Rings of Power Bear McCreary's The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)

[Knight of Ren 785]

The episode was definitely more ladi back than the previous one, but it allowed for the story to be more emotional and to let the aftermath of the events have they impact they need. I greatly enjoyed the storyline at the Southlands, but I also found the Khazad-dûm storyline to be more engaging than in previous episodes, having some actual developments of the narrative, with the discovery of the mithril vein. The Harfoot storyline remains the weakest so far, but in this episode at least some things happened, and the encounter with the Mystics was quite interesting. Let's see how they wrap it all up in the final episode next week!

 

McCreary's score in this episode was quite interesting in all the different statements of his main themes, many of them achieving great emotional heights. I analyzed the score for this episode in my blog, so feel free to check it out and leave your thoughts on it. Enjoy!

 

Analysis of the Soundtrack of the Rings of Power - 1x07: The Eye

[Jay 37,287]

What did they put in the end credits?

[Richard Penna 3,671]

An edit from Nampat.

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

On 28/09/2022 at 8:45 AM, TheUlyssesian said:

Actually shouldn’t Where The Shadows lie (Rings of power theme) be the 4th theme after Valinor, Galadriel and Sauron? It is first heard at the end of the Forodwaith cue in the first episode.

 

On 28/09/2022 at 1:50 PM, Jay said:

Gotcha

 

I still prefer my order to listen to the concert arrangements, because it places that one where it's theme is used within the underscore instead of as a brief title card bit

 

On 28/09/2022 at 11:40 PM, TheUlyssesian said:

title card is still a part of the main program. It’s like saying history of the ring theme over LOTR movie title cards shouldn’t be counted since they aren’t the movie proper.

 

i think this appearence of the theme definitely counts but I understand if you wanna place it at the end.

 

On 29/09/2022 at 12:11 AM, Roll the Bones said:

True, but not exactly part of the development, see Fellowship theme in the FOTR EE title card

 

So we had some discussion earlier about whether the Rings of Power Theme's first appearance should be counted because it appears over the main title card of the first episode.

 

Bear thinks we should! He counts that as the first appearance of the theme too.

 

 

 

 

[Faleel 5,340]

Not what Bear was saying but okay.

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

He said "it was featured prominently in the first episode over the Main Title Card" and I mentioned that in the discussion about the order of themes too. 

[Faleel 5,340]

He wasn't saying anything about the developmental journey.

[JohnTheBaptist 57]

Fiona Apple? They couldn't find a professional singer? They must be trying to top the Enya/Eurythmics disaster.

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

52 minutes ago, Roll the Bones said:

He wasn't saying anything about the developmental journey.

The discussion above was should it be counted. And the composer himself says he considered the usage in the first episode “prominent”.

 

so clearly it should be counted and considered the first appearance of the Rings of Power theme.

[Jay 37,287]

More negative energy from @JohnTheBaptist...

[Faleel 5,340]

16 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said:

The discussion above was should it be counted.

As part of the developmental journey....

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

2 minutes ago, Roll the Bones said:

As part of the developmental journey....

Even in that, the first statement of an important theme can’t be ignored.

[Faleel 5,340]

Just now, TheUlyssesian said:

Even in that, the first statement of an important theme can’t be ignored.

Do you count chapter titles, page numbers and a foreword as part of the story? A dramatis personae list as part of character development?

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

17 minutes ago, Roll the Bones said:

Do you count chapter titles, page numbers and a foreword as part of the story? A dramatis personae list as part of character development?

This is hardly equivalent. 
 

it’s like saying Tara’s theme playing over the main title is not worth including in a score analysis of Gone with the wind. Which as you can well imagine, would be pretty bizzare.

