Just as Bach dominated the Baroque era and Mozart the Classical surely now with the release of the Gladiator Soundtrack, Hans Zimmer can be credited alongside such greats as Williams and Horner as one of the architects of this century's musical genre - the motion picture soundtrack. For this work, Zimmer eschews his typical form of fusilades of synthesised instruments and heavy beat in favour of full and sweeping orchestral melodies. That said, the music is far from lacking the passion and force of writing synonymous with the composer. Interlaced are the ethereal vocals of co-writer Lisa Gerrard and delicate and haunting instrumental solos. All in all a breath-taking album which brilliantly echos the epic scale of the movie for which it was written. This is a highly polished score showing a maturity of writing which makes it arguably Zimmer's best work to date.