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 paint-by-numbers exercise in big studio fluff that required the work of several unnamed composers.
Badelt and his mysterious co-conspirators 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