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

[Chen G. 4,712]

4 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

i wonder if the vocals will be in the show

 

To hear Bear talking about it, the answer is yes.

[Doo_liss 6,632]

2 hours ago, JWScores said:

Heavy metal has nothing to do with Middle-Earth.

[Monoverantus 537]

I gotta say, the rift between my love for Bear's work and my disappointment with the show might reach a breaking point with this. I can't help but notice how everything about "Damrod" feels like the showrunners once again being more in love with their own ideas than making a faithful adaptation of Tolkien.

 

Make a Troll main character - ok, could work I guess but why?

Be inspired by Mike from Breaking Bad - I guess there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but again, why?

His name is Damrod - isn't that one of Faramir's rangers? Why does a Troll have that name?

Gets his own song on the OST - the troll is so important it gets his own song?

It's a death metal track - decent song in isolation, but in the show???

The track will (allegedly) play in the show - what's the point of adapting the music to the different cultures and eras if you're just gonna break the mold with this?

 

Not saying we have another Jar-Jar Binks on our hands, but if the showrunners wanted to ensure us that S2 was gonna be less fan-fiction BS, then this is not it.

[Richard P 4,265]

I don't even find the orchestral part very interesting - no doubt the prime creative effort has gone into making the vocal work.

 

Feels like there's an element of either indulgence here (i.e. Bear loves this sort of music) or debatable judgement from the showrunners. Way I see it though, is that if this appears in the show for 45 seconds then we can just ignore it on the album.

 

I'm not a fan of guest vocalists in general so this may be an album where I cull a few tracks. I respectfully suggest some people just ignore the tracks they don't like, particularly those whose square one hostility towards this project and its music is well known.

[Chen G. 4,712]

31 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

if this appears in the show for 45 seconds then we can just ignore it on the album.

 

Am I the only one who thinks this will probably be something of a recurring theme/soundscape for the guy? I wouldn't know about "main character" (Pace Monoverantus) but he's obviously going to be present through a good deal of the season. So its probably not just going to be a one-and-done cue. Am I misremembering when I recall hearing a strain of this music at the Troll's appearance in the latest trailer?

 

Now, to be fair, I think the idea itself is an interesting and novel one, and its intriguing to see a live-action Tolkien score finding ways to push at the edges of the orchestral style its so associated with, and perhaps to step a bit further out from under the shadow of the Howard Shore scores. Hearing it, however, I'm just not convinced this idea is paying off very handsomely.

 

The showrunners may have had a hand in inspiring this approach since they spoke about how Tolkien "is an umbrella over Peter’s films—and Led Zeppelin, John Howe’s paintings, and The Hobbit cartoon." Certainly, Howe's painting and Jackson's films are much in evidence in the show's visuals, and in Season Two Mithlond had clearly been designed to resemble Rivendell in the 1977 cartoon, leaving Tolkien's impact on Rock and Metal unattended until this most eccentric of Bear's creative choices. It would certainly fit the more self-consciously fantastical styling of this show.

[TolkienSS 471]

Heavy metal culture is as anti-Tolkien as you can get.

 

[bored 453]

I was open to Bear's original score even if it's nowhere near as good as Shore's, but wow this is borderline insulting to Middle Earth in general, much like the show itself. Taking a timeless, detailed, structured world and muddling it with modern trends to this degree is just sad and embarrassing, musically or otherwise. 

[Knight of Ren 1,086]

It's just ONE 3-minute song in an 8-hour season. I'm sure pretty much the rest of the score will be really close in style to what we heard in S1 which in my opinion, was brilliant! Really looking forward to hear more tracks before the release.

[Chen G. 4,712]

1 minute ago, Knight of Ren said:

It's just ONE 3-minute song in an 8-hour season.

 

I'm assuming it acts as a leitmotif or at least a recurring style of scoring whenever this Troll is onscreen.

[Monoverantus 537]

Metal is the genre by far most reverent of Tolkien

[tomsmoviemadness 3,611]

4 hours ago, Knight of Ren said:

It's just ONE 3-minute song in an 8-hour season. I'm sure pretty much the rest of the score will be really close in style to what we heard in S1 which in my opinion, was brilliant! Really looking forward to hear more tracks before the release.

