Some reviewers have complained that this is esentially the Gladiator soundtrack on the high seas, and I would have to agree. However, in my opinion, the soundtrack was Gladiator's only good point. In fact, it was far too good for that overrated dog of a movie. In the case of Pirates, however, I felt that the music enhanced what was already a very entertaining movie. The tension created by the very powerful music was amazing. And let's not forget, Hans Zimmer "borrowed" rather liberally from Gustav Holst (listen to "The Planets") to create his masterpiece for Gladiator. I ran out and bought this CD the day I saw the movie (sorry Amazon, I couldn't wait!) and then went to see the movie again. This score is probably too similar to other works to be nominated for the Best Score Oscar, but I doubt that any of the upcoming movies (except The Return of the King, of course) will have scores this powerful and entertaining, not to mention appropriate.