Composer Threads The Bear McCreary Thread

[Toillion 215]

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season One - 10CD Box Set

Quote

An expanded version of our previous 2xCD soundtrack, this 10xCD box set is presented as a numbered edition of 1000, comes housed in a 
gold-embossed, leatherette-bound slipcase and includes the 136-page booklet “A Composer’s Journey” by Bear McCreary. (Packaging Design by Jordan Christianson.)

And as a special thank you from Bear and his team, 200 copies from this numbered run are offered with an exclusive Bear McCreary autograph card inside... only at MondoShop.com.

 

https://mondoshop.com/products/lotr-rop-10cd-box-set

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

22 minutes ago, Toillion said:

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season One - 10CD Box Set

 

https://mondoshop.com/products/lotr-rop-10cd-box-set

 

Crickey... super tempted... I love that it's the kind of box set that people mock up here (beautifully I might add) but this is actually a real one and of some great music.

[Toillion 215]

Looks like the autographed ones are gone. 

[crocodile 8,017]

16 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Crickey... super tempted... I love that it's the kind of box set that people mock up here (beautifully I might add) but this is actually a real one and of some great music.

I akready bought the high-res versions of all the albums, the 2-CD set and vinyl...and still got this. 😂

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

"Your order is confirmed"

 

"Official Release Date: April 26, 2024." "Expected to ship in May 2024." 

[crocodile 8,017]

1 minute ago, Marian Schedenig said:

"Your order is confirmed"

 

"Official Release Date: April 26, 2024." "Expected to ship in May 2024." 

Typical Mondo. Which probably means June. 😄

 

Karol

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Well, only four days between "release" and the first potential ship date  

 

I'm still really happy I get a hard copy of the OST as a bonus - it's an absolute 5 star concept album. Plus a book I will actually read - what a wonderful package for the entire thing. I was musing over a purchase of the digital albums only a few weeks ago.

[crocodile 8,017]

And it is now sold out. Assuming it went live the moment newsletter came out, it means this lasted just under 7 hours.

 

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

Wow… I'm glad I didn't hesitate (and that I read about it just in time)…

 

14 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

I'm still really happy I get a hard copy of the OST as a bonus - it's an absolute 5 star concept album.

 

That it is I guess, but I'm still a bit miffed that it seems to be included 1:1 when I waited a long time to see if a full release was coming out and finally gave in and bought it last year.

[crocodile 8,017]

To be honest, they could have just included a 9th disc with suites from that album. But I suppose it is the same situation as when LLL or Intrada include the original album as a bonus. Either way, the price is good enough so it doesn't matter. The 2 disc set is a good assembly.

 

And it turns out this announcement is not as random. Today is the Tolkien Reading Day, apparently.

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

6 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Either way, the price is good enough so it doesn't matter.

 

It is what it is, and it's probably niche enough that we must be happy to get it for any price (though considering how quickly it sold out, perhaps not that niche after all). But it'll still cost me about €200 in the end, I expect.

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

Gosh, I didn't expect it to sell out that quickly... marginally disappointed as I did really like his music for the show. Ah well. Guess it also means that, as it would be an OCD nightmare, it rules out worrying about buying the second season set (which seems likely given how quickly this disappeared) as having a set of boxed sets starting with the second one would just hurt my brain.

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

That's kinda nuts that it sold out so fast.

 

Let's hope that that is an indicator that they will continue the episodic albums for further seasons

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

40 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

That's kinda nuts that it sold out so fast.

 

Let's hope that that is an indicator that they will continue the episodic albums for further seasons

Feels like it could have supported a print run of twice as many. Like Star Wars etc., it has significant crossover appeal to those who aren't necessarily into film/TV music so I'm sure plenty went to Tolkien/LOTR fans. Pessimistically/cynically, the risk is that they don't release the individual episode scores digitally next time and the only way to get them will be the boxed set. However, given how much BM seems to care about his music and fans, this seems unlikely. I doubt he'd want to piss them off doing something like that.

