The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
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Free Music Notes for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Free Music Review: Moving and dark score for this epic film
Hit: 5 Stars
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers soundtrack is 1) an excellent score cd 2) a worthy companion to its predecessor the Academy Award winning The Fellowship of the Ring. Howard Shore returns to write the music for the next chapter of Jackson's films. The Two Towers has a mixture of new and old themes. Enya, a fixture on the Fellowship soundtrack is not featured on the Two Towers soundtrack. The Fellowship theme, the Isengard theme, the Rivendell theme, the Mordor theme, and the Shire theme all make reappearances, but added amongst them and comprising most of the cd are new themes. The Rohan theme is a very Vikingish theme replete with strings and percussion. Shore has the ability to vary the mood of this theme, usin it at the triumph of Theoden's reawakening as well as at the defeat of the evacuation of Meduseld. Treebeard's theme, is a very soft kind of "forresty" music with a chorus to give it a mysterious air. Shore uses heavy percussion to make the theme more effective. Arwen's theme is different from the first soundtrack, first because there is no Enya and second because its more of a melancholy love theme. Gollum's theme also doubles as the Ring theme from the first film, but the way Shore plays this theme reflects the 2 sides of Gollum's personality. As in the Fellowship, Shore uses different choirs very effectively, giving the elves an ethereal sounding choir, etc. The only complaint I have about the Two Towers soundtrack is the last track "Gollum's Song" sung by Emiliana Torrini. I found this song to be out of character with the rest of the cd and didn't much care for it. Unlike Enya's "May It Be" from the Fellowship soundtrack, "Gollum's Song" employ's no elvish and really just sounds creepy. Fitting for Gollum and it fits perfectly in with the movie although listening to it alone takes some getttin used to. However, it does not detract at all from the listening experience. The Two Towers is an excellent cd, and while it does not surpass the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack it is its equal.Free Music Review: The art form of our age
Hit: 5 Stars
I grew up preferring classical music to pop. I even recall being appalled by the Beatles after finding out about them from everyone at school the day after they first performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. (I never watched the Ed Sullivan Show.) It took the efforts of one of my college roommates to find some music that I liked that was not orchestrated classical music and that was The Moody Blues. It turned out that they used orchestrated music in their work. Today my interests are still more conservative I think than most and some of the things still appall me. But my interest has moved to movie soundtrack work, especially John Williams and Howard Shore. It strikes me that their work is the most consequential new music being written. More people listen to it in an atmosphere that is cathartic than anything else. It makes use of all we have learned about music and how it affects us and our moods. I also feel that movies such as the LOTR threesome represent the art form of our age. So we should pay a great deal of attention to it and try to measure how it affects us and influences our culture.It also seems right to try to evaluate which of the movie scores succeeds most in accomplishing a goal of enhancing the movie, playing on the chords of human emotions, and offering the community the cathartic experience. In TTT Howard Shore does this spectacularly. Of concern, in class room discussions over the question of good and evil as portrayed in the films, it seems there is a serious issue over the portrayal of ethnicity. Can we seriously ignore the contrast between northern and southern, white and black, light and dark, good and evil when even the music uses ethnic sound to emphasize the contrasts? This scale of good through bad is developed by JRRT and reflects his work, his personal history, WW's I and II, and portrays the West against the rest. While it makes the heart sing (whose heart?) with grief and happiness does it fight against our social emphasis on multi ethnic reconciliation?
