The Dark Knight [Soundtrack]

1	Why So Serious? 9:14
2	I'm Not a Hero 6:34
3	Harvey Two-Face 6:16
4	Aggressive Expansion 4:36
5	Always a Catch 1:40
6	Blood on My Hands 2:16
7	A Little Push 2:43
8	Like a Dog Chasing Cars 5:03
9	I Am the Batman 2:00
10	And I Thought My Jokes Were Bad 2:29
11	Agent of Chaos 6:55
12	Introduce a Little Anarchy 3:42
13	Watch the World Burn 3:48
14	A Dark Knight 16:15

All Music Guide

Even high-budget Hollywood movies generally get by with one A-list composer, but the renewed Batman series that kicked off with Batman Begins under the direction of Christopher Nolan in 2005 used two, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, both of whom return for the second installment, The Dark Knight. Although Zimmer and Howard are co-credited with each of the cues (with Lorne Balfe given a credit for unspecified "additional music"), their styles are sufficiently distinct that their individual contributions don't seem hard to delineate. The highly percussive synthesized music, much of it seemingly already mixed in with sound effects, sounds like Zimmer; the more conventional orchestral passages, sometimes giving way to solo piano, sound like Howard (who is, in fact, credited with playing piano on the soundtrack). Both approaches are combined in these sometimes lengthy cues, however. Those pounding, thunderous drums (or synthesized percussive effects) are never absent for long, even if certain tracks, notably "Harvey Two-Face," "Blood on My Hands," and "Watch the World Burn," have a pastoral, classical feel. Other tracks, such as "I'm Not a Hero" and "A Little Push," in which the percussion dominates, may be more Zimmer than Howard. Still, the two work well together on a score that, by definition, is "dark," laden with ominous sounds and relentlessly rhythmic accompaniments to the fast-paced action in the film. [A Limited Edition was also released.] William Ruhlmann

Los Angeles Times

The Dark Knight brings out the best in Zimmer and Howard...[and] to put it mildly, ratchets things up. This is apparent from the film's opening moments, an elaborately intense bank heist staged by Heath Ledger's Joker. It's here film-goers get introduced to the more than nine-minute epic that is "Why So Serious?" Todd Martens