Yekeleni Par I (Heitor Pereira) / Mia's Lullaby (Gerrard & Jablonsky) (
Heart of Darkness
Small Piece for Doumbek and Strings / Kopr
Under the Forest Calm (for the film Tears of the Sun)
Yekeleni Part II (Pereira) / Carnage
Koprano Part II
Night
Cry in the Silence (for the film Tears of the Sun)
The Jablonsky Variations on a theme by HZ
The Journey / Kopano Part III
If the basic thematic elements of this Bruce Willis star vehicle--American military unit gets cut off behind enemy lines in a guerilla-besieged African backwater--have parallels with Ridley Scott's fierce, unrelenting Blac... more »k Hawk Down, composer Hans Zimmer (who scored both films) has conjured an entirely different musical soul for this adventure. Where his Black Hawk score turned on a gritty, often violent clash of musical cultures, his work here is richly introspective and tinged with a mature sense of melancholy. African rhythms and melodic elements bubble to the surface throughout, but in subtly powerful ways that often recall the best of Peter Gabriel's world music ventures. Zimmer has again impressively expanded his repertory company approach to scoring as well, with veteran collaborators Lisa Gerrard and Heitor Pereira joined here by Steve Jablonsky, Andreas Vollenweider and Lebo M. (who's written and performed the score's passages of African poetry). The result is a moody, evocative score whose quiet grace recalls the composer's masterful work for The Thin Red Line; another satisfying tribute to the power of musical understatement. --Jerry McCulley« less
If the basic thematic elements of this Bruce Willis star vehicle--American military unit gets cut off behind enemy lines in a guerilla-besieged African backwater--have parallels with Ridley Scott's fierce, unrelenting Black Hawk Down, composer Hans Zimmer (who scored both films) has conjured an entirely different musical soul for this adventure. Where his Black Hawk score turned on a gritty, often violent clash of musical cultures, his work here is richly introspective and tinged with a mature sense of melancholy. African rhythms and melodic elements bubble to the surface throughout, but in subtly powerful ways that often recall the best of Peter Gabriel's world music ventures. Zimmer has again impressively expanded his repertory company approach to scoring as well, with veteran collaborators Lisa Gerrard and Heitor Pereira joined here by Steve Jablonsky, Andreas Vollenweider and Lebo M. (who's written and performed the score's passages of African poetry). The result is a moody, evocative score whose quiet grace recalls the composer's masterful work for The Thin Red Line; another satisfying tribute to the power of musical understatement. --Jerry McCulley
"Director Antoine Fuqua brings to the screen "Tears of the Sun", a film similar to "Behind Enemy Lines", "Black Hawk Down" and "Bat 21" all winners, but the difference is Bruce Willis, Tom Skerritt and Monica Bellucci a very strong cast for this action thriller. Now enters Hans Zimmer, the directors choice for composer ~ who once again takes us on a classic musical journey ~ this time into African rhythms, beautiful solos and choral arrangements. Varese Records along with behind the scenes music-people like Steve Jablonsky, Lisa Gerrard, Heitor Pereira, Lebo M., Andreas Vollenweider and Jim Dooley send chills down our spins with this (should be) award winning score album.A couple of stand outs ~ "YEKELENI PART 1/"MIA'S LULLABYE", this theme could make time stand still, it's that beautiful ~ "THE JOURNEY/KOPANO PART III", the final track has the "Zimmer Signature" all the stops are pulled out with brilliant orchestration, outstanding arrangement and total blow your mind performance ~ gotta love it!This CD can stand own its own for listen ability ~ musical style of "Lion King", "Thin Red Line", "Gladiator", "Black Hawk Down" and "Power of One" if you enjoyed any of the mentioned, this score's for you and did I mention this is a keeper.Total Time: 46:38 on 10 Tracks ~ Varese Records 302-066-457-2 ~ (3/18/2003)"
A Moving Soundtrack
Brian | Florida | 08/04/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Hans Zimmer has been one of my personal favorites for a long time. He seems to have a nack for the action sequences of movies, definitely noticable in The Rock.
The Tears of the Sun soundtrack has an African theme to it, which i tend to like. However, Track 9: The Jablonsky Variation is perhaps the best track on the cd. As with most soundtracks you can watch the movie in your head, even if you haven't seen the movie. That is espicially possible with this track. You can feel the despair and time running out and then at the end of the song (the napalm from the f-18 jets) you feel deeply saddened. The emotion to this song is incredible. I highly recommend this soundtrack to those who enjoy Hans Zimmer's work."
Zimmer and Co. Back in Africa
G M. Stathis | cedar city, utah USA | 03/27/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Much like Hans Zimmer's music for "Galdiator" his score for "Tears of the Sun" could be described as "soundtrack by committee." This is not to suggest that it does not work for the film, or as a soundtrack recording. Indeed, it is both effective and enjoyable on both counts. Credit must be given to Steve Jablonsky, Lebo M., Lisa Gerrard, Heitor Pereira and Andreas Vollenweider as well, however. That said the musical score is amazingly cohesive. The unifying thread is the vocals of Lebo M. This is a somber and often reflective score to an equally serious film. Both the plight of Africa and the frustration of the West are clearly portrayed on the screen and in this music. At times the music is a desperate, wrenching plea for sanity. Zimmer and Lebo were part of a very successful colaboration with "The Lion King," and this effort is at times a reminder of that great achievement. The emotional climax of the film, and the score, does have an unmistakable "Lion King" moment (only the rock is missing). Nicely produced and packaged by Varese."
African Tears
bucky81 | Cairns, Australia | 03/22/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I was very eager to get my hands on Hans Zimmer's only cd release since Spirit. Knowing that this score would be very much like the Power of One with a war element included, I felt that I would thoroughly enjoy the music. And that I did. The first feeling I got was a sense of awe as Mia's Lullabye filled my ears. Then sadness as the strings of the Heart of Darkness track began. The longest track on the album, strangely titled 'Small Piece For Doumbek And Strings' is one of the best. The pace and volume of the track changes through its duration, with a very emotional cue around the 7.00 minute mark. Under the forest calm offers some fairly un-interesting minimalistic score. Carnage offers a very chaotic build-up and then cools down. Track 6 acts as an interlude to more emotional music in track 7 and track 8 - Cry in Silence starts off in chaos with the same music as in Carnage, and very similar to Black Hawk Down. Track 9 is simply brilliant, an emotional bulid-up to chaos to a fast tempo action cue, but the best is yet to come. Track 10 is Zimmer's 2003 masterpiece. In a build-up to theme not dis-similar to final tracks in Beyond Rangoon and Black Hawk Down, the Mother Africa style track is simply breathtaking, spanning 8 minutes, with Lebo M. featuring heavily. This is a must have for Zimmer fans, for any score music fans with some spare cash, and for anyone who enjoys African chants and the like, if not just for track 10. The only disappointment here is the short-ish length. But as long as we are getting Zimmer's score released onto cd, we have to be happy."
Exquisitely beautiful
motherland7 | Franktown,, VA United States | 03/25/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is an exquisitely beautiful and powerful piece by Lebo M., Hans Zimmer, Steve Jablonsky, and Jim Dooley. They deftly combine gripping classic African rhythms and vocals with subtle classic European underpinnings. An immeasurably enjoyable and brilliant work of art."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1
