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THE TWO TOWERS: The Complete Recordings - RE-ISSUE coming July 27 2018 (3CD/1BD or 5LP)


Jay

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I think a lot of the alternates are bloody awesome. Case in point: the Lighting of the Beacons.

 

Also, a lot of the tracks do very well in serving the function of a theme concert presentation, which I appreciate.

 

And the different mix is something to enjoy, as well: man, the choir in "The End of All Things". I mean, I love the CR, but damn!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/3/2018 at 9:17 PM, Bilbo said:

 

The Fellowship OST is one of the greatest OSTs of all time IMO. The cello in “The Prophecy” alone makes it worth owning. 

 

Can we marry? :)

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15 hours ago, Kühni said:

 

Can we marry? :)

 

In Ireland that is now legal! 

 

I don’t swing that way though I’m afraid. 

 

How about pints of Guinness?

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Yeah people who pretend American beer is only Bud Light and Coors are just inheriting viewpoints from decades ago.

 

Craft breweries are going through an absolute economic boom for the past 15 years too.  So it's not some indie unpopular thing.

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Kilkenny is a dark and horrible place where dreams go to dry. 

 

Smithwicks is the best beer from that place but they don’t even make it there any more.

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That's one of the best alternates. Not different in the melody, but in the pitches and how much higher it travels, making the whole mood even more uplifting and hopeful (which one wouldn't think was possible with the film version).

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4 minutes ago, Gollum Cat said:

Wait, where? Somehow I missed this...?

 

The version of this music on the original OST is not the same take they used in the film (which is the take on the CR)

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On 6/20/2018 at 6:04 PM, Chen G. said:

And really the entire track on the OST functions like a concert presentation of the Gondor material, which is great.

 

And because it's such a nice anecdote: "The White Tree", or at least the Lighting of the Beacons part, was the first take of the first music recorded on the first day of the RotK sessions back in 2003. The LPO clearly nailed it.

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I knew they recorded the lighting of the beacons first: I didn't know they started with the OST take, though. What a way to kick-off the recording sessions!

 

Its not just that its a different performance, though: Shore changed the composition. The harmony on the OST is in major mode, the CR - in minor.

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Indeed. Here's the pertinent bit from Doug's RotK AS:

 

"IN THE MAKING:
The original version of the beacon music can be heard on The Return of the King’s 2003 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD, and features a different harmonization of the Gondor theme—notably stressing major modes. The composition was reharmonized in the finished film to increase the dramatic tension and underscore Gondor’s dire situation. Heard here is the film version.


The OST performance, incidentally, was the first music recorded for The Return of the King. It was the London Philharmonic’s first take on the first day of the sessions."

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  • 1 month later...

Mine should arrive soon, too. Early next week at the latest.

 

Another very minor complaint with the CRs: the sometimes very weird track titles that barely represent their content, where the chapter titles would have been much better

The Great Eye instead of The Fellowship of the Ring?

Gilraen's Memorial instead of the Ring Goes South?

The Fighting Uruk-Hai instead of the Great River?

The Road Goes Ever On Pt. 1 instead of The Breaking of the Fellowship?

The Heir of Númenor instead of The Black Gate Is Closed?

 

Now most of these were already track titles on the OSTs so I could understand not using them to avoid any possible confusion, but the substitute a lot of times only represents 10-15% of the track. Why not use the slash?

The Great Eye/The Fellowship Assembles

Gilraen's Memorial/Leaving Rivendell (If we really want to avoid the OST titles)

The Fighting Uruk-Hai/the Anduin

The Heir of Númenor/The Black Gates

The Grace of Undómiel/The White City

A Coronal of Silver And Gold/Minas Morgul

Shieldmaiden of Rohan/Victory on the Pelennor

 

Two Towers is the only one to occasionally use this, semingly randomly:

Théoden King / The Funeral of Théodred

One of The Dunedain / Evenstar (The second one not needed IMO)

Arwen's Fate / The Grace of The Valar (Same here)

Retreat / Haldir's Lament (wrong order, guys)

Long Ways To Go Yet / Gollums' Song

 

Again, this is complete nitpicking and has no effect on the music itself. But altogether these sets are not 100% perfect, only 95%.

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On 6/3/2018 at 8:17 PM, Bilbo said:

The Fellowship OST is one of the greatest OSTs of all time IMO. The cello in “The Prophecy” alone makes it worth owning. 

 

The Prophecy is awesome, definitely.

 

But I listened to the first third or so of the OST on the way back from work a few weeks ago, and it reminded me of the overload of Ringwraith material in the first half of the album. It essentially means that it only has ~30 minutes of music from the post-Rivendell section of the film.

 

I'd probably remove perhaps 10 mins of that material (maybe tracks 4, 6 and 7) and allow some sections later on to breathe a little more. Now, the nostalgic side of me would never, ever do that because this was one of my first ever OSTs, but it's not a perfect album.

 

Also, I'll point out here that two tracks on this album were responsible for me coming out of the cinema in 2001 (likely not even knowing what a film score was) in absolute awe, wanting to hear that amazing music again: The Council of Elrond and The Breaking of the Fellowship. The latter has affected me more than pretty much any other film score cue, especially from 2:15....OMFG. I wonder how many lifelong soundtrack fans this single score created.

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