Hans Zimmer – Live

It's been amusing to witness how, during the last decade, Hans Zimmer has turned from a self-recluse into almost a rockstar within the soundtrack world; from not willing to perform live, to be almost ever-present on stages all across the world.

Was it necessary to release this new set of live recordings some 5 plus years after 2017's "Live In Prague" when, IMO, he hasn't written a true masterpiece since "Interstellar"?

Well, it will depend on the tastes.

From my point of view, the main value of "Live" is that it feels a little more articulate than its predecessor: I'd say the music here contained has taken advantage of the experience gained by Zimmer and his collaborators after several years of touring- you can tell it's less a carbon copy of its studio counterpart, and its arrangements are more colourful.

Also, it's always interesting to hear how more recent soundtracks, such as "Dunkirk", "Dune", "Wonder Woman" (some really beautiful, anthemic harmonies here) or "Dark Phoenix" perform in a live setting.

The highlights to me, however, are still his pre-"Dunkirk" numbers, such as the "Gladiator" (including the gorgeous "Duduk Of The North" theme, originally released as a b-side in the soundtrack's special edition) and "Man If Steel", "The Dark Knight" and "Pirates Of The Caribbean" suites (this last one including "One Day", which keeps being one of my all time favourite, most lyrical and evocative moments out of all Zimmer's output).

It is also great to finally hear some excerpts of "The Last Samurai" live, and it's always a pleasure to relive moments of "Inception" and "Interstellar"... plus you finally get to listen Lisa Gerrard's haunting voice in a live setting!

Overall, maybe "Live In Prague" will be more in tune with Zimmer's old guard of followers as myself, but "Live" is more than a mere update, and can be thoroughly enjoyed by both, new and old fans, and it's a good summary and encoming entering point to his work.