Free Music Review: Impressive and full of life
Hit: 5 Stars
After his Academy Award win for The Fellowship of the Ring, Howard Shore returns to score the sequel, The Two Towers. This is just as good as Fellowship, if not better. Some of the themes from the last soundtrack are reused, but the majority of the music contains new themes, which are just as good. A new element used in the music for this soundtrack is a handanger, which is a Norwegian fiddle used for the Rohan theme. This thematic material can be found in "The Riders of Rohan", "The King of the Golden Hall", "Helm's Deep", and "Forth Eorlingas". The powerful chorus and mighty percussion that made the first score so great is featured in "The Passage of the Marshes", "Helm's Deep", "The Hornburg", "Forth Eorlingas", and "Isengard Unleashed". As Enya was used in the first soundtrack, Shore employs several soloists for this one, such as Isabel Bayrakdarian in "Evenstar", Shelia Chandra in "Breath of Life", Elizabeth Fraser in "Isengard Unleashed", Ben Del Maestro in "Forth Eorlingas" and "Isengard Unleashed", and Emiliana Torrini singing "Gollum's Song". The Fellowship theme returns in "The Uruk-hai" and the Hobbit theme returns in "Samwise the Brave". A major highlight of the album is "Helm's Deep", "The Hornburg", "Forth Eorlingas", and "Isengard Unleashed" with a powerful chorus, brass fanfares, and booming percussion. Some other new material for Gollum can be found in "The Taming of Smeagol", "The Forbidden Pool", and "Gollum's Song" with a cimbalom being used for his sound. As you have probably guessed by now, this is definitely a score worth getting at all costs. If you liked Fellowship, you will equally enjoy this. I think this will win the Academy Award this year for best score, as Fellowship did. Very impressive!Free Music Review: Howard Shore Does It Again!
Hit: 5 Stars
Perhaps like me, you might have worried the excellence of the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack wouldn't be upheld throughout the series. Well, when I was able to get my hands on a copy of The Two Towers soundtrack, all my fears were instantly laid to rest. Howard Shore not only upholds the great themes set up in Fellowship of the Ring, but he expands upon them. New themes such as the Riders of Rohan have as much brilliance and memorable melodies as the Fellowship or Hobbit themes from the first film. From the first track, where we return to the Mines of Moria for the conclusion of the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog, you can tell Shore is keeping all the orchestral and choral power from the Fellowship of the Ring. In contrast, the Gollum theme is dark, brooding, and somewhat unclear (so much so that it could almost be called an anti-theme), perfectly fitting the double-minded character. A very pleasant surprise is that the Fellowship theme is not lost in this film, even though the Fellowship is broken. In fact, track five (The Uruk-Hai) brings about a rendition of the Fellowship theme longer than any found in the first film. The other themes of the Ring, Sauron, Saurman, the Hobbits, and the Elves all find their ways into the score. Gollum's Song is also very good, despite the somewhat Björk-likeness at the beginning. When it is over, you feel the song has really captured the character of Gollum. The track then ends with another rendition of the Riders of Rohan theme, which I think is the stand-out theme of this score. Overall, this is classic film music, which I am sure will (at the least) be nominated for an Academy Award for best score (and I won't be surprised if Howard Shore walks away with back-to-back Oscars). As with the first film's music, the power of the story is captured brilliantly. If you liked the score for The Fellowship of the Ring, you will not be disappointed at all by this score. A total success!Free Music Review: Ethereal, Epic, Wonderful! Bravo Howard Shore!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
As a fan of soundtracks, this is one of the best musical scores ever composed for a movie. It is shocking after hearing it to realize this did not even get nominated for an oscar, when this album is at least as good as the previous FOTR score, which indeed won the oscar. One of the requirements of a movie score is to create an audio personality for the movie. When one hears the Star Wars tracks, the entire Godfather album, the Gladiator opening theme, even the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon "Yo Yo Ma lingering cello", you immediately are transported to the movie's setting. That is precisely what The Two Towers soundtrack does.
From the Nordic strings and horns to represent Rohan and Helm's Deep to the industrial aggressive beat of Isengard, every track in this album is as unique and stirring as the setting it represents. Forth Earlingas is particularly beautiful and epic, and I guarantee will stick in your mind for a long time after listening to it.
But a special place in my heart is reserved for the song entitled "Evenstar", as voiced by Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian. This is truly esoteric, fey music to represent the scenes of Arwen visualizing life after Aragorn. Close your eyes, put on your headphones, and dream of happier times in the presence of someone you love (or loved)while listening to this song, and I guarantee you will have tears come to your eyes as I did.
The only song I didn't like that much was the final track, Gollum's Song. The music is fine, but the vocal stylings of Emiliana Torrini, who is trying to communicate feelings of despair and hopelessness, are truly awful and fall flat. While hearing this, you will wonder "what the heck is this doing here?" However, I am not going to hold a few minutes against what is one of the best movie scores I have ever heard. Wonderful music. I can't wait for Howard Shore's finale in Return of the King.