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Yeah, I'm just hoping that after The Singularity has been released (which I'm very much looking forward to) he goes back to composing and releasing scores a bit more. Instead of just doing main themes.

[crocodile 8,017]

26 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Feels like it could have supported a print run of twice as many. Like Star Wars etc., it has significant crossover appeal to those who aren't necessarily into film/TV music so I'm sure plenty went to Tolkien/LOTR fans. Pessimistically/cynically, the risk is that they don't release the individual episode scores digitally next time and the only way to get them will be the boxed set. However, given how much BM seems to care about his music and fans, this seems unlikely. I doubt he'd want to piss them off doing something like that.

I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to release a streamlined set sans OST and liner notes sometime in the future.

 

Karol 

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

2 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

as it would be an OCD nightmare, it rules out worrying about buying the second season set

 

No joke, I'm already worrying about that.

 

Given how quickly this sold out, I wonder if there's any chance of Mondo bringing it back? Apparently they have a new batch of Oppenheimers coming up, but I don't know if that's because the first one was limited and they're doing a second run, or if they simply hadn't pressed as many copies as their licence allows.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

1 hour ago, crocodile said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to release a streamlined set sans OST and liner notes sometime in the future.

 

I wondered this too. A nice deluxe box for collector types, then a slimmed down 8-disc clamshell sort of thing, sans OST or book, with more units.

[mstrox 6,651]

Well look at that, I held out on buying the digital episode albums long enough that this wasn’t a waste of money for me.  Opted for the non-signature version yesterday.

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

5 hours ago, crocodile said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to release a streamlined set sans OST and liner notes sometime in the future.

Possibly, although aren't Mondo all about the fancy packaging and strictly limited runs? They seem less bothered than trying to service the fan community than LLL, Intrada, Quartet, Music Box etc... (correct me if I'm being harsh!). In some ways, I'm kinda surprised that BMcC went with them (if he had any say of it) given that LLL released lots of his earlier stuff and it would have been a nice way to return the favour by having them release this knowing that it would likely sell well and also that they would do a great job with the production (notwithstanding that, visually at least, the set does look great).

 

4 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

No joke, I'm already worrying about that.

Sorry to cause angst!

 

4 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Given how quickly this sold out, I wonder if there's any chance of Mondo bringing it back? Apparently they have a new batch of Oppenheimers coming up, but I don't know if that's because the first one was limited and they're doing a second run, or if they simply hadn't pressed as many copies as their licence allows.

I have to admit that I don't follow Mondo as their stuff isn't usually of interest as I'm not a record collector in that sense but would be worth trying to find out as I think another chunk of units would sell out - indeed it may sell out even quicker given that people who missed out might be looking out it. I could be wrong, but I imagine that Tolkien fans and collectors are on the same level of die hard as we are when it comes to film music!

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

6 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

No joke, I'm already worrying about that.

Sorry to cause angst!

 

I was worrying about it before you mentioned it.

 

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Possibly, although aren't Mondo all about the fancy packaging and strictly limited runs?

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

I have to admit that I don't follow Mondo as their stuff isn't usually of interest as I'm not a record collector

 

CDs seem to be very un-Mondo anyway. From what I understand, they're primarily about vinyl and maybe digital music, and only offer CDs on those rare occasions where they actually have exclusive physical content (rather than doing an LP version of something that already existed on CD - which I believe they do?).

 

This is reflected in their shipping options, which confused me a lot: There's a "Vinyl Only Shipping" option and there's "DHL International Shipping", which is significantly more expensive - but "Vinyl Only" also uses DHL for international orders, and it was available and even pre-selected for my CD-only order. I checked my order from last year and that also used vinyl shipping (for only CDs), so I figured that works and chose it again this time.

 

And I think I figured out what it actually means: Physical music for Mondo is vinyl. They sell vinyl (=music), posters, and collectibles. If you order anything other than music, you probably have to select DHL, but if you only order music, you can use the vinyl option, because whoever set up the shipping configuration believed that any and all music they sold would be on vinyl.