I agree. It's only the first 3 minutes of the new season we've heard. It might be used on multiple occassions, but it's not an indicator that the whole score is suddenly metal. This is one theme for one character.

[A. A. Ron 1,948]

Wanted to share my latest eBay acquisition!

 

[bored 453]

It is just one song, but it's so off of what the source material is that it's like having a pop song in a Star Wars movie. A Taylor Swift song.

[Stark 566]

9 hours ago, bored said:

It is just one song, but it's so off of what the source material is that it's like having a pop song in a Star Wars movie. A Taylor Swift song.

Well, Star Wars source music is usually weird compared to Star Wars scores, so… as someone OK with this decision, I agree with the analogy 

[Chen G. 4,712]

41 minutes ago, Stark said:

Well, Star Wars source music is usually weird compared to Star Wars scores, so…

 

So are the diegetic Plan 9/Stephen Gallagher pieces in both the Shore AND McCreary scores...

 

I think a better comparison is to the addition of electric guitar to the Coruscant chase in Attack of the Clones.

[Stark 566]

1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

 

So are the diegetic Plan 9/Stephen Gallagher pieces in both the Shore AND McCreary scores...

 

I think a better comparison is to the addition of electric guitar to the Coruscant chase in Attack of the Clones.

Which was great!

[Chen G. 4,712]

2 hours ago, Stark said:

Which was great!

 

It is. But I feel like there's a different between a few bars' worth of guitar riffs, and entire passages scored in a Heavy Metal style. Perhaps there was a way to "embed" the vocals into the orchestral texture in a way that would have been less obtrusive. I dunno.

[Gollum Cat 32]

Hopefully Season 3 comes with a '90s Swedish pop track!

[Doo_liss 6,632]

36 minutes ago, Gollum Cat said:

Hopefully Season 3 comes with a '90s Swedish pop track!

...Oops, I Died Again (Sauron's Theme)

[tomsmoviemadness 3,611]

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/old-tom-bombadil-single/1762215036

 

[TheUlyssesian 2,589]

I actually love both This Wandering Day and where the Shadows Lie so hoping this is another good song.

[Chen G. 4,712]

34 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said:

This Wandering Day

 

which, as it happens, is not by Bear McCreary...

[TheUlyssesian 2,589]

1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

 

which, as it happens, is not by Bear McCreary...

 

i know. i like it regardless.

[Monoverantus 537]

Once again, I don't dislike what I'm hearing, but  paired with the little we've seen from BTS and trailer footage, I'm afraid they're aiming for a "dark, serious Tom Bombadil". Like, the fact that he says there's more to the character than the whimsy is perfectly fine in isolation, but please don't forget to actually make him whimsy.

[A. A. Ron 1,948]

Tom's appearances this season are just there to tease the grim and gritty upcoming spin-off movie... Bombadil Begins!

[Chen G. 4,712]

2 hours ago, Monoverantus said:

Once again, I don't dislike what I'm hearing, but  paired with the little we've seen from BTS and trailer footage, I'm afraid they're aiming for a "dark, serious Tom Bombadil".

 

I agree. I call him "Tom-Juan" because he's really Yoda (who, in turn, is a Don Juan figure): a hermit, living in the wilderness, serving as a quirky but ultimately earnest master for our young wizard...

 

That's not Tom Bombadil, that's Yoda. Or Don Juan.

 

Hence, Tom-Juan.

[Yavar Moradi 3,030]

I dunno... 20 seconds into that video seems like Tom to me. I'd like to see more of him cheerfully galivanting around in nature, though. He does seem unusually serious in some of the production material we've seen.

Yavar

[Monoverantus 537]

1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

because he's really Yoda (who, in turn, is a Don Juan figure)

Never in my life did expect to find someone compare Yoda and Don Juan...

21 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

I'd like to see more of him cheerfully galivanting around in nature, though. He does seem unusually serious in some of the production material we've seen.

As I said, I have no problem with them giving the whimsy character some traces of seriousness, but I'm afraid we're looking at a serious character with traces of whimsy (if even that). Nothing we've seen or heard so far (muted colors, serious dialogue, stirring score) gives me faith that they're gonna capture the effortless joy and energy the book character exudes.

