# Hans Zimmer scoring Inception



## tahnak

One of the most mystical scores of recent times


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## kv466

While I think it is pure genius in the sense that it is almost entirely based on No Regrets I would never agree that it is a musical masterpiece.


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## Vaneyes

kv466 said:


> While I think it is pure genius in the sense that it is almost entirely based on No Regrets I would never agree that it is a musical masterpiece.


He's in such demand, quality has to suffer. 27 projects since 2010.


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## WavesOfParadox

The main negative for Inception in my mind is the music. It's simply uninteresting.


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## BurningDesire

Hans Zimmer is a crappy composer.


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## tdc

BurningDesire said:


> Hans Zimmer is a crappy composer.


I can see why people would think this if one would compare him to the great classical composers, but is he trying to achieve the same thing as the great classical composers? As a composer of film scores he is surely quite good, at least he certainly works a LOT. If it is decided that he isn't in fact trying to achieve the same things as a classical composer I don't think its fair to make such comparisons. One can only really measure if he is good at what he is trying to accomplish and compare him with other film-score composers.


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## BurningDesire

tdc said:


> I can see why people would think this if one would compare him to the great classical composers, but is he trying to achieve the same thing as the great classical composers? As a composer of film scores he is surely quite good, at least he certainly works a LOT. If it is decided that he isn't in fact trying to achieve the same things as a classical composer I don't think its fair to make such comparisons. One can only really measure if he is good at what he is trying to accomplish and compare him with other film-score composers.


I reject such double standards. A composer's goal should be to write good music, whether that music is to accompany another work of art or not. Just because he writes for film is no excuse, because there are composers who wrote beautiful, wonderful music for film, as well as things like TV shows and video games. Film composers like Ennio Morricone and Danny Elfman and Alfred Schnittke wrote wonderful music meant to accompany films, but the music is actually good music that can be listened to as much as concert/recorded music. And its much more effective and fitting of the story than crappy film music is. Hans Zimmer doesn't get a pass just because he writes for movies, or because he supposedly writes alot (I doubt it honestly, alot of it is probably written by his team, and then he takes credit).


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## oogabooha

The score to _Inception_ is so contrived and self-indulgent and it's really just not my cup of tea. On the topic of Hans Zimmer, I really dislike him. I haven't been able to remotely enjoy his scores. There are small exceptions, but for the most part I get that impression from his works in general. 27 projects since 2010 does sound ambitious (but also spreading himself thin for sure), so I'll give him that.

EDIT: Let me elaborate briefly; I agree with BurningDesire. Zimmerman shouldn't get a pass just because he writes on a grandiose scale or because he spreads his work too thin. In fact, that's just the sign of a composer who doesn't know what he's doing. The thing with Zimmerman's music is that is sounds bland. Yes, there are typical things that make it dramatic, romantic, etc., but that's all _expected_. People give him too much credit for composing films and forget that--just like the visuals are an art--scoring a film is a complete art as well. I can name many composers who take the art of film scoring and are able to back the film while maintaining integrity. In the case of Zimmerman (and especially with _Inception_) the entire film was just him cartoonish-ly amplifying bland emotion with bland technique.


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## tdc

^ I don't actually listen to a lot of film score music. I just know Hans Zimmer seems to be quite successful, so I find it surprising he is considered so crappy at what he does. As far as film composers go (not including major classical composers that have also created film scores) I would've guessed he'd be at least considered as 'average' or 'good', but I'll have to take your words for it.


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