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Howard Shore's The Desolation Of Smaug (Hobbit Part 2)


gkgyver

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I understand your concerns, and I am not one who would ever want to spoil anything for anybody, but I haven't said a single spoiler on this page, nor do I know of any. It ain't like Peter Jackson is slipping me intel about his post production process.

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I absolutely think that for AUJ the Standard version should harve been a 1CD release. That would make more "new" music available on the Special Edition version, giving more incentive to purchase it, as well as provide a more standard highlight presentation for the casual fans.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if for DOS they change the standard version to a 1CD and keep the SE 2 discs... but I also wouldn't be surprised if we don't even get a special edition version this time either

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The LotR OSTs were largely a mess, I'm glad we're not getting those anymore :)

But yes, I would have preferred a bigger difference between the Standard and Deluxe edition as well.

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Considering we aren't guaranteed to get a CR for AUJ, and considering how much content we got on the OST might be left off of it even if there is, I'm glad we got two discs. But like Jason says, a 1-disc standard edition and 2-disc SE would have made more sense.

Bloodboal's videos have really highlighted just how different the OST is from the film. I imagine if you bought it not understanding the process of film scoring and not being very familiar with the LotR scores, and just hoping to hear various moments from the film, you'd be pretty disappointed - even though we hardcore fans have the exact opposite reaction.

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A mess?? As far as I'm aware the Hobbit soundtrack nicely portrays Shore's original intentions but the LOTR OSTs were more representative of the music actually in the films taking only the highlights, with the 70 they had.

While I get what you're saying, it's not exactly the truth. The OST LOTR album now play like extra discs filled with alternates to what actually ended up in the film.

Karol

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A mess?? As far as I'm aware the Hobbit soundtrack nicely portrays Shore's original intentions but the LOTR OSTs were more representative of the music actually in the films taking only the highlights, with the 70 minutes they had.

Like Karol said, not exactly. Too many alternates, and the highlights aren't even preserved properly. Instead they're butchered and stitched together with random cues and very annoying micro-edits that creates a huge lack of flow in the album. The RotK OST is pretty much the only one that got it right.

When I listen to LotR, I want to hear the music tell me the story. The CRs do that because all the music is there in chronological order. The OSTs are kind of all over the place, and I find it annoying.

For instance, the FotR album is rather dull compared to the awesomeness of the CR. After I heard the CRs, I could never go back!

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I think there is also a whole lot of alternate takes used for OST's. And in the case you also get the original lighting of the beacons. And The End of All Things. An alternate mix of chorus in Nazgul tracks in FOTR. Stuff like that.

The Two Towers album is all over the place - it place more like a suite of different ideas and not a film score. CR is a drastically different experience. I myself love the albums version (including the choirless Theoden Rides Forth too, and a slightly shorter Theoden exorcism music), it's a well put together album, but very different from film work. And, of course, I'm a big fan of Gollum's song that directly segues into Eowyn's theme and then Rohan fanfare. A much neater ending, as opposed to a heavily edited CR version.

Karol

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Lol! Well everyone has different tastes I suppose. I know a lot of people who prefer the OSTs to the CRs. And there are some great alternate material on the OSTs that are left off the CRs or are better than the CR versions.

It's just recently I decided to take a listen to the LotR OSTs, and I was surprised by how much I found it less interesting. It's probably I'm far too used to how it goes in the CRs and in film :P

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the LOTR OSTs were more representative of the music actually in the films taking only the highlights, with the 70 minutes they had.

Actually, every single track of the FOTR OST has something in it that can't be found on the CRs.

01 The Prophecy - entire track

02 Concerning Hobbits - entire track seems to be different than CR version, but even if its not it contains the original version before the EE Insert

03 The Shadow Of The Past - opening cue is original version before the HOTR theme was added

04 The Treason of Isengard - intended choir mixed out of the CR version

05 The Black Rider - intended choir mixed out of the CR version

06 At The Sign Of The Prancing Pony - earlier version of cue at end we didn't get until the rarities disc

07 A Knife In The Dark - intended choir mixed out of the CR version

08 Flight To The Ford - minor differences

09 Many Meetings - Shire them on flute instead of strings

10 The Council Of Elrond - alternate passage in the middle

11 The Ring Goes South - theatrical version of departure

12 A Journey In The Dark - theatrical version of first cue

13 The Bridge Of Khazad Dun - opening cue is microedited on the CR, complete here

14 Lothlorien - opening cues are theatrical versions

15 The Great River - theatrical version of departure

16 Amon Hen - theatrical version of cues in the middle

17 The Breaking Of The Fellowship - unused intended end credits bit is at the end (replaced by tracked music in film and CR)

18 May It Be - unused intended end credits bit is at the end (replaced by tracked music in film and CR)

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In all fairness, the complete releases of any kind rarely offer a stunning listening experience. They are fascinating to study, sure, but you rarely find time to listen to something for 2+ hours. I like both, depending on a mood.

Karol

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Dont forget, the strings overlay for 1:24 of The Nazgul (on the CR) is only on the OST, and A Knife in the Dark on the OST has additional muted brass.

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Oh, totally disagree with you. For some score the complete presentation is essential

To understand and study them - yes. But few people get a chance to spend over two hours every day to listen to one album.

Karol

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Oh, totally disagree with you. For some score the complete presentation is essential

I feel this is the case with LotR.

.......I have been listening to the LOTR CR's all summer now...

I usually go to the CRs whenever I want to listen to LotR.

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BTW when I say CR's, I mean MY edits, with all the alternates culled into one album, with original versions first (though sometimes I will deviate, like using the OST version of Anduril, instead the rarities version), with theatrical versions and everything else at the end.

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I can happily listen to Hook and Temple of Doom in complete form over and over again no problem

Because you're a big fan of those.

What about some other scores that you like more casually? Rosewood? Explorers? The Lone Ranger? Would you enjoy a 3-hour presentation of those?

Karol

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I never said it was essential for every score, I said "For some score the complete presentation is essential"



There isn't a single cue from Empire Strikes Back I'd remove in a personal edit

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The nice thing about having everything is you can pick what cues you want to hear at any given time. Sometimes I'll just listen to all my 4 and 5-starred tracks from the Star Wars prequels, or just the Children's Suite, etc. With a lot of longer scores, if I feel like hearing the whole thing I'll listen to a few tracks a day until I'm done, or go for a walk and listen to it.

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Yep

But as much as I think every score should be released in complete form eventually, I fully respect the composer's wishes to make their own arranged OST released at the time of the film's release.

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I think DOS has the potential to be the most thematically rich score out of the 6, really. A lot of different locations, cultures, and characters will all be be present in this film.

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