Pre-Release
- JAN 31, 2025
- 29 Songs
- Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition] · 2014
- Inception (Music from the Motion Picture) · 2010
- Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition] · 2014
- Gladiator (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) · 2000
- Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition] · 2014
- The Holiday (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) · 2006
- Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition] · 2014
- Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition] · 2014
- Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition] · 2014
- Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Expanded Edition] · 2014
Essential Albums
- Interstellar makes you think. True to form for its director, Christopher Nolan, the intergalactic sci-fi epic challenges our notions of space, time, and the limits of human ingenuity. Employing the grandiosity of a string orchestra one minute and the eerie minimalism of a solo piano the next, Hans Zimmer's score conveys wonder, excitement, and tension all at once. The plaintive melody that appears in "Cornfield Chase" and "S.T.A.Y." captures the love story at the film's center, while the enormity of "Mountains" and the vertiginous chimes in "Coward" express the chaos that surrounds it.
- When the credits roll on a wickedly smart action movie and the first thing on our minds is “Where can I get the soundtrack to this?" you can bet the film was scored by Hans Zimmer. His hypnotic, circling, four-chord groups build into whirlwinds of intensity on the eerie "Radical Notion" and the hyperkinetic "Mombasa." Listen for appearances by Smiths vet Johnny Marr, as his guitar cuts a viscerally emotive streak through the symphonic epic "Time."
- There’s little breathing room on Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s brilliantly conceived soundtrack for The Dark Knight. Just like Heath Ledger’s totally psycho portrayal of The Joker, almost every track is heavy, dense, and claustrophobic. Zimmer is a sucker for industrial music and dark electronics, both of which creep their way into “Agent of Chaos” and the violently rhythmic “Why So Serious?” Even the reflective orchestral offerings are smeared in grim textures and dystopian murk. Definitely file under “uneasy listening.”
- Batman Begins, the first film in the most recent series that features the caped superhero—Batman’s origins date back to the 1930s—was directed by Christopher Nolan, and released in 2005. The film’s score was written by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, two of Hollywood’s most well-known composers. The soundtrack opens with the moody “Vespertilio,” where chugging strings, ominous brass, and electronics effectively set the stage for the action to come. (The track titles are based on the Latin names for various types of bats.) The insistent pulse of minimalism drives one section of “Eptesicus,” a cut that is also nicely colored by touches of oboe and acoustic piano. The second half of “Tadarida” is one of the wildest things here: the edgy sound effects, chattering voices, and pounding drums reek of danger. “Molossus,” with its driving rhythm and counterbalanced horns and strings, is super urgent, while “Corynorhinus” spotlights melancholy strings and gentle piano. The reflective closer, “Lasiurus,” surges with emotion towards its conclusion.
Music Videos
- 2024
- 2023
Artist Playlists
- One of the most legendary film composers of all time.
Live Albums
Appears On
More To Hear
- The composer on the 'Dune' soundtrack and his creative process.
- Music, film, inspiration, synths, and more.
More To See
About Hans Zimmer
It seems apt that the composer responsible for writing one of the most memorable jingles for a TV game show, Going for Gold (1987-1996), should become synonymous with success in Hollywood. Zimmer's rise to fame, peaking with Oscar recognition in 1995 for The Lion King and again in 2022 for his otherworldly Dune soundtrack, has seen him credited with more than 150 film scores ranging across styles and genres. It's his versatility—remember the playful use of percussion for his quirky main theme in Tony Scott's True Romance (1993)?—that has made him so successful for so long. That and his ability to draw on the strengths of collaborators: hear Pete Haycock's slide guitar in Thelma & Louise (1991) or Lisa Gerrard's haunting vocals on his popular Gladiator soundtrack (2000). Born in 1957 in Frankfurt, Zimmer received some tutoring at the piano but was largely self-taught. He was inspired to become a film composer by listening to the Sergio Leone Western soundtracks of Ennio Morricone. His partnership in the 1980s with film composer Stanley Myers taught Zimmer how to bring electronic and orchestral soundworlds together. Since then, he has written typically Hollywoodish orchestral scores—for the Pirates of the Caribbean series, for example—but also delighted in the sheer creativity of soundtrack writing, most memorably in Christopher Nolan's time-bending sci-fi Inception (2010), where Edith Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette rien" is ingeniously slowed down and reinvented.
- HOMETOWN
- Frankfurt, Germany
- BORN
- 1957
- GENRE
- Soundtrack