{"id":5751,"date":"2012-11-23T16:04:46","date_gmt":"2012-11-23T21:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=5751"},"modified":"2012-11-23T16:04:46","modified_gmt":"2012-11-23T21:04:46","slug":"cd-black-rain-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=5751","title":{"rendered":"CD: Black Rain (1989)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>B<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: La-La Land Records<\/a>\/ Released: September 25, 2012<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: \u00a0CD1: 14 tracks \/ (74:09) +\u00a0CD2: 18 tracs \/ (67:48)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 24-page colour booklet with liner notes by Tim Greiving \/ Limited to 3000 copies..<\/p>\n

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Composer: Hans Zimmer<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

When the original soundtrack album was released in 1989, Hans Zimmer\u2019s score had to share half of the LP\u2019s space with source music, and while the suite of edited themes and cues worked well, it represented a very, very small portion of the full score, making this early Zimmer work a top candidate for an expanded CD release.<\/p>\n

This is a prime example of a score that\u2019s vastly improved by offering virtually every component because Black Rain <\/strong>is also a mercurial score \u2013 always drifting between theme recaps, quick quotations, and unsettling chords. Buffering these cues are sparse yet hard percussion, or bombastic cascades of thunderous synth and organic percussion.<\/p>\n

The variety of moods \u2013 particularly the more ambient and abstract sections dropped from the LP edits \u2013 ensure the score has a strong dramatic drive, and La-La Land\u2019s CD also showcases what was once cutting edge electronic sounds, especially the orchestral emulations which Zimmer perfectly integrated with acoustic instruments.<\/p>\n

Black Rain<\/strong>, which was orchestrated by Shirley Walker, always possessed one of Zimmer\u2019s best boom factors \u2013 it\u2019s got some of the loudest and flagrantly bombastic action cues in his canon, with bass frequencies giving a basic stereo system a good synaptic workout \u2013 but the wide dynamics of the score are perfectly tailored to the film\u2019s ridiculous story of an arrogant American cop who shows his Japanese equivalent how to behave, loosen up, and enjoy life while on the job. (The cover art, sporting a classic no-nonsense Michael Douglas pose with gelled hair \/ shades \/ cigarette celebrates arrogance, if not the shit-kicking attitude endemic to eighties action films, and their heroes perpetuating non-regimental policing.)<\/p>\n

Contrasting the bombast is the Asian-styled (and rather syrupy) love theme which slowly takes over the score, ultimately evolving (devolving?) into a vocal version in the finale & End Credits. (The song, with awful lyrics and Gregg Allman\u2019s wavering voice, has not aged well.)<\/p>\n

The big surprise is that Black Rain<\/strong> still holds its own as a punchy, sonically epic score, and none of the new material makes cues redundant. LLL\u2019s production brings out many sonic nuances, especially the small gestures during the abstract cues, and the intricate percussion and bass pulses in action and kinetic \u2018on the move\u2019 cues (like \u201cSequins\u201d). Disc 1 contains the expanded score, whereas Disc 2 features the still-good suite edits and source tunes.<\/p>\n

Within Zimmer\u2019s C.V., Black Rain <\/strong>was a major project that brought him to the attention of producers and directors wanting what would become his patented bombastic sound, as well as one of the richest orchestral-synth marriages in film scoring. Prior to this film, Zimmer had a few significant solo projects, plus early scores co-composed with mentor Stanley Myers; after Black Rain<\/strong>, he became the chief musical voice of producers Bruckheimer & Simpson, and director Ridley Scott\u2019s main composer. This is the definitive Zimmer score that for better or worse, changed the way action music was written for films.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0B<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ B . Rating: Excellent Label: La-La Land Records\/ Released: September 25, 2012 Tracks & Album Length: \u00a0CD1: 14 tracks \/ (74:09) +\u00a0CD2: 18 tracs \/ (67:48) . Special Notes: 24-page colour booklet with liner notes by Tim Greiving \/ Limited to 3000 copies.. . Composer: Hans Zimmer . . Review: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1640,162,323],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1uL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5751"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5751"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5778,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5751\/revisions\/5778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}