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Hans Zimmer's The Lion King (2019)


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Just now, Fargo said:

Hans Zimmer uses the same Circle of Life recording from 15 years ago and it's ok. But when I use the same toothbrush from 15 years ago, my wife calls me disgusting. wtf

 

Well, he only reused the synths, instrumental, Lebo M's chanting and African Choir :P Everything else is 100% new.

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I don't think that's particularly fair, TBH. If it were either, it'd be a complete straight up re-recording of the original. Yes, there are moments like that, but that's to be expected: it'd be like remaking Star Wars (no TFA jokes) with a new score which has callbacks to the 1977 score, then flat-out using Throne Room and saying 'that's by-the-numbers and lazy'.

 

And I say that as somebody who dislikes most of Zimmer's modern output (except maybe TASM2, in an odd, corny way). He's done plenty of lazy and by-the-numbers stuff and this ain't one of them.

 

If anything, this is a nice allusion to the 90s, when I think Zimmer was at his peak.

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2019's version of I Just Can't Wait to Be King sounds strange, probably because I'm so used to the original. Be Prepared is a joke. gahh

 

Stampede is pretty good so far though.

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Nah, this is the very definition of artistic bankruptcy. But then, this whole Disney remake is so perhaps that's fitting. Only John Debney managed to do something with his score.

 

Karol

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6 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Nah, this is the very definition of artistic bankruptcy. But then, this whole Disney remake is so perhaps that's fitting. Only John Debney managed to do something with his score.

 

Karol

 

I think we can only agree to disagree here.

 

6 minutes ago, Fargo said:

2019's version of I Just Can't Wait to Be King sounds strange, probably because I'm so used to the original. Be Prepared is a joke. gahh

 

Stampede is pretty good so far though.

 

It is a little odd. Interesting though since didn't John Oliver do "The Morning Report" for the Special Edition re-release of the original film? I preferred his Zazu there, but maybe that's because he was trying to sound like the Zazu of that film.

 

100% agree on Be Prepared. It just sounds... off. But then again, I'm honestly not keen on Scar's voice anyway - it lacks the intimidation of the original. I'd much rather they had asked Irons back. It's not like this version would require him to throw his voice out again.

 

The rest of the songs are fine, though as I said, I think of Paul when I hear Seth Rogen, not Pumbaa.

 

The orchestral score, I think, is a nice blend of ideas from the original film, the stage musical, the Hans Zimmer Live suite. Somehow, Mufasa's Death sounds more tragic here.

 

I'm saying this as somebody who wasn't taken in first time like I was with the 94 score too. When i heard the snippets at the beginning of the live stream of the premiere, my reaction was "Hans, look how you massacred it".

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Just now, rolltide1017 said:

So, is the version of Spirit on the OST the same as the single released recently?  I can only listen to the single through Apple Music.

 

I think so, yes.

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1 hour ago, Gistech said:

I like the gags in Hakuna Matata. Though TBH I miss Ernie Sabella. Don't get me wrong: I like Seth Rogen but when I hear his voice I hear Paul, not Pumbaa.

 

I agree - that song got a laugh out of me. But other than that I wasn't feeling it too much. Doesn't help that neither of the two actors are singing very well.

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4 minutes ago, Fargo said:

 

I agree - that song got a laugh out of me. But other than that I wasn't feeling it too much. Doesn't help that neither of the two actors are singing very well.

 

Billy Eichner does fine, and I think he'd have worked well opposite Ernie Sabella. Like I said, I listen to this Pumbaa and I'm expecting to hear that he set his phaser to faint, arguing with a Christian fundimentalist over evolution. I think Donald Glover is fine too. It does feel like it's just missing something.

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1 hour ago, Richard Penna said:

Listened to Stampede and Battle for Pride Rock/Remember. Rather good stuff.

 

I actually like this version of Stampede more than the original.

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Having not seen most disney remakes, should we have expected the score to sound drastically different?

I am used to the old version of course, but this doesnt sound bad either.

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What I will say about the score is that’s very listenable, which hasn’t been the case for many HZ scores this decade (for me anyway).

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4 hours ago, Gistech said:

It is a little odd. Interesting though since didn't John Oliver do "The Morning Report" for the Special Edition re-release of the original film? I preferred his Zazu there, but maybe that's because he was trying to sound like the Zazu of that film.

 

John Oliver had nothing to do with the Special Edition.

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12 minutes ago, crumbs said:

"Hans Zimmer, the most legendary, like, composer alive."

 

:ph34r:

Living under the shadow of John Williams is hard, okay!

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I just listened to this on YouTube. Twenty five years of these actors growing up with the songs and characters, and this is the best they could do? It's soulless. The Elton John song is just okay. The rest is paint-by-numbers without any of the humor and warmth of the original.

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Agree with the comments here on "Be Prepared". Not sure why they even included it, if this was how they were going to do it. It's far too short, and the end of the track sounds as thought we've just heard an intro for the actual "Be Prepared". Also, what genius decided to put the song in 6/8 (or 3/8, or something) this time, rather than the original's standard 4/4? I just went back and listened to the 1994 version, and this one sounds so amateur and uninspired by comparison.

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8 hours ago, A. A. Ron said:

 

John Oliver had nothing to do with the Special Edition.

