Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is the soundtrack for the Disney movie of the same title, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. It is composed and arranged by Hans Zimmer, and features additional music by Lorne Balfe, Tom Gire, Nick Glennie-Smith, Henry Jackman, Atli Örvarsson, John Sponsler, Damon M. Marvin and Geoff Zanelli.
Circuit City's initial retail shipments of the album included a free movie poster at checkout, with a minimum of ten per store. Best Buy had an exclusive ringtone code, rather than extra tracks like the previous soundtrack.
The soundtrack debuted at #14 on the US Billboard 200, selling about 35,000 copies in its first week. As of July 11, 2007, the album has sold 118,919 copies in the United States.
Contents
Production
Composer Hans Zimmer estimated that he composed "over five hours of music", because he thought that it might be "a nice idea to throw out everything and start from scratch".
Critical reception
Critical response to the soundtrack differed greatly, though the album was generally well received by fans. On Amazon.com, it holds a 4.7/5 stars, the highest of any Pirates of the Caribbean score. A review by Mike Brennan on soundtrack.net, for example, praised the score as having "a level of thematic complexity that rivals most other franchises", praising its move from heavily synthetic in the Curse of the Black Pearl score to mostly orchestral, as well as its swashbuckling flavor that was missing from the first two entries. His overall rating for the score was 4.5 stars out of 5. Not all critics were impressed, however. Christian Clemmensen, on Filmtracks, though he grudgingly admitted the score was "an intelligent merging of thematic ideas from all three films" and employed a "far wider orchestral and choral palette", feels that the score still did not live up to its swashbuckling cohorts, comparing it unfavorably to John Debney's effort for Cutthroat Island. He also complained about the anthem-like statements of the love theme in One Day and Drink Up Me Hearties, saying, "... there is no style to that music. Only power". In the end, his score was two stars out of five, a rating that several visitors to the site were incensed by on the review's comments page.
Personnel
Music composed and arranged by Hans Zimmer
Score produced by: Hans Zimmer, Bob Badami & Melissa Muik
Executive Soundtrack Album Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer & Gore Verbinski
Executive in Charge of Music and Soundtracks for Walt Disney Pictures and the Buena Vista Music Group: Mitchell Leib
Music Supervisor: Bob Badami
Executive in Charge of Music Production for the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group: Monica Zierhut
Music Creative/Marketing for the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group: Glen Lajeski
Music Business and Legal Affairs: Scott Holtzman and Sylvia Krask
Director of Soundtracks for the Buena Vista Music Group: Desiree Craig-Ramos
Supervising Technical Music Coordinator: Thomas Broderick
Additional Music by: Lorne Balfe, Tom Gire, Nick Glennie-Smith, Henry Jackman, Atli Orvarsson, John Sponsler, Geoff Zanelli
Supervising Music Editor: Melissa Muik
Music Editors: Katie Greathouse, Barbara McDermott
Supervising Orchestrator: Bruce Fowler
Orchestrators: Walt Fowler, Elizabeth Finch, Ken Kugler, Suzette Moriary, Steve Bartek