Music From the Motion Picture
Days of Thunder
Hans Zimmer a name synonymous with scoring The Dark Knight Trilogy and Man of Steel, as well as thousands of other film scores! Here we explore something rare. A Limited Edition CD of the 1990 film Days of Thunder.
Yes you read that last sentence correct. Over the years there has NEVER been an official release of the Hans Zimmer score for Days of Thunder. There have been numerous bootlegs, but LA LA Land Records has put out the only and official release! I’m really so stoked about this, because as most of my readers know I get attached to the score of a film. Days of Thunder is no exception Zimmer has some amazing music within the film. Hearing it outside the film is a much more engrossing experience, and it makes me think of scenes I like from the film. Say what you want about Days of Thunder, that it follows the 1980’s “Tom Cruise Movie” formula or whatever. It’s still a damn good movie in my eyes. This was an era of Cruise before he went kinda crazy. This was him at the peak of his career.
As far as the score itself it’s 24 tracks total, tracks 19-24 are all bonus alternate takes on some of the songs already on the disc. The main theme, Rental Car Race, and Wheeler/Cole Smashes are just a few of my favorite tracks so far. I have to say that listening to this score, I can see the film playing in my head. I’ve seen Days of Thunder enough times to know the film front to back. Hearing the music alone, I can envision what scene would be playing if the film was on. I do love the high action sounds in the score as well as the subtle low moments. Hans Zimmer really knows how to craft a score around a character, or a series of characters. The beats in the track Cole In Truck/Pre Race around the 3 minute mark are an example of the slow subtle scoring I’m talking about. The Last Race has always been one of my most favorite pieces of music. It has high tension, with low tones during that section, and then it has the winning theme when Cole finally passes Wheeler to beat him! The alternate tracks are an interesting take to what we did not hear in the film, and I’m glad that they included them here. The coolest alternate track is the Days of Thunder main theme rock arrangement.
What I love about these La La Land Records releases is the liner notes that come with the albums. Not only do you get cool images from the project, but you also get insights from the people crafting the music. That is just a nice little addition that this soundtrack company does!!
As far as final thoughts I will defend my enjoyment of the film til the day I die. I’m sure people can tear it to shreds, but I really enjoy it. Part of that is the damn cool music Hans Zimmer composed for it. I’m so thankful that LALA Land Records gave it a release. After all these years we can finally race with some awesome music!!! Days of Thunder was and will always be one of Tom Cruise’s best films.
You can get this awesome score from LA LA Land Records directly! You can also find the track listing there!
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