 

My mistake. It's difficult to keep track of who's done what and where as far as voices for this franchise goes.

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Having given a thorough listen to this now, here's what I think:

 

It's a good take on the 1994 score, with some reworking. It feels more like a compliment to the original score than it does something new, but given Zimmer has reportedly said he wanted to do that as far back as the Legacy release, it's not surprising. It feels much more like Zimmer's 90s fare than his more recent work, which is surprising: I was expecting him to just use the themes in his modern style. The standout tracks are Stampede and Battle of Pride Rock. The latter incorporates material from Stampede as well as material that was originally heard in the 1994 film's Elephant Graveyard cue.

 

There is some direct reusage here: as stated before, Circle of Life makes use of elements from the 1994 recordings - specifically, Lebo M's chanting, the Zulu choir and the pan flute interlude. The underlying orchestral, synths and drum track are newly-recorded though it is easy to miss because of everything else. Remember also reuses the choral recordings from the Circle of Life Reprise from 1994. Elements are also reused from Lebo M's 'Lala' from Rhythm of the Pride Lands. Aside from that, everything is newly-orchestrated and recorded.

 

The songs are hit-and-miss. I Just Can't Wait To Be King is fine. Be Prepared is a mess, very much inferior to the original (don't give me the 'goose-stepping hyenas' excuse for the change), Hakuna Matata at least has a couple of self-aware chuckles in it. Can You Feel The Love Tonight kind of feels odd with its intro but it's otherwise fine. Elton John's new song is no Can You Feel The Love Tonight. The new version of He Lives In You is interesting since it's sung entirely in Zulu as opposed to the Zulu/English hybrid of the original. Mbube is a new song sung in Zulu, which is basically a Zulu version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

 

So I think this is a solid 7/10 score. It's noting truly relevatory but it makes a very good compliment to the 1994 score. The songs let it down a bit.

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I like what i hear. Im not listening to everything because i dont want to spoil the new tracks...

 

I like the New Be Prepared, because..well the early reports said there was not going to be a villain song. So what we got is a compromise between darker nowadays realism (Villains in real life dont really go singing their plans dont they?, anyway)  and the original song which was great.... But if they had gone shot by shot for the original song i would not have complained at all...

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I've created a composite set with both this, the Legacy set and the 1994 OST, binning the 2019 versions of the songs in favour of their much stronger-sounding originals while combining the score material I feel is strongest from both sets. Because of this, it contains a couple of the themes left out of the 2019 score (at least in its OST representation).

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On 7/12/2019 at 6:39 AM, Gistech said:

I've created a composite set with both this, the Legacy set and the 1994 OST, binning the 2019 versions of the songs in favour of their much stronger-sounding originals while combining the score material I feel is strongest from both sets. Because of this, it contains a couple of the themes left out of the 2019 score (at least in its OST representation).

 

Sounds neat! I may have to try something similar one of these days.

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On 7/12/2019 at 4:17 AM, Luke Skywalker said:

I like what i hear. I’m not listening to everything because I don’t want to spoil the new tracks...

 

I like the New Be Prepared, because..well, the early reports said there was not going to be a villain song. So what we got is a compromise between darker nowadays realism (Villains in real life dont really go singing their plans, don’t they?anyway)  and the original song which was great.... But if they had gone shot by shot for the original song, I would not have complained at all...

In real life, lions don’t talk.

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In the original movie, Scar was explaining his plan to the hyenas, which actually made sense and went against the trope where the villains explain their plan to the good guy. Although he eventually does kinda do that in a really cool way.

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Having seen the film, there is quite a bit missing from the OST, yes (a reprisal of 1994's hyena theme from the original Elephant Graveyard score is actually in the film during the sequence in question). As for the music that's on the OST, seeing it in context, it really does work well. Well, except for Be Prepared and Spirit.

 

Spoiler

I must say, the Hyena Chase music being changed to underscore the fight between Shenzi and Nala was a nice surprise especially given it's not used anywhere else in the new score.

 

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I like the inclusion of the "pirates of the caribbean"* bit from the musical in stampede.

 

And I like that since they ditched the morning report song, at least they give zazu's morning reports more importance. 

 

 

*I know it was composed way before potc, but I don't know other way to describe it :p

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OK I actually gave this album a fair chance after seeing the film. Perhaps I was being bit too harsh. It has its moments, I like some of the new arrangements of Hans' score. But there are also segments that I don't like as much. Other than Be Prepared, the vocal performances on the original songs are mostly fine. The Beyonce song actually doesn't bother me but the three songs at the end are a waste of space. The album has enough going so that it's worth listening but it should have been a 2-disc set.

 

Karol

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yeah, it should have been a 2cd set...specially seeing that the legacy collection Lion King was successful?

 

And so many 'end credits songs that add nothing. We could have like 10 minutes more of underscore.

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I really like the new performance of "He Lives In You." The fact that it is sung by Lebo M. and the African choir in the native language is really beautiful. I did an experiment and mixed the original version, combined with the new performance. It is really beautiful how both performances blend together perfectly. Here it is if any of you wish to listen.

 

 

20_He_Lives_In_You_(Ultimate_Mix).m4a

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