 

5 hours ago, mstrox said:

Opted for the non-signature version yesterday.

 

Because the signed one was more expensive (was it?) or already sold out or you simply didn't want it?

[Jay 37,369]

They were the same price.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

If they were the same price, why wouldn't they have one basket option and just give the signed copies to the first 200? I was looking for a change in price when switching between the two while I was out yesterday and got a bit confused.

[Toillion 215]

Their original email said it would be on sale on their site and on Amazon but it never appeared on Amazon. Someone asked about it in the comments and Mondo replied saying it hadn’t launched yet. So I bet Mondo got to sell 500 and Amazon gets 500. 
 

[Eplicon 53]

For those that missed the Mondo pre-order, the Amazon link is now live.  Hurry!

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYLVSSQ5

[ddddeeee 257]

Not convinced I can afford this, but Amazon don't charge until dispatch so I've preordered. We'll see how the next month goes.

[crocodile 8,017]

@Tom Guernsey might want to reconsider?

 

I hope everyone that wants it will get their hands on the copy. Fingers crossed.

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

23 minutes ago, Eplicon said:

For those that missed the Mondo pre-order, the Amazon link is now live.  Hurry!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYLVSSQ5

 

That would have been the cheaper option for me, actually. And without the expected customs hassle.

[ManofDestiny 71]

Thanks!

 

Yesterday I woke up and saw the news, but it was sold out. I even don't have time to consider buying it.

 

but now I can finally get it.

[mstrox 6,651]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Because the signed one was more expensive (was it?) or already sold out or you simply didn't want it?

Just didn’t want it.  I have a big mailer envelope of signed booklets, mostly from LLL, that sits and gathers dust.

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

11 hours ago, crocodile said:

@Tom Guernsey might want to reconsider?

 

I hope everyone that wants it will get their hands on the copy. Fingers crossed.

 

Karol

Damn now I’ve ordered it 😂 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

To be honest, I really like the score, but I found the OST already a little long.

 

But the box looks great. No doubt. 

[Thor 7,508]

26 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

To be honest, I really like the score, but I found the OST already a little long.

 

Same here. I find the score so-so to begin with, but it has a few great highlighs, especially the more mystical or lyrical parts. So my 63-minute playlist will do. Will probably do the same with season 2, when that soundtrack drops.

 

But I can easily understand why this box is sought-after for LOTR fans.

[crocodile 8,017]

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Damn now I’ve ordered it 😂 

I am ever so sorry. Hopefully, you will forgive me one day. 😂

 

Karol

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

Just now, crocodile said:

I am ever so sorry. Hopefully, you will forgive me one day. 😂

 

Karol

I'll think about it ;-) (seriously, thanks for the link... weirdly, Amazon was very picky about which address it would send to, but got there in the end so hopefully they will actually send it!)

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

2 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

To be honest, I really like the score, but I found the OST already a little long.

 

Yes, I've mostly stuck to the suite myself. But partly I think that's because it's an album condensation of the full scores that's very long on its own, but at the same time presents only a fragment of the full scores. My hope is that the complete scores might present a better listening experience on their own by being both shorter and more coherent individually than the longer full season album.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

I don't find myself drawn to the complete albums that often, but there are a few set pieces and moments that are abridged or not presented properly on the OST. Plus when you like a score as much as me (and many) you want the entire thing even if it doesn't get a huge amount of playtime.

 

I really didn't want to pay £80 for a bunch of downloaded files so while this set is 30% or so more, it feels like what we get (all the music plus the OST and the book) makes it worth it, and those who just have the downloads don't feel left out with any content exclusive to this box.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

Yes. For a soundtrack collector there are many reasons to get this box apart from wanting to listen to every minute of the music.

This score was one of the best of the year and this box represents in so many ways what soundtrack fans would like to have from their favourite francise score.

 

The only thing which makes me wonder, I would expect that this is something especially popular under soundtrack fans who loved the show.

