The Dark Knight soundtrack

[Paul (ral)]

I have posted a review for it here

http://www.batmanmovieonline.com/features.php?display=38

[Gotham Knight]

pretty much what i expected. Better than last time. Good, but not great.  Great review. 

[Paul (ral)]

I was going to use an analogy about the themes of escalation in the movie.

"The movie deals with escaltion, but the soundtrack, in places, treats the film like an escalator - allowing it to carry and move it to places without exerting much effort itself".

But I thought it sounded crap, so i dropped it.

[Gotham Knight]

Actually, its sounds brilliantly put in a snotty critic sort of way. But, I see why you dumped it. You aren't a snotty fellow.

[BatmAngelus]

I agree with your assessment of the two composers.  For the Begins soundtrack, Newton Howard's beautiful melody during the monorail part in the flashback was a highlight in the score (I suppose that is the Gotham theme).  I like driving when listening to Zimmer's action cues, but I agree that "catchy but generic" is a good description for it.

I'm also glad that someone else agrees that the Begins score, when separated from the film, doesn't really make great listening throughout.   I was rather annoyed at parts that felt just like sound effect noise (i.e. most of Artibeus or the part of Tadarida when Scarecrow attacks).

Now, you mention a Bruce Wayne theme and a Batman theme. 
I feel almost embarrassed asking since I've owned and listened to the soundtrack for the past three years but...I'm still confused what parts of the music count as the Bruce Wayne theme and the Batman theme.  It's just that there's so many that they use with Bruce and Batman:
There's the two-note motif throughout the movie, that plays most prominently in Vespertilio.
There's an interesting one that sounds almost tragic that plays in Myotis when Bruce rescues Ducard and later on in the movie when Bruce opens up the cabinet to reveal the Batman suit.
That theme also plays in conjunction with the theme I assumed was the Batman theme, which plays in Molossus, the final confrontation between Ra's and Batman, and is hinted at in Corynorhinus right before Batman jumps off the GCPD building.
Then there's another theme played on piano in Barbastella, then by the orchestra in Antrozous, and then by the brass towards the end of the credits that sounds like the opening notes of the Hulk's Lonely Man theme...

I guess my confusion stems from how these melodies are used so much, but during scenes that don't really relate to one another enough for me to discern their significance, if you know what I mean.

[Paul (ral)]

I know what you mean.

I have a hard time pin-pointing a precise Batman theme - there seem to be several.

I also find it hard to seperate Gotham's theme and Bruce's.  Probably because Thomas Wayne is a common demoninator to both. 

[BatmAngelus]

True- the melody playing in the flashback with Thomas Wayne is the same that plays in the second-to-last scene where Rachel approaches Bruce.

I just listened to "Why So Serious?" 
I'm afraid it bored me.  It felt a bit like the first track of Mission: Impossible 2, except not as catchy.  If that contains the theme for the Joker character, I think I'd prefer the circus-like music from before. 
Light deceptively playful music in correlation to violence has always been a natural fit for Joker, in my opinion.  This track could fit any criminal/heist movie.

[The Dark Knight]

Having listened heavily to TDK soundtrack, I can say it is satisfactory. I only like Why So Serious, A Little Push and Like A Dog Chasing Cars in their entirety.

Why So Serious is a great way to start the soundtrack and is a very good track for The Joker. Like A Dog Chasing Cars is the only real heroic theme in the soundtrack. It ends with some segments of the two note Joker theme that I think is a good touch. This is my favourite of all the tracks. I like A Little Push as well; it begins with hissing that builds anticipation, then flat lines into a crackling, thunderderish and unstable sound. It then moves into a deep dread filled echo, and ends the track in a quiet sinister motif.

The rest of the soundtrack I like segments of. For example, there are elements of the Why So Serious arrangement spliced here and there throughout the score. Other sinister sounds not associated with it, but obviously belonging to the Joker also feature. For example, the long wailing siren that builds suspense heard in Agent of Chaos for instance, the siren with clanging over the top of it in the Always A Catch opening.

The soundtrack works for the film and creates the atmosphere. This soundtrack is about implication and menace. It just isn't really made to be listened to on its own. In the film is when it comes to life.