[Jay 37,287]

Mondo updated the track list of the physical CD edition on the order page:

 

https://mondoshop.com/collections/all/products/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-season-one-original-soundtrack-2xcd

 

They ADDED both versions of "Where The Shadows Lie", "Cavalry", and "The Broken Line", and REMOVED "In Defiance Of Death", "Riding At Dawn", "The Promised King", and "The Breaking of The First Silence"

 

So, if the tracklist is final and accurate now, it exactly matches the digital version of the album now (once the Fiona Apple song gets added to all the other platforms), and returns "Find The Light" and "The Promised King" to being Amazon exclusives (until the individual episode albums show up on other platforms, since the music in those tracks is on the episode 6 album)

[Richard Penna 3,671]

And if the song is featured in next week's finale then it'll be on the last album, so when it all goes multi-platform and maybe physical, no music will be Amazon exclusive, except perhaps that source track from ep 3's album. Not even sure where we've heard anything from that except I think possible episode 4 or 5.

 

I really, really hope there will be either some sort of mass-purchase option or a box set for the albums, otherwise buying the lot in lossless willl get very expensive.

[Jay 37,287]

Mondo is charging $25 for the double-CD season album; I could see them charging $60 for a box set of the 8 episode albums

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Episode 7 might be my No. 1 or 2 of the episodic albums.

There are wonderful variations of themes like Galadriel, The Stranger, Sauron, Númenor, Khazad-Dûm & Durin. 

 

I really feel like McCreary deliberately played the themes more straightforward in the earlier episodes so that people would get used to them. In the later episodes he's playing more with tempos, instrumentation & breakdowns of the themes. He also uses more of the B-phrases of some of them.

Great stuff!

[artguy360 1,843]

17 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Episode 7 might be my No. 1 or 2 of the episodic albums.

There are wonderful variations of themes like Galadriel, The Stranger, Sauron, Númenor, Khazad-Dûm & Durin. 

 

I really feel like McCreary deliberately played the themes more straightforward in the earlier episodes so that people would get used to them. In the later episodes he's playing more with tempos, instrumentation & breakdowns of the themes. He also uses more of the B-phrases of some of the themes.

Great stuff!

Good to hear the themes are being developed more. I haven't watched or listened to the newest episode yet, but I'm looking forward to it. ROP is long form storytelling in every sense, so I could see your speculation being accurate.

[enderdrag64 624]

20 hours ago, Jay said:

They ADDED both versions of "Where The Shadows Lie", "Cavalry", and "The Broken Line", and REMOVED "In Defiance Of Death", "Riding At Dawn", "The Promised King", and "The Breaking of The First Silence"

So does that mean we won't get "In Defiance Of Death", "Riding At Dawn", or "The Breaking of The First Silence" anymore? Unless of course they turn up on the Episode albums

[Jay 37,287]

All it actually means is that the tracklist shown on Mondo's website now is different than the tracklist shown on Mondo's website in the past.

We don't actually know what the CDs will truly contain until we have them in our hands (or they post an image of the back cover, I guess).

 

 

HOWEVER, if the currently posted version is what we will get on CD, it means the CD edition will be identical to the same 38-track OST available on all the places that sell music digitally (technically, it's only 37 tracks on every place except Amazon Music right now, but I assume the plan is to add the Fiona Apple song to the album everywhere within a week or so, leading to 38 tracks).  The Amazon Music version of the OST is 40 tracks because it also adds "Find The Light" and "The Promised King" as well.

 

There are 4 unique track names that used to be listed on Mondo's page that don't match tracks from the standard 38 track OST.  Let me explain what each is

 

In Defiance Of Death - this is already on the Episode 6 album.  It contains the entirety of the Amazon Music Exclusive digital track "Find The Light" followed by another 2 minutes of music from episode 6 that isn't on the season album.

 

Riding At Dawn - this would be either a unique edit, or all of, what's on the Episode 6 album in the track "The Siege In The Southlands" from 9:12-end, meaning it would contain everything in "Cavalry" (which is why "Cavalry" wasn't listed for the CD edition) plus 0:39-end of "Nolwa Mahtar"

 

The Promised King - this is the second Amazon Music Exclusive digital track; this music is also on the Episode 6 album inside "Transformed By Darkness"

 

The Breaking Of The Silence - this is certainly music from Episode 8, and likely will be a track title on the Episode 8 album, and  will contain the music from "The Broken Line" inside it, explaining why that track wasn't listed for the CD edition

 

 

PERSONALLY, what I think happened is: The current posted tracklist IS what we'll get; The prior version was a MISTAKE, caused by somebody accidentally sending to Mondo an early prototype version of the tracklist instead of the final version (perhaps because they knew the Fiona Apple bit was a secret still).

