Are You Not Entertained . . .Yet?
Review by Christopher Coleman

More Music from the Motion Picture: Gladiator

With the commercial success of the top grossing movie of 2000, Gladiator, it was little surprise that a second volume of music from (or inspired by) the film was announced.  Decca Records initially provided a more than adequate original soundtrack - capturing the essence of the film and the scores main highlights.  Some nine months later and after numerous award nominations for the film and score, even a couple of wins, More Music from the Motion Picture: Gladiator, is poised for release.

This second volume, like most second volume soundtracks, contains dialogue (see More Music from Braveheart and Back to Titanic).  Aside from that, Decca's latest Gladiator installment also contains a host of cues which were composed for, but not used in, the film.  Lastly, included are a couple of remixes of Now We are Free.  Together these combine to actually make this second volume a worthwhile and enjoyable release, particularly for the Gladiator-fan.

Departing from the direct-quote-from-the-film style of dialogue found in More Music from Braveheart, the producers of this album layer some of the more poignant and memorable lines from the film over selections of score that were not chose for use in the film.  Music and dialogue are paired here to produce a specific emotional response from the listener.   For the most part, this little experiment seems to work.  The downfall of such a production choice is that the music accompanying the dialogue would be a gem to have on its own.  Many who disliked Decca's Hannibal release due to the dialogue will probably be frustrated with this release as well.  On the other hand, those who are just plain fans of Gladiator will find the dialogue and musical edits entertaining.

There is actually a good deal of Gladiator music never heard before, in any context, on this disc.  This is an interesting approach to a second volume soundtrack as almost all of this music was composed for use in the film, but, in the end, more suitable takes or versions made the final cut.  In the detailed liner notes, Zimmer comments on each track as if writing in a journal.  His words prove very enlightening as one listens.  More Music from the Motion Picture Gladiator, offers alternate takes from Djivan Gasparian on the duduk, Zimmer's "Earth" theme, sung by and played on the yan ching by Lisa Gerrard (13, 17), and even an all synth-demo of the music from the opening battle scene, The Gladiator Waltz (12).  This release not only spotlights Zimmer's fine work but also more of Lisa Gerrard's, Klaus Badelt's, and even Jeff Rona's contributions.  To praise this soundtrack in bit underhanded way, this is the absolute BEST "music inspired by the motion picture" album to date!

The final composite of this release are the remixes.  Remixed score pieces generally rank pretty low on my list,  but the two remixed tracks offered here are, at the very least, interesting.  The first, Now We are Free (Juba's Mix) is a performed in a different time signature than the original performance and at quicker tempo.  Lisa Gerrard performance is decidedly more upbeat and hopeful as accompanying guitars, percussions and additional vocals make this a more "celebratory" version of the memorable song.  By the end of the track, it takes on a much more natural, North African or even Native American feel.  It works and works well, almost as if Lebo M go ahold of the piece and added his trademark sound to it.!  The second remix is once again of Now We are Free.  This time we have a clear dance-mix, subtitled Maximus Mix.  This track is much less enjoyable than the first mix.  This mix appears to be the original Now We are Free performance of Lisa Gerrard with the typically vanilla dance rhythms that plague all too many remixes these days, along with quirky synth-accents laid over the top of it.  

More Music from the Motion Picture Gladiator is a fine production.  It makes for a nice companion to the original soundtrack in every way.  The music included is not redundant, as alternate cues, dialogue, and remixes keep the album fresh.  The liner notes are quite extensive, being penned by Hans Zimmer himself (a good portion seems to come from his interview on the DVD).  This is a wise commercial release as Gladiator fans are reinvigorated by all the attention the film will receive throughout the Award-season.  If the general film music fan can get by the so-called "distractions" on the CD, namely the dialogue, they will find this a most entertaining experience.

Rating: 8/10