Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, finds our heroes Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) allied with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) in a desperate quest to free Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from his mind-bending trap in Davy Jones' locker – while the terrifying ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman and Davy Jones, under the control of the East India Trading Company, wreaks havoc across the Seven Seas. Navigating through treachery, betrayal and wild waters, they must forge their way to exotic Singapore and confront the cunning Chinese Pirate Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat). Now headed beyond the very ends of the earth, each must ultimately choose a side in a final, titanic battle – as not only their lives and fortunes, but the entire future of the freedom-loving Pirate way, hangs in the balance. As with the previous Pirates films, and with a nod to its swashbuckling predecessors in the genre, music plays a central role in At World's End. The score features melodies filled with excitement and intrigue as befits the pirates' latest heroic journey. "Many of the sequences are designed as mini operas," explains director Gore Verbinski, "and I like to think of the music as internal to the storytelling rather than score."

Academy Award?-winning composer Hans Zimmer creates a number of new themes for the film. "I can't think of anyone else who could compose a simple, dirge-like pirate song, and then expand it into a stirring anthem in three-quarter time," says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, praising Zimmer. The Walt Disney Records soundtrack recording begins with this somber dirge, "Hoist the Colours," co-written by Zimmer and director Gore Verbinski (with lyrics by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio). Zimmer then invites the listener to continue the journey, this time eastward to "Singapore," a thematic track blending Chinese-influenced melodies with pirate attitude. "We have flutes from all over the world. We have chimalon from Romania. We have banjos from America," reveals Zimmer. "There's an eclectic sort of landscape to the whole thing so it does feel more like a journey, like you're truly going to the end of the world and beyond."

Throughout his career, composer Hans Zimmer has proven himself a versatile composer. "There's seemingly no genre that Hans is incapable of writing for, whether the adventure and fantasy of Pirates, contemporary or historical drama, all with equal passion and skill", says Bruckheimer. "Among so many other accomplishments, Hans has really brought ethnic authenticity into the mainstream of film composition, such as the extraordinary African sounds he melded into films like The Lion King, The Power of One, and our own Black Hawk Down, or the Asian undertones for The Last Samurai."

Recognized as one of the film industry's most respected and innovative composers, Zimmer entered the world of film music in London during a long collaboration with famed composer and mentor Stanley Myers, which included the film My Beautiful Launderette.

CONSUMER INFO ON SOUNDTRACK CD