Brian Tyler brought his blockbuster film scoring chops to the Caribbean and the result is one of the most purely fun soundtracks in the franchise. The main theme is all swagger and adventure, capturing Edward Kenway's pirate-first-assassin-second attitude perfectly.
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"Pyrates Beware" opens with horns that sound like they belong on the bow of a ship cutting through open water, and "The High Seas" delivers this expansive orchestral wash that makes sailing feel genuinely epic. "Under the Black Flag" is peak pirate fantasy scoring, bold and unapologetic.
"Stealing a Brig" ramps up the tension for boarding sequences, and "The Buccaneers" has this rollicking energy that makes you want to fire every cannon on your ship. "The Fortune of Edward Kenway" carries the personal story with a theme that balances ambition and loneliness.
"Queen Anne's Revenge" brings the Blackbeard connection with appropriately menacing weight, and "The British Empire" shifts the tone to something more rigid and imposing. "A Merry Life and a Short One" is basically the game's philosophy in musical form.
This 2015 release is the expanded original score without the sea shanties, which live on the standard soundtrack release.