Klaus Badelt - Pirates Of The Caribbean (Score) / O.S.T. (CD)

All Music Guide

The soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean was originally composed by Alan Silvestri, who left the project prior to the film's release. Credited to Klaus Badelt, a protégé of Hans Zimmer, it was hastily assembled at the last minute, resulting in a paintbynumbers exercise in big studio fluff that required the work of several unnamed composers. Badelt and his mysterious coconspirators have created a schizophrenic pastiche of Hollywood excess much like the film itself disguised as a traditional score. The swashbuckling is propelled by an instantly unmemorable albeit rousing motif that contains bits of every action score in existence. "Fog Bound" starts off with a sprightly Celtic flair before dissolving into a generic Jerry Bruckheimer wash of keyboard strings and synthetic flute patches. This is the case for much of the record, resulting in inspired flashes of creativity here and there.

- James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide