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I like the smoother, more modern sound of the LSO for the prequels. It works well with the sleeker style of the prequels, just as the gritty, unrestrained feel of the originals works well.

Batman & Robin Some of the music is re-arranged from Batman Forever, but still plenty of new material and, as such, the score might be even a stronger work than its predecessor. It simply offers more consistency. Not to mention the fact it is closer in style to Danny Elfman - especially in the gorgeous choral work. It's baffling that such a good music was written for this film. A shame. One of my holy grails to release, if that ever happens... Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban What makes this score special is not its eclectic nature or collection of themes, or even Williams' (almost devilish) attention to detail. It is the fact that it might be one of his few fairy tale score that completely abandons Hollywood suger-coated sound. Window to the Past theme is truly moving and not for a second does it get close to schmaltzy sentimentalism of Williams/Columbus collaborations. The score sounds restrained and intimate, even though the gigantic orchestra was employed. I was taken aback at first by the strangeness of it at first (as compared to the first two), but it proved to be the most enduring and a proof that this old man has still got a few surprises up his sleeve. Unique entry. War of the Worlds Another musical surprise arrived a full year later. This time perhaps even more perplexing, because this time Williams and Spielberg offer you absolutely no comfort. Let alone melody - the cold main idea is chilling and unforgiving (especially memorable in the unreleased Woods Walk cue) and is a far cry from what used to be a major ingredient in this composer/director collaboration. The occasional attempts to bring some warmth are mostly crushed because this family bonding material never quite gets any resolution or shape. The score, while not exactly pleasant, gets more and more impressive with each year. Karol - who always liked Robin's fanfare

Audiences are influenced by skilful film music, whether they realise it or not. Evidently.

Bingo! "If the bastard so much as twitches I'll blow him right to Mars." - Captain Mancuso Needless to say this release blows the OST right to Mars.

This thread made me relisten to this score. It's incredible

They only really made people here stay, the fans f the music. The vast majority of people you ask what is "May it be" won't know, even seeing LOTR. I would have said Gollums song too but the name gives it away.What people know by name and what people are influenced by are two pairs of shoes. I didn't know the name Howard Shore (or this place) before Two Towers, and it certainly knocked my socks off.Every time I saw AUJ in the theatre, it was so noticeable that the atmosphere went out of the room and the audience when the song started, because it totally disconnects from the film. That was never the case with any LotR showing I attended. The transition to the credits and the title songs were perfect. The Hobbit thus far was several levels below that. I'm saying most audience members don't really care, and leave because it's the end of the film. You saying the transition was perfect does not mean the general audience was as bothered. That's a rather superficial way of looking at it. The audience doesn't have to consciouly recognize they're listening to a great song. What the LotR songs did was make the sensations of the film they just watched, last. Although I never got to see the LotR films in the cinema, I can still speak for my experiences watching it for the first time. Even now, when I see that last dialogue with Gollum and that ominous shot of Mount Doom with the haunting choral passage opening Gollum's Song--it still sends the chills down my spine! The song lets that foreboding sensation last; makes you fear for Frodo and Sam, makes you pity Gollum and makes you hunger for more. That's a great movie moment, and one of the big reasons why TTT has the best ending of the trilogy. Imagine if you tacked on something like Neil Finn's song there. Zap! Out goes the sense of wonder. It's as if there's someone suddenly shouting "Show's over, go home folks!". Into the West did the same thing. After the emotional roller coaster that was RotK, that song beautifully tells you the journey is over. I don't care about those who complain about it's pop-ish sensibilities, I still find it to be touching stuff. I remember the first time I watched RotK, and the guitar starting strumming with the warm chords washing over the beautiful credits sequence. I could hardly believe it was over. I didn't want it to be over. I wanted there to be more! It's almost tearjerking really, and I'm sure people must have had a similar cathartic experience at that moment. It gently tells you that the 10 hour adventure you just went through has come to end. Both sad and lovely. And let me tell you something, back then, I didn't own a single film score. I didn't even know they commercially released film scores! I was the average moviegoer/movie-watcher. And maybe I didn't consciously realize it, but those songs did help with crafting a great ending. The LotR songs made you want to hold on to what you just experienced. It makes you want to relive it. So yes, I can understand why so many people prefer those songs over the Hobbit ones. It was an experience. AUJ just...ends. I have to admit I didn't care when the credits rolled up. I wasn't left stunned or breathless, like I was at the end of every LotR film. I liked the film for sure, but it didn't haunt me in the ways the originals did. Of course you can't blame the song for all that, but I firmly believe the song has a role in creating that truly great ending. At the very least the film version of the AUJ song had that nice orchestral interlude preceding it, which helped. I don't know if that'll be the case in DoS as well. Sorry. The LotR fanboy in me just had to have his moment

I dunno why Williams would want to sound "new". His style his his style and that's why we love him. If he strayed too much from his usual style we'd all hate the score anyways I think Tintin is not as good as his usual blockbuster score because he tried to sound more "modern" POTC-Zimmerish with the pirate theme. The film was probably temped tracked with Zimmer stuff

I think people are confusing "fresh/new" with "interesting". These two things are enitrely independent of each other. When I think of a score like "War Horse" or "Memoirs of a Geisha" or "Adventures of Tintin", these are great recent scores. Accusing Williams of writing bad music is one thing, but to accuse him of sounding like himself is silly. If you want to debate the musicallity of scores like "Stepmom" against "A.I." then I'm on board. Otherwise, laying into his style is like saying that Beethoven's Eighth Symphony is lame because he ran out of ideas by that point and it sounds too much like Beethoven. Also, this is based on the assumption that most people don't listen to Williams' concert works and are only speaking to his film scores.