But I just remember comments from Tolkien hardcore fans complaining about the terrible show. For those people I would expect the OST being more than enough. Question for me: Can I love the complete score and hate the show at the same time? 

 

By the way, I really liked the show. And the music.

[crocodile 8,017]

There is a widespread belief among the public that film and television media are monolithic entities, and their individual elements cannot be appreciated independently. I've come across some harsh criticism online. It's perplexing to see someone comment that they "would rather have blood in their stool." While the show's critique can be somewhat justified, the disdain for the music puzzles me. It's likely as lavish and well-crafted as any music produced today. Preferring Howard Shore's style is completely acceptable, but to dismiss this work as subpar is unfair. I enjoy both regularly and see no need to pit them against each other.

 

Karol

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

On 25/03/2024 at 4:34 PM, Toillion said:

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season One - 10CD Box Set

 

https://mondoshop.com/products/lotr-rop-10cd-box-set

 

 

Leatherette gold-embossed slipcase with five printed digipaks (2 CDs per case) and 136-page booklet.

 

 

And as a special thank you from Bear and his team, 200 copies from this numbered run are offered with an exclusive Bear McCreary autograph card inside.

 

So he can write his name. Good for him.

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

18 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Yes, I've mostly stuck to the suite myself. But partly I think that's because it's an album condensation of the full scores that's very long on its own, but at the same time presents only a fragment of the full scores. My hope is that the complete scores might present a better listening experience on their own by being both shorter and more coherent individually than the longer full season album.

Yeah, it's funny but the highlights album is still pretty long at over 2 and a half hours but I guess you can  listen to it as a long film soundtrack. I think I'd forgotten it was quite that long... although there's rarely a dull moment and thematically it's one of his strongest. Having listened to a whole range of his stuff lately (Outlander, Da Vinci's Demons, The Cape, Godzilla etc.) I honestly struggle to remember much afterward, good though the music actually is. He's diligent in his approach to thematic material, but the actual material doesn't stick much afterwards. Having said that, Galadriel's theme is wonderful and memorable from the first listen... (even though I still feel it's more like a Star Wars/Princess Leia type theme than LOTR) and giving the highlights album another listen today I'd forgotten how good some of the other themes were.

 

It's kind of a tricky with the individual scores as they are each a nice length but you then basically have 10 scores of around an hour to listen to and  I can't say any single episode score has stuck out more than any other. My iTunes library has an upcoming play queue of almost 9k songs (I know, I know...) and I have been putting the Rings of Power scores up next in broadcast order so one pops up every so often but can't say one has necessarily struck me as better than the other, they are all fine works. 

1 hour ago, crocodile said:

There is a widespread belief among the public that film and television media are monolithic entities, and their individual elements cannot be appreciated independently. I've come across some harsh criticism online. It's perplexing to see someone comment that they "would rather have blood in their stool." While the show's critique can be somewhat justified, the disdain for the music puzzles me. It's likely as lavish and well-crafted as any music produced today. Preferring Howard Shore's style is completely acceptable, but to dismiss this work as subpar is unfair. I enjoy both regularly and see no need to pit them against each other.

Agreed. As I've said before, BMcC's music doesn't have quite the interesting harmonic twists of Shore's scores which gives the whole thing perhaps a more distinctive but varied sound world, but it's still fine music in its own right.

[mstrox 6,651]

Lol at whoever said they would rather have blood in their stool

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Yeah, it's funny but the highlights album is still pretty long at over 2 and a half hours but I guess you can  listen to it as a long film soundtrack. I think I'd forgotten it was quite that long... although there's rarely a dull moment and thematically it's one of his strongest.

 

I guess I'm a rare person who finds it too short and disjointed, with all of those album arrangements of themes mixed in with "real cues", and everything all jumbled up largely out of order and fragmented. I like a few highlights from that highlights album, but overall I far, FAR prefer the episode albums.

 

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

 Having listened to a whole range of his stuff lately (Outlander, Da Vinci's Demons, The Cape, Godzilla etc.) I honestly struggle to remember much afterward, good though the music actually is. He's diligent in his approach to thematic material, but the actual material doesn't stick much afterwards.

