I wonder what Jebediah Springfield would think...

The Simpsons Movie: The Music

original soundtrack/film score by Hans Zimmer

2007

For the second night in a row I decided to Press Play on a little classical tunage. And for the first time ever, not like this is any grand accomplishment or anything, I listened to a movie's soundtrack before the movie is in the theaters. Exciting, eh?

I've been a Simpsons fan for quite a few freakin' years now. It's on twice a night and while some weeks I'll see a Grand Total of zero episodes, sometimes I'll catch five to ten a week. A memorabilia collecting fanatic I am not, nor do I actually schedule time to watch, but when it's on, really nothing is so important that I can't miss it for another excellent episode of The Simpsons!

That family has become such a huge part of Americana yet some people've never even seen it. One morning show host news dude recently said that after just seeing the show for the very first time, he didn't get it. While I respect tremendously those who eschew most of the crap on television, how could anyone completely avoid The Simpsons?! Once again, something I just don't get. It's harmless fun that can provide laughs all day long!

In any case, I'm not gonna rush out to see the movie but I am lookin' forward to it. And (segue time) I am looking forward to hearing this music in the movie! This is pretty good stuff from composer Hans Zimmer, who took over the reigns from The Simpsons usual composer, Alf Clausen. While Clausen's episode scoring is completely fun and lighthearted, Zimmer makes the scoring of the film explode with orchestral sound on nearly every track. He has previously worked on dozens of successful movies including Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lion King which, if I am not mistaken, is the movie he won the Oscar for.

At first I was thinking -- why wasn't Danny Elfman hired? Ahh man, he composed the theme song so many years ago so my mind got to thinkin' that this woulda been right up his alley. But no Elfman. Thankfully it didn't take long before I was completely enjoying this and quite glad that Zimmer had the job. One complaint is there's one song out of place, Release The Hounds. It's the only song (until the last) that's not at all orchestral in nature but more like a Dick Dale surf number. Its placement just messes a little with the flow. Aside from that, everything moves wonderfully along with the main Simpsons Theme intertwined throughout, showing up here and there to bind everything together. Closing out the soundtrack, Spider Pig is hilarious and then Recklessly Impulsive has a totally techno-type of sound. Gone are all the traditional woodwinds, brass, strings and percussion, all traded in for what I'm guessing is the song over the movie's closing credits. Since it's at the end its placement is A-OK. At the conclusion I was definitely happy that I gave this a listen. As a stand-alone collection of songs, it's not perfect but works well.

soundtrack can be dloaded here
password = soundboard
or play on Rhapsody: The Simpsons Movie: The Music by Hans Zimmer



As a bonus, I also gave a listen to a new song by Green Day which just happens to be their version of The Simpsons Theme. Very cool!

320 kbps dload here
or play on Rhapsody:
The Simpsons Theme by Green Day