It is a damn shame they didn't record all the verses of the song while they had the whole cast together. Wasted opportunity

Yeah, I wish it would have faded out a little later though, because part of the Erebor theme that was microedited fades out right before it would have segued into the album cue. BTW, the menu music of the EE Blu-rays are the same as the DVDs right? BTW, here is "The Ring" ripped from the Appendices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RCOuItKfT4&feature=youtu.be Here is the five wizards (Radagast the Brown, Gandalf's theme) "instrumental" film version ripped from the appendices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNsqfZ5VtH4

Well that is a healthy attitude!

The Commentary for AUJ is kind of funny, PJ groans at some of his own gags! He also apologizes a lot (Especially about the shot of Smaug in the treasure chamber at the end) for things.

like there isn't a night/day difference between these and the ring films! how can you be surprised by corniness after having seen AUJ? this ain't gonna be the next über-trilogy, man! get with it. and no, of course it isn't an age thing.

The Special Edition is now available for pre-order at Amazon.UK.

Which means even less chance to get Complete Recordings! Woohoo!

I'm not sure how many CDs the Sheeran song is going to sell - mostly, his demographic doesn't buy physical CDs, so they're likely to pay the $0.99/$1.29 for the song as opposed to laying down $15-20 for a CD full of that icky orchestral music. I didn't intend on listening to any of DoS until I get the soundtrack, but Jackson posted a video for the song on Facebook and I caved. It sounds good enough - I could see it at the end of the film well enough.

ADORE - Christopher Gordon Continuing Gordon's high writing standard, this lightweight minimalist romantic score still betrays a firm classical hand - with a few tools (piano, strings, regular and plucked) Gordon creates an enchanting portrait of yearning/longing in the odd-30 minutes he got. Listen to the latter part of 'Beach Walk' for some brilliant shimmering violin solos. There is additional music by another composer that sounds like Thomas Newman, but it doesn't offend, either. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpeqLrfc96o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79ZMO9FsPc

I don't know if you've heard any of Price's "Robin Hood" stuff, but if not... here's a suite posted below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74QgmuN88yI Certainly worth a limited CD release. Even a re-pressing of the UK CD would go a long way.

Doug Adams posted some photos of young Shore - Two more photos can be found on his Twitter.

Will Shore use this? :X

I yea, I forgot to mention I watched the first 50 minutes of the appendixes last night (up through the ceremony that happened on the first day of shooting). It was good stuff of course, pretty cool watching the pre-production process, john howe and alan lee working, richard taylor working, etc. Sadly they glossed over many major things, like getting the returning cast members back, the casting of all the dwarves and Bilbo, etc. Thought that was strange. It did cover when PJ had an ulcer and principal photography had to be pushed back a month, which I had forgotten about. Also showed a bunch of footage of Guillermo Del Toro working on the film which was really awesome. PJ basically confirms they didn't use any of the designs he had come up with. It also focused a lot on the dwarves training regine, including weapon use, dialect, singing, walking, movement, etc. Didn't show any of the orcs or goblins though, and also apartin from Freeman and the dwarves no other cast members have were seen at all - no McKellen, Blanchett, Weaving, Lee, Holm, etc etc. Can't wait until I have time to watch more!

I was thinking the AUJ bookend theme would be like what the ring theme was in LotR. The shire theme is much like what the fellowship theme was like in the title card of FotR (still don't know why they tracked it in AUJ though). We already know Smaugs theme plays over the title card of DoS, just like the Rohan theme played over TTTs title card.

Who needs samples? Bring me the precious ... gkgyver will have his prize, they will deliver it! Oh and yes, who wouldn't want original title music? IMO the opening scene of Two Towers is one of THE textbook examples of why film music is so important for the film's connection with the audience. It conveys everything what the film is like, and it tells you "this is going to be worthwhile".

I'd love it if the logos are scored with the book-end theme from AUJ (the one that opens My Dear Frodo and A Good Omen).

