All vikisPirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), in full, all 15 tracks, 43 minutes, each playing from its first second, under measured highlights. It is credited to Klaus Badelt, was produced by Hans Zimmer and ends with He's a Pirate.
We rate the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack A tier. This page is about the first film's album, The Curse of the Black Pearl, and we think it is an uneven record with one unbeatable tune: He's a Pirate lasts a minute and a half, comes last, and is the reason anyone plays the other 42 minutes. It is A under our rule because orchestras play it in concert: the Colorado Symphony played the score live to the film in Denver on Jul 25 and 26, 2026. We found no complete recording by a second orchestra, so it stops short of S.
This is He's a Pirate, a theme the first film only hints at in pieces until the end credits start and it finally plays whole (Classic FM, Aug 8, 2023). The album has only just reached vinyl: Walt Disney Records pressed it for the first time on Nov 21, 2025, on translucent "Black Ice" vinyl (Film Music Reporter, Nov 18, 2025), and did the same for Dead Man's Chest on Sep 25, 2026. A sixth film is being written, with no composer named (Deadline, Aug 16, 2026). Walt Disney Records released the album on Jul 22, 2003 with 15 tracks (Apple Music); Vi.ki timed the uploads on Nov 10, 2026 at 43 minutes 45 seconds.
The composer who said no
The director, Gore Verbinski, first hired Alan Silvestri, who had scored two of his earlier films. Silvestri and the producer Jerry Bruckheimer could not agree, and he left before recording anything. The two then went to Hans Zimmer, who turned the job down: he was writing The Last Samurai and had promised to take on nothing else. He suggested Klaus Badelt instead (Classic FM).
Zimmer did not stay away. Classic FM's account has him feeding in ideas, shaping the main themes with Badelt, and writing an early synthesized demo of He's a Pirate in a single night. The final credits name Badelt as composer and Zimmer as music producer. Filmtracks goes further: it says a contract with another studio kept Zimmer from taking credit, that accounts of how much he wrote differ, and it heads its own review with him as co-composer.
Eight composers, three conductors
Seven more writers have additional music credits beside Badelt: Ramin Djawadi, James Dooley, Nick Glennie-Smith, Steve Jablonsky, Blake Neely, James McKee Smith and Geoff Zanelli (MovieMusicUK, Jul 11, 2003). Filmtracks counts eight composers, nine orchestrators and three conductors in all. Neely conducted the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra, and the choir, Metro Voices, had two conductors of its own (MovieMusicUK).
The sound is an orchestra backed by a large bank of synthesizers and electric instruments. The pirate jig that opens the album in Fog Bound is played on an electric cello, The Medallion Calls starts with the first of the score's marches and ends on the motif for Jack Sparrow, and One Last Shot is MovieMusicUK's choice among the action cues. We think the crowd shows: the album sounds like several people finishing one idea in a hurry, and the idea was good enough to survive it.
No awards, a gold record and a dance hit
The score was not among the five nominees for the Academy Award in 2004 (oscars.org) or for the Grammy for best score soundtrack album that year (grammy.com), and Filmtracks lists its awards as none. Sales told another story. The album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 84 on Aug 9, 2003 and peaked at No. 75 on Aug 30 (Billboard), entered the UK's soundtrack chart on Aug 23, 2003 (Official Charts), and was certified Gold in the US on Nov 8, 2006.
He's a Pirate then left the film behind. Remixes credited to Badelt reached No. 7 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart in August 2006 (Billboard), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took it up as theme music (Classic FM). Zimmer took the composer credit himself on the next three films.
Highlights
Seven moments inside the tracks of this album, measured by Vi.ki from the uploads on Nov 10, 2026 and not picked by ear (the home page says how). No single instrument's entry passed the bar on this album, which keeps its whole orchestra busy; what is kept are the climaxes. Track 2 could not be measured. The Play column is the time inside the track.
All tracks
The 2003 album in its own order, from the uploads on Klaus Badelt's own YouTube channel. Each track is its own video, so every Play link starts at 0:00, and the 15 add up to 43 minutes 45 seconds; One Last Shot is the longest at 4:47 and He's a Pirate the shortest at 1:31.
Editions
| Edition | Released | Tracks | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original album, CD and digital | Jul 22, 2003 | 15 | Walt Disney Records |
| Soundtrack Treasures Collection, box set | Dec 4, 2007 | Walt Disney Records | |
| First vinyl pressing, "Black Ice" | Nov 21, 2025 | 15 | Walt Disney Records |
The 2003 date is the same on Apple Music, Filmtracks and the RIAA database. Filmtracks says the 2007 box first sold for $60 or more and that its bonus material includes "Pirates, Day One, 4:56AM", labeled as Zimmer's original theme demo for the first film. The 2025 pressing is the original album, which until then had been sold only on CD and digitally (Film Music Reporter).
Sources
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Original Soundtrack), Apple Music, read Nov 10, 2026
- Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack composers, Classic FM, Aug 8, 2023
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Filmtracks, read Nov 10, 2026
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, MovieMusicUK, Jul 11, 2003
- The Curse of the Black Pearl in Concert, Live to Film, Colorado Symphony, Mar 2, 2026
- The Curse of the Black Pearl Soundtrack Vinyl Release Announced, Film Music Reporter, Nov 18, 2025
- Dead Man's Chest Soundtrack Vinyl Release Announced, Film Music Reporter, Aug 10, 2026
- Jerry Bruckheimer on Pirates of the Caribbean 6, Deadline, Aug 16, 2026
- The 76th Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- Best Score Soundtrack Album, 2004, Recording Academy
- Billboard 200, Jan 17, 2004, Billboard
- Klaus Badelt chart history, Billboard
- Pirates of the Caribbean OST, Official Charts
- Gold and Platinum: Pirates of the Caribbean, RIAA, read Nov 10, 2026
Moments
He's a Pirate
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Fog Bound
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The Black Pearl
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Walk The Plank
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Moonlight Serenade
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To The Pirates' Cave!
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Underwater March
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One Last Shot
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The Medallion Calls
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Will And Elizabeth
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Swords Crossed
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Barbossa Is Hungry
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Blood Ritual
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Skull And Crossbones
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Bootstrap's Bootstraps
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