtrack. This isn't just pretty, sanitized sound to fill in the silent or transitory spaces in the action. As a musician, I could hear that Zimmer wasn't playing it safe. The music was daring and at the same time beautiful and masterfully composed as a "whole and necessary" part of the film. Nolan had this lesson he says he learned from working with Zimmer, "the real risk is in playing it safe," and that is the beauty to be found in this album.

Besides some breath taking music, and to aurally remember this fantastic film, I think owning this sound track is an effective way to honor the victims and survivors of the murders that happened in Aurora. A way stand up to the fear that monsters like this generate. By overcoming that fear, we defeat the monsters and display the hero in all of us.

The Dirty Lowdown