Zanobard Reviews

Hans Zimmer’s masterfully tense Crimson Tide has finally gotten the impeccable expansion it deserves by Intrada, with its newly remastered complete presentation and even a concert demo of the main theme altogether cementing it as one of the composer’s best ’90s works.

I love Crimson Tide. From the intriguing cramped submarine mutiny setting to the absolute powerhouse acting performances of Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, it’s a frankly magnetic experience from beginning to end – and that’s without even mentioning Hans Zimmer’s score. Born right in the middle of the composer’s ’90s bombastic orchestra and synth era, it’s an at times nail-bitingly tense and at others thunderously dramatic work that – much like The Rock – was sadly rather let down in its day by a sub-par album presentation, but thankfully Intrada have once again stepped up recently for another of their excellent expansion works, and the happy result is the release of the complete score for the film – and even a few extras. Now Zimmer’s Crimson Tide, much like many of his action albums of the time, is led by an absolute thunderous power anthem of a main theme, and one of the aforementioned extras is intriguingly a concert demo for it – entitled “Crimson Tide 2014 Concert Suite (Demo)” – so as said theme is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the star of the show here, it’s with that demo cue that this review shall begin.

Quiet, almost morose vocals open the concert suite, echoing in a rather serene manner alongside the occasional almost ghostly hint of electronics. The vocals then build to a short crescendo at the minute mark, with low-pitched brass and rising percussion also starting to build from ninety seconds in. The brass then rapidly becomes loud and intensely grandiose, rising with increasing nobility as it then dramatically introduces the main theme and holds it enthusiastically high pretty much for the entire rest of the track; stylistically this main motif holds many similiarities to that of The Rock‘s, being unapologetically loud, fiercely heroic and pretty much instantly memorable – god I miss power anthems – and it soars with increasing orchestral grandeur here with the brass, vocals and drums constantly building until finally crashing to a dramatic finish. With the main theme now thunderously introduced, the score begins proper with “Main Title – News Report”, and those same wary vocals echo alongside a singular solemn trumpet – introducing a wary secondary motif for Washington’s character, Lt. Commander Hunter – before dramatic drums, vocals and rising brass overtake with anxious ambience. A brief but proud orchestral burst then hints toward the main theme before the track closes on a dramatically percussive note.

Moody vocal murmurs reprise for the opening of “Briefing And Goodbyes – Roll Tide”, in a manner much akin to that of The Rock‘s opening cue, with lonesome brassy hints toward the main theme starting to appear at the two minute mark. A solemn string rendition of Hunter’s motif then echoes quietly before militaristic percussion starts to ratchet up the tension, with the main theme then surging intensely back into centre stage for a proudly full playthrough on triumphant brass and orchestra as the USS Alabama heads out to sea in the film. “Little Ducks” then intriguingly introduces the naval hymn ‘Eternal Father, Too Strong To Save’ to the score on solemn, noble vocals, with the subsequent “Fire In The Galley – Hunter Rebuffed” continuing in a similarly pensive vocal manner in its opening minute before a dramatic crash of percussion, flaring synth and blaring brass kick off a brief action variant of the main theme. With the action then fading in favour of quiet strings and moody electronics, the brief “Boxing” simmers with low-pitched brass reprising Hunter’s wary motif opposite increasingly intense drums, and “Real EAM” straight after then continues this rising tension with ominous percussive and vocal echoes before finishing with a short and dramatically brassy rendition of the main theme.

Wary flares of brass and eerie percussive ambience are the focal point of the first few minutes of “This Is Not A Drill”, with more intense woodwinds and drums then overtaking aggressively in the back half. The rising orchestral tension continues into the subsequent “Classification” with faster drums, vocals and electronics setting a frenetic pace alongside the occasional brassy hint toward the main theme, before “First Engagement” dials up the intensity in its back half with imposing percussive crashes, chanting vocals and dramatically in-your-face brass. The whoppingly sixteen minute “Mutiny/2nd Attack – Bilge Bay” then opens morosely with a singular brass instrument before tense percussion and woodwinds start to build a wary pace. Moody strings join the fray after a short while alongside additional intense brass, with the entire ensemble then building slowly, holding tensions high, for much of the rest of the lengthy track’s remaining runtime – the only reprieve being right at the end, where a solo brass interspersion of Hunter’s solemn motif segues into a gently vocal reprisal of ‘Eternal Father, Too Strong To Save’, and then the ever-grandiose main theme.

As the album now creeps tensely towards its end, the ten minute “Counter Mutiny” opens moodily with low-pitched brass and vocals which, together with increasingly frenetic percussion and woodwinds, then build cautiously over the remainder of the track’s runtime alongside the occasional lone trumpet appearance of Hunter’s motif and melancholic hints toward the main theme. The incredibly nineteen minute “1SQ – Crisis Averted” then continues in a similarly tension-building & Hunter inspersions manner, with an added a sense of dramatic urgency encouraged by rapidly-paced drums, until the main theme slowly starts to build back into the fray. After a considerable amount of moody action build-up, this then finally culminates at the sixteen minute mark with a thunderously victorious brassy burst of said theme. Final and indeed Standout Cue “Court Of Inquiry/Resolution – End Titles” then brings the score overall full circle, reprising Hunter’s pensive trumpet motif one last time before the music segues into a happily lengthy end credits rendition of the main theme on rousing orchestra, and then fades into gentle solemnity with a final appearance of ‘Eternal Father, Too Strong To Save’.

Overall, Hans Zimmer’s score for Crimson Tide is a very well-crafted showcase of building tension, with its absolute powerhouse of a main theme utilised throughout to provide powerful moments of much needed relief. Said theme is naturally the star of the show here, being an emphatically heroic reminder of the great ’90s power anthems of old that Zimmer is famous for, and naturally it plays at its best in dramatic moments of sheer orchestral grandiosity through tracks like the fist-pumping “Briefing And Goodbyes – Roll Tide”, the conclusive “Court Of Inquiry/Resolution – End Titles” and of course the absolutely sublime concert demo piece included with Intrada’s expanded set here. Aside from the main theme, Denzel Washington’s Lt. Commander Hunter also gets a more cautious motif on solo brass, and the music overall has a recurring stylistic feel of moodily wary vocals, woodwinds, brass and percussion that all cement the aforementioned rising tension felt throughout the entire score. All-in, Crimson Tide feels like a more moody, restrained precursor to Nick Glennie-Smith and Zimmer’s later score for The Rock, and while I do admittedly prefer that album over this one just for its greater action capabilities, that doesn’t stop Tide from being pretty impeccable in its own right. Love that main theme!

Score: 8/10

Standout Cues: 2014 Concert Suite (Demo), Court Of Inquiry – Resolution/End Titles

Buy the 2-CD expansion for the score right here, published by Intrada.

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