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK 2 CD SET DUE DECEMBER 10TH FROM WATERTOWER MUSIC Featuring Original Music by Academy Award® Winner Howard Shore With An Original Song I See Fire Performed by GRAMMY Nominated Singer-Songwriter Ed Sheeran 2 CD Special Edition Soundtrack Also Available (November 5, 2013 – Los Angeles, CA) – WaterTower Music today announced details of the soundtrack to “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), the second in a trilogy of films by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The soundtrack will be released on December 10, 2013, three days before the December 13 release of the film, and will be available both digitally and as a 2 CD set. A Special Edition soundtrack, featuring twelve extended tracks, a bonus track, expanded liner notes and interactive sheet music will also be available. Fans will be able to preorder the album at both iTunes and Amazon on November 5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features the music of Howard Shore, one of film music’s most respected, honored, and active composers and conductors. "I’m looking forward to introducing you to Smaug," exclaimed Shore, who previously worked with director Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Jackson added, "Howard Shore's music soars and enriches way beyond its connection to our images, a unique sound like no other. He truly has created an epic musical world of his own. " Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy has been performed in numerous concerts internationally. In 2003 he conducted the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Wellington, New Zealand. Since then, the work has been performed nearly 300 times by the world’s most prestigious orchestras, and has been the subject of a book, The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore's Scores. Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy stands as his most towering achievement to date, garnering three Academy Awards® for his music for those films, two for Best Original Score, and one for Best Original Song. Shore has also won numerous other honors for his film work, including four Grammys and three Golden Globe Awards, the Career Achievement for Music Composition Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, New York Chapter’s Recording Academy Honors, ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award, the Frederick Loewe Award and the Max Steiner Award from the city of Vienna. He holds honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and York University, and is an Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France and the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in Canada. Included on the soundtrack is I See Fire, a new song created for the film by Ed Sheeran, the 22-year old British singer/songwriter and multi-platinum global phenomenon who was nominated in the prestigious “Song of the Year” category at this year’s 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Sheeran is also a two-time BRIT Award winner and recipient of the highly esteemed Ivor Novello award for best song musically and lyrically in the UK." “It was such an honor working with Peter Jackson on this song," Sheeran says. "Not only is he one of my favorite directors of my favorite films, The Hobbit was the first book I ever read as a child, so it means a lot that I get to produce music for the motion picture.” Elaborating on the collaboration with Jackson, as well as filmmakers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, Sheeran stated, “I was allowed complete freedom to create what I thought was fitting for the film, which is very rare, and Peter, Fran and Philippa were always on hand to give notes and pointers. The entire team down in New Zealand was out of this world. The film is amazing, I'm still geeking out that I've done a song for a Peter Jackson film set in Middle-earth!” "Ed Sheeran is a true Tolkien fan, and also happens to be a brilliant singer-songwriter,” offered Peter Jackson. I See Fire is Ed's emotional response to the film. It's perfect." “It is an honor to once again work with the tremendous Howard Shore, who has created the musical voice of Peter Jackson’s iconic The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings films from the beginning,” stated WaterTower Music head Jason Linn. “And we are thrilled that the stars aligned for this collaboration with Ed Sheeran and his truly inspired original song for our soundtrack. WaterTower anticipates another exciting and successful soundtrack journey with these two exceptional musicians.” The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on December 10, 2013. The track list is as follows: DISC 1 1. The Quest for Erebor 2. Wilderland 3. A Necromancer (Bonus Track) * 4. The House of Beorn ** 5. Mirkwood ** 6. Flies and Spiders ** 7. The Woodland Realm ** 8. Feast of Starlight 9. Barrels Out of Bond 10. The Forest River ** 11. Bard, a Man of Lake-town ** 12. The High Fells ** 13. The Nature of Evil 14. Protector of the Common Folk DISC 2 1. Thrice Welcome 2. Girion, Lord of Dale ** 3. Durin's Folk ** 4. In the Shadow of the Mountain 5. A Spell of Concealment ** 6. On the Doorstep 7. The Courage of Hobbits 8. Inside Information 9. Kingsfoil 10. A Liar and a Thief 11. The Hunters ** 12. Smaug ** 13. My Armor Is Iron 14. I See Fire performed by Ed Sheeran 15. Beyond the Forest * Bonus track available on Special Edition Soundtrack only ** Extended Versions of these songs Available on Special Edition Soundtrack only From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” The screenplay for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers. Under Jackson’s direction, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” was shot in 3D 48 frames-per-second and will be released in High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D) in select theaters, other 2D and 3D formats, and IMAX®. Production took place at Jackson’s own facilities in Miramar, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand. Post production took place at Park Road Post Production in Wellington. New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” The film is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM. www.thehobbit.net WaterTower Music, the in house music label for Warner Bros., has been releasing recorded music since 2001. Distributed through InGrooves Fontana, WTM has released over 150 titles, including the film soundtracks to “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “Gravity,” “Man of Steel,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Great Gatsby Jazz Recordings” among others. ### For Soundtrack information contact: Joe Kara, WaterTower Music watertowermusic@warnerbros.com For Ed Sheeran information contact: Glenn Fukushima, Atlantic Records Glenn.Fukushima@atlanticrecords.com

If you're not into djawading, balfing or jablonskissing the french one might do.

MINORITY REPORT for all its flaws is a far superior film to BLADE RUNNER.