 

Huh! I find a ton of his themes quite memorable and distinct. I can easily recall to mind the main love theme from Outlander, a later love theme for different characters, Frank's theme, the Druid theme, etc! It amazes me how many memorable and distinct themes he was able to create for The Rings of Power. This might still be my favorite McCreary theme though:

 

(Or if you want more of it, for the 90 second opening sequence that should've been...)

 

 

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Having said that, Galadriel's theme is wonderful and memorable from the first listen... (even though I still feel it's more like a Star Wars/Princess Leia type theme than LOTR) and giving the highlights album another listen today I'd forgotten how good some of the other themes were.

 

It's really funny that Galadriel's theme makes you think of sci-fi, because...well...

 

I think I might actually prefer this, even though I love both! But my wife and I (we watch and enjoy both series, despite their flaws) have taken to calling it "Gaaladriel's Theme". 

 

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

It's kind of a tricky with the individual scores as they are each a nice length but you then basically have 10 scores of around an hour to listen to and  I can't say any single episode score has stuck out more than any other.

 

8 scores, one for each episode of RoP season 1. Most are under an hour I'm pretty sure. McCreary actually didn't include every cue. The albums are not complete & comprehensive and he still made some omissions for listening experience/flow purposes... but they are a MUCH better representation of the musical journey and development of thematic material. To me most of these are actually pretty distinct from each other. The constant action of the Episode 6 album is almost overwhelming in the best possible way. And the Episode 7 album is kinda the darkest, for the aftermath. Very compelling.

 

Yavar

[Edmilson 7,466]

2 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

The albums are not complete & comprehensive and he still made some omissions for listening experience/flow purposes...

Yeah but whatever is missing is probably very small and/or insignificant, right? No omissions of major cues or whatever. Right? I remember someone saying here (not sure if they were actually quoting McCreary or not) that the amount of missing music for the entire season is 5 minutes or less.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

I’d be very surprised if it’s that little, but I admit I haven’t noticed any major omissions. Which is good! I just wanted to correct the record since I’ve seen a lot of people refer to these as complete score releases when they are not.

 

Yavar

[Richard Penna 3,694]

15 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Yeah but whatever is missing is probably very small and/or insignificant, right? No omissions of major cues or whatever. Right? I remember someone saying here (not sure if they were actually quoting McCreary or not) that the amount of missing music for the entire season is 5 minutes or less.

 

I've made some estimates before and I reckon it's around 5 minutes of proper unreleased cues or prominent sections. No doubt there is a bit more than that when considering edits to shorten tensions/sustains/etc, but in terms of music that's creatively important I don't think there's much at all.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

If you have the Sirius/XM app

[mstrox 6,651]

Charge your phone, Bruce.

[crocodile 8,017]

1 hour ago, Yavar Moradi said:

I’d be very surprised if it’s that little, but I admit I haven’t noticed any major omissions. Which is good! I just wanted to correct the record since I’ve seen a lot of people refer to these as complete score releases when they are not.

 

Yavar

Didn't he say they recorded something around 9 hours of music? If you are to eliminate all the repetition between compilation and episode albums, you'd end up with about 8 hours and 4 minutes (or tiny bit less if you were to remove anything but the first 40 seconds of Nolwa Mahtar and Shore's title theme). So there might be still an hour missing.

 

To be honest, I can't see myself wanting more, sort of like I never really demanded the expansions for CR sets.

 

Karol

[Edmilson 7,466]

7 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Didn't he say they recorded something around 9 hours of music? If you are to eliminate all the repetition between compilation and episode albums, you'd end up with about 8 hours and 4 minutes (or tiny bit less if you were to remove anything but the first 40 seconds of Nolwa Mahtar and Shore's title theme). So there might be still an hour missing.

 

Yeah but I think most of this missing hour are probably alternates to released cues. If you sum the 5-10 minutes of unreleased material with alternate cues, segments, etc., you'd probably end up with another hour of stuff.