Back catalogue: Soundtracks

Review: You don't have to be a film score obsessive to recognise the name of Hans Zimmer; the man who has practically created a monopoly out of the craft. While his work on the recent Denis Villeneuve adaptations of Dune has currently ended his creative partnership with auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan (who has since enlisted the exceptional Ludwig Goransson in his stead), during their collaborative tenure, no particular score garnered the adoration and passionate praise that still continues to be heaped upon 2014's sci-fi spectacle Interstellar. Featuring some of Zimmer's most mercurial work to date, swaying from lilting hues of delicacy to bombastic, palpable, otherworldly dread, without ever veering into alienating sonics; the pieces still receives copious applause, instigate enthralling discussion and continue to be repressed to vinyl. In short, the Interstellar score is the outlier soundtrack for every collector.

Review: Let's face it, Hollywood director Christopher Nolan broke the mould with his re-envisioning of Batman. Taking things closer to the original comic books, themselves forced to 'go soft' by censors in the early-1950s, his films payed direct tribute to the saga's direction from the mid-1970s onwards. A trilogy of movies that were visually arresting, tonally dystopian, and viciously unhinged. It's not clear if we'll ever get a superhero (or anti-hero) film series of that class and calibre again, the world on screen so immersive you quickly feel like a Gotham native. A big part of that universe-building comes through the music, which enlists two of the greatest names in the history of soundtracks to help weave the tales. Hans Zimmer has composed for more than 150 films, James Newton Howard in excess of 100. This compilation of their shared caped crusader efforts proves why they're so well respected.

Review: This expansive 70-track collection spans the Dragon Age game series, including songs from Dragon Age: Origins (2009), Dragon Age II (2011), and Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) throughout discs 1-3. As a bonus, the fourth disc features seven tracks chosen from DLC plus an additional nine fan-favorite bard songs from Dragon Age: Inquisition. Deluxe package features all-original artwork by Dragon Age concept director Ramil Sunga and lead UX artist Danny Richardson, created exclusively for this album set. The beautifully detailed artwork presents a pictorial timeline following the lore of the Dragon Age series, beginning at the dawn of the golden city, throughout the city's fall and culminating in its re-emergence as the black city, seat of the old gods.