 

I think that as Bear was selecting music from the episode scores to put on the score album,

 

-He initially wanted to include "In Defiance Of Death", before deciding that instead of including all 5 1/2 minutes of that on the season album, he only wanted to include the first 3 1/2 minutes, and titled the first part "Find The Light" to differentiate it from from eventual Episode album's track.  Later, Amazon would pick "Find The Light" to be an Amazon Exclusive track.

 

-He initially wanted to include more music from the second half of the 20 minute Episode 6 Siege track and did so as "Riding At Dawn"; Later he decided to further edit it down and as "Cavalry", and left the actual dawn ride only exist in the "Nolwa Mahtar" track

 

-Amazon selected "The Promised King" to be an Amazon Music exclusive

 

-He initially wanted to include a chunk of music from Episode 8 that he titled "The Breaking Of The First SIlence", but then decided to only include some of it as "The Broken Line"

 

This theory sort of neatly explains everything

[enderdrag64 624]

That makes sense

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

All the episodic albums (except for 8) are on itunes right. New Zealand mind you.

So it will indeed all be there tomorrow everywhere.

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/artist/bear-mccreary/204012062

[Bofur01 245]

8 is now up in the UK

[MedigoScan 324]

A lot was on the album already this time, but I am digging the part where the Stranger and Saurons themes overlap.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Not sure if anyone hasn't seen the finale. Otherwise spoilers below.

 

 

 

Also liked the moment where Halbrand's theme gets taken over by Sauron's theme. Wondering if in future seasons we'll even hear that theme return

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

1 hour ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Also liked the moment where Halbrand's theme gets taken over by Sauron's theme. Wondering if in future seasons we'll even hear that theme return

 

We will - for the Southlands people.

[crocodile 7,984]

I had a look ar the US Amazon website. Looks like the album has been delayed until 15th of November?

 

Karol

[Edmund 19]

Halbrand's theme being an inverted version of Sauron's theme (or vice versa) turned out to be relevant after all! I like that. Although it's a bit weird that it will continue to carry that association if it is used for the Southlanders going forward.

[Jay 37,287]

7 hours ago, crocodile said:

I had a look ar the US Amazon website. Looks like the album has been delayed until 15th of November?

 

Karol

 

I don't know how it works with Amazon, but the CD in general is not delayed; @mstrox received his shipping notice 5 days ago!

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/34954-bear-mccrearys-the-rings-of-power-appreciation-thread/&do=findComment&comment=1915804

[Richard Penna 3,671]

Did anyone else notice a difference in the second note of the Numenor theme in Black Flags when they arrive? It was slightly lower than normal - less mysterious and subtly more mournful.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

I did. Makes sense for the scene

[Tydirium 1,166]

I have not yet seen the show (been holding off until the albums were available for purchase); without getting too spoilery, would anyone mind telling me whether the overall Season One OST album is in any way special/exclusive/unique compared to the individual episode albums? I notice that a fair amount of the track titles appear to be unique, but just wondering if they actually are, or if they are simply called by a different name from what they are called on the individual albums?

 

Lastly, is the overall OST a good place to start when it comes to listening to the music of this show, or should I start with the episode 1 album? Thanks.

[Bofur01 245]

Yeah the OST album is unique in quite a few places. It was assembled from the complete score, and contains several “concert” theme suites (mostly adapted from score cues but with unique sections not included in the episode albums)

 

I fully, fully recommend starting with the OST 

[Tydirium 1,166]

Good to know, thanks.

[Jay 37,287]

3 hours ago, Tydirium said:

I have not yet seen the show (been holding off until the albums were available for purchase); without getting too spoilery, would anyone mind telling me whether the overall Season One OST album is in any way special/exclusive/unique compared to the individual episode albums? I notice that a fair amount of the track titles appear to be unique, but just wondering if they actually are, or if they are simply called by a different name from what they are called on the individual albums?

