Music : The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
|
|
see more
Rating:  - * Dare I say the finest portion of this century's finest classical work? ... This orchestral score accompanies Peter Jackson's second serving of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic Lord of The Rings trilogy, The Two Towers. To many, including me, The Two Towers was the most interesting book and the most enthralling film, and the music has something to do with how tense and action packed the movie was. This is where hell breaks loose, and the music indicates as much. Most of the songs sway between quiet, mysterious movements and loud, dark, sweeping, full orchestra explosions at the drop of a feather. This keeps the score tense, progressive, and effective. On one hand, the listener will hear many versions of the main Lord of The Rings themes that they have already been spoon fed hundreds of times before and probably won't need to hear again. The Taming Of Smeagol, The Riders of Rohan, and The King of The Golden Hall are in this way songs that you may want to skip simply because you can already hum along to them. But even these songs carry the same urgency and sense of destruction that most of the movie communicated. This keeps even the familiar melodies rather fresh. But for the most part, the listener will most likely find the most enjoyment in the songs they don't already know. What Howard Shore has done here is craft an aural experience just as distinct as the visual and fictional experiences that it accompanies. There is a tint of Gaelic spirit in most every song, which adds to the overall coherency of the score. There are some songs meant to accompany the tense action scenes, such as The Uruk-Hai and Helm's Deep, that do their damage very well, and recreate the dismal aura of Sauron's lackeys. When Tolkien created his books, he pushed his creative boundaries and created not just a series of books around his characters and events, but also a world. He wrote his own languages with their own phonetics, grammar, and vocabulary, and these languages are utilized here in several songs by accompanying soloists, as well as by booming female choruses. Isabel Bayrakdarian and Sheila Chandra sing exceptionally on Evenstar and Breath of Life respectively. But the real winner is, get ready, Liz Fraser appearing on Isengard Unleashed. Fraser has honed vocal emoting for decades using a language of angelic babel on her own, making her the most appropriate vocalist for this score. Her appearance, no matter how short, is deeply appreciated, and a bittersweet reminder that one of the worlds greatest singers still has her talent completely in tact after years of inactivity. There is some English singing on the closing Gollum's Song by Emiliana Torrini, which captures the insanity of Gollum very well. The most memorable themes that the soundtrack has to offer are The Passage of the Marshes, The Black Gate Is Closed, Evenstar, Treebeard, The Leave Taking, Breath of Life, and Isengard Unleashed. But this is a soundtrack worth picking up for it's entirety. If you enjoyed any of The Lord Of The Rings movies, or have any appreciation for orchestral music whatsoever, you will really get a lot from this soundtrack, and really all of the Lord Of The Rings soundtracks. Don't lie to yourself. Just because The Lord of The Rings has an army of ridiculous fanatics to back it up does not mean it is not quality literature. This soundtrack does great justice to the second Lord of The Rings film, which does great justice to the original book. Rating: - * How could you not love this? ... This is a great work by Howard Shore. Its the darkest movie in the trilogy and this soundtrack portrays that. The Rohan pieces are inspiring because you can sense the themes of 'hope in hopelessness' and helps you to remember that God can and will help you when all seems lost; He is the Savior. Rating:  - * Great Music, Annoying Presentation ... Orchestral music enthusiasts who enjoy cinematic scores will, predictably, enjoy Howard Shore's composition for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the other scores in this series as well. Of the three CDs, The Two Towers does I think show us the greatest range of Shore's thematic elements used in the eponymous movies. This CD is comprised of music incidental to scenes set in Rohan, Fangorn's Forest, and the approaches to Mordor, but it is the Meduseld/Theoden themes that "stay with you" well after the soundtrack ends. The CD does, however, have a major presentation flaw. When played in a computer, there is an autostart web-link that impedes listening. You have to work around the web link in order to merely play the music. The link is nothing other than a garden variety in your face advertisement, and a solicitiation to join their website and otherwise provide them with information that will presumedly be used as an excuse to annoy you with MORE advertising. Rating: - * Gorgeous! ... I love how this soundtrack is different from the first film's, yet, you can definietely tell that they are part of the same film. It flows so well. The music ranges from soothing to dark and powerful. Its a wonderful CD to listen to. I love 'Gollum's Song'. Its so dark and spooky sounding. Its a great way to end the CD. If you love the movie, you must get the CD. Rating: - * great series of soundtracks for the classical geek ... I personally loved the movies, and they job they did in compiling a soundtrack was surprisingly good. They edited the aspects of the tracks to make a 3 series soundtrack that you can enjoy from start to finish. thats right, just pop it in, hit play, and let it go. A+ for me |
Each episode is self-contained, from "Decalogue I" ("I Am the Lord Thy God"), the touching story of a boy who starts asking the hard questions of life from his rationalist father and religious aunt, to "Decalogue X" ("Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Goods"), a comic tale of estranged brothers who bond through a winding ordeal involving their father's priceless stamp collection. There are stories of tragedy and triumph, both expansive and intimate, some profoundly moving and others delicately shaded--but all are warmed by Kieslowski's sympathetic direction and his eye for resonant, fragile imagery. Initially drawn together by location--the series is set in a dreary Warsaw apartment complex--a web of associations forms as characters pass through other stories, sometimes only briefly, and themes reverberate through the series. The Decalogue is ultimately a personal spiritual investigation into the soul of man, a work of quiet attention and deep emotion marked by astounding images and vivid characters. Each volume is also available individually on VHS. --Sean Axmaker
