Things then slow right back down in Sent Here For A Reason, with the gentle atmosphere returning and a quietly hopeful main theme playing on a piano. At only ninety seconds long the track doesn’t get too far with these ideas, though a strained, roughened main Man Of Steel theme does break through the tension for a small dash of heroism just before the track rapidly ends. Just you wait ’til it flies.ĭramatic percussion opens Oil Rig, with tense electronics arriving a few seconds later to hammer the now rather frantic action style home. The music is Superman all over just in the way it hopefully, heroically sounds, and we’ve only heard the theme for two minutes so far. Where’s the theme?” The theme is actually there – those two notes described earlier are the new Man Of Steel’s melody, but it’s actually the tone and rich musical atmosphere surrounding them that truly make this brilliant creation (at least in my opion). Let’s take a proper look at this opening track then – if you’re a John Williams’ Superman fan (as I am) your initial thoughts upon listening were probably something along the lines of “ This isn’t Superman. Rapid strings then take over for the cue’s final minute, adding a touch of ominous to the tone before the music then draws to a close. At this point vocals then begin to sing, and brass plays the two notes loudly and boldy before then fading quickly out. As they play the instrumentation then begins to rise, stirring in feelings of hope and optimism while also pulling the mood firmly out of quiet pensivity and into the light. The score begins with Look To The Stars, where quiet, mysterious-sounding electronics set a gently pensive tone.

Zimmer however responded to this by not even trying to, instead going in the complete opposite compositional direction to Williams, utilising hopeful atmosphere and soaring soundscapes to musically establish the new Superman instead of a Williams-esque recognisable melody, and not only did this method actually work, it worked superbly, stunningly well. John Williams had already established a beyond iconic score for the titular character more than thirty years earlier one that couldn’t possibly be replaced or improved upon (see the Superman March). Back in 2013, Hans Zimmer had an impossible task with the music for Man Of Steel. I’ve been meaning to tackle it for quite some time, and now that Junkie XL’s Justice League score is finally on the horizon, I felt it was high time to get writing so…let’s begin. This is one long overdue soundtrack review. Hans Zimmer’s inspiring score for Man Of Steel was a stunning entry into the superhero genre, utilising beautiful soundscapes and wondrous themes to create an album overall that perfectly captures the ideal of hope that is Superman.

Man of steel soundtrack