 

Here's the exact answer you're looking for (no spoilers in that post or the google doc):

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/34954-bear-mccrearys-the-rings-of-power-appreciation-thread/&do=findComment&comment=1915984

 

3 hours ago, Tydirium said:

Lastly, is the overall OST a good place to start when it comes to listening to the music of this show, or should I start with the episode 1 album? Thanks.

 

The season OST, for sure - that's why he created it! 

[crocodile 7,984]

9 hours ago, Tydirium said:

I have not yet seen the show (been holding off until the albums were available for purchase); without getting too spoilery, would anyone mind telling me whether the overall Season One OST album is in any way special/exclusive/unique compared to the individual episode albums? I notice that a fair amount of the track titles appear to be unique, but just wondering if they actually are, or if they are simply called by a different name from what they are called on the individual albums?

 

Lastly, is the overall OST a good place to start when it comes to listening to the music of this show, or should I start with the episode 1 album? Thanks.

 

Or, if you want something even more compact, just try the Mondo vinyl sequence. It's an 81-minute reduction of the full season OST. Looks like a very nice overview of the material, primarily focused on the suites with only some underscore:

 

Quote

 

TRACKLIST

Side A

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Main Title - By Howard Shore
2. Where the Shadows Lie (feat. Fiona Apple)
3. Galadriel
4. Khazad-dûm
5. Nori Brandyfoot
6. The Stranger

Side B

1. Númenor
2. Valinor
3. Elrond Half-elven
4. Durin IV
5. Bronwyn and Arondir
6. Sauron

Side C

1. This Wandering Day (feat. Megan Richards)
2. Harfoot Life
3. Halbrand
4. Sundering Seas
5. Elendil and Isildur
6. A Plea to the Rocks (feat. Sophia Nomvete)
7. Nampat

Side D

1. Cavalry
2. Nolwa Mahtar
3. Wise One
4. True Creation Requires Sacrifice

 

 

I would say as an entry point this is the best way to start.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,287]

If the vinyl edition had the violin version of Where The Shadows Lie instead of Sundering Seas it'd perfect 

[Tydirium 1,166]

Thanks a lot!

[crocodile 7,984]

20 hours ago, Jay said:

If the vinyl edition had the violin version of Where The Shadows Lie instead of Sundering Seas it'd perfect 

Agreed. If it were up to me I'd leave it mistly as is and include the instrumental version as track 2 and finish the programme with the vocal version.

 

Karol

[mstrox 6,647]

It has arrived.  For those of you who were hoping for detailed liners, bad news - the booklet is just a few pages, includes credits and special thanks. Maybe for the (hopefully) physical editions of the episode albums.

 

Also, the set was packed pretty well, but nonetheless the teeth were smashed out of one of the trays in my digipack.  Maybe a jewel case next time, Mondo!

 

[Jay 37,287]

Can you post a picture of the credits?

 

I assume JD Payne is credited for contributing to "The Boat"?

[mstrox 6,647]

Sure - here is everything that’s in the book, besides photos.

 

[Jay 37,287]

Awesome, thanks for that!

 

Hold on, there's really no performance credit for This Wandering Day and A Plea To The Rocks?!

wtf?

[crocodile 7,984]

Hey @mstrox. Thanks for the pictures. What is the actual track listing? Is it the same as standard (non-Amazon) digital release?

 

Karol

[Jay 37,287]

Yea

[mstrox 6,647]

I’m sure Jay’s right, but I haven’t looked at or listened to any of the digital releases, so I can leave this for the Score Detectives.

 

 

(ps looks like there are your vocal credits for the songs, Jason)

[Jay 37,287]

Yes, that is identical to the 38 track album available everywhere

 

And yes, that's great that Richards and Nomvete are credited there!

[Richard Penna 3,671]

So the only tracks that are on the Amazon version that aren't on the CD or regular digital are Find The Light and The Promised King, right? And both of those are featured on the episode 6 album.

[Jay 37,287]

8 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

So the only tracks that are on the Amazon version that aren't on the CD or regular digital are Find The Light and The Promised King, right?

 

Right

 

8 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

And both of those are featured on the episode 6 album.

 

Yea