Score Sample - Backdraft - Hans Zimmer

I've written about a lot of the biggest names in the film music, but there is one gentleman I haven't done more than mention. The fact is, he is one of the few film composers that folks on the street will recognize these days, at least by name. His film scores have appeared in some of the top grossing films of the last two decades. He created a unique sound for film scores in the 1990s, and that style has come to dominate the industry ever since.

The man is Hans Zimmer. In film score fandom, it is hard to find a more divisive figure. Some feel he is a film scoring god whose every word and note is worth hearing and praising. Others think his creation of the Zimmer sound is a plague on all modern motion pictures. Yeah there are some folks who fall in between, but the most vocal fall on one side or the other.

I enjoy some of his work, and when he's on, his music is very entertaining. One of the perfect examples of the Zimmer sound comes from his score to Ron Howard's film Backdraft. The piece below, Show Me Your Firetruck, contains all the elements of his style in it's early form. This piece made such an impression that it was used for both opening and ending credits for the Japanese version of Iron Chef. Now if that isn't a recommendation I don't know what is.