[Chen G. 4,712]

7 hours ago, Monoverantus said:

Never in my life did expect to find someone compare Yoda and Don Juan...

 

Not that Don Juan, this Don Juan. Yoda quotes him verbatim.

 

The same "archetype" had been channelled here for Tom Bombadil, it seems. Which would be fine except that that's not Tom Bombadil. Somehow, I never imagined Tom Bombadil taking an apprentice...

[crocodile 8,606]

I really quite like the Old Tom Bombadil song. I bet the melody is also Tom's theme in the show. The only that bothers me slightly is the very opening song which gives me a slightly too pop vibes. But once Rufus starts singing, all is good.

 

As for the The Last Ballad of Damrod, it is not necessarily my type of thing. But I also have to admit heavy metal was always quite closely linked to fantasy genre and the brutal industrial sound is not really inappropriate for forces of evil. Will see how it plays in context before making any final judgement.

 

Karol

[artguy360 1,908]

I enjoy Tom's song. I think it fits his character quite well and gives me hope that the show will do the character justice. I didn't love the Fiona Apple song from season 1, but I do like how these original songs fit in with the ones from the LOTR trilogy. 

[crocodile 8,606]

47 minutes ago, artguy360 said:

I enjoy Tom's song. I think it fits his character quite well and gives me hope that the show will do the character justice. I didn't love the Fiona Apple song from season 1, but I do like how these original songs fit in with the ones from the LOTR trilogy. 

I can understand why people might not like Fiona's song but, to me, it is more of an incantation than anything else. I appreciate how each song, that being by McCreary or someone else, tries to address a completely different aspect of Middle-earth. It's a cool way of approaching it, something The Hobbit films missed out on.

 

Like or dislike his music, his heart is definitely in it. I think we all can agree on this at least.  

 

Karol

[Monoverantus 537]

4 hours ago, Chen G. said:

Not that Don Juan, this Don Juan. Yoda quotes him verbatim.

Yeah I figured there must've been something I was missing, but I'm amazed you expected anyone to catch that reference XD

[Chen G. 4,712]

1 minute ago, Monoverantus said:

I'm amazed you expected anyone to catch that reference

 

Well, we've talked about it on JWFan a good deal recently, usually in Star Wars-related discussions.

[Tom Guernsey 2,735]

But has he really ever loved a woman?*

 

*obscure Michael Kamen score reference alert. And don't start on "de Marco"....

[tomsmoviemadness 3,611]

I like the song that Fiona Apple sang, but I'm a fan of her voice to be honest. The song us fantastic.

[Jay 39,754]

Am I blind or has the actual song not been posted here yet?

 

 

[tomsmoviemadness 3,611]

No, you're not blind. I just posted the BTS video.

Thanks

[tomsmoviemadness 3,611]

I think it's a beautiful song and I can imagine what parts of it would accompany scenes with Bombadil. And I think there are many ways and arrangements that McCreary can use it.

 

My favourite part of the song though is when at the last chorus Yara Yarbrough joins Wainwright. Their harmony is gorgeous and really elevates the final moments of the song.

I can't wait to listen to the album next week!

[Edmilson 9,118]

23 hours ago, A. A. Ron said:

Tom's appearances this season are just there to tease the grim and gritty upcoming spin-off movie... Bombadil Begins!

Directed by Christopher Nolan, music by Hans Zimmer. Michael Caine will play Bombadil.

 

19 hours ago, Monoverantus said:

Never in my life did expect to find someone compare Yoda and Don Juan...

The thought of Yoda as a Don Juan-type, seducing women across the galaxy with a rose between his lips, has made me laugh like a hyena here 

 

Just imagine this guy:

 

 

Singing this with a spanish guitar:

 

Quote

To really love a woman
To understand her, you gotta know her deep inside
Hear every thought, see every dream
And give her wings when she wants to fly
Then when you find yourself lyin' helpless in her arms
You know you really love a woman

 

Now we know where Baby Yoda came from! And if he was really a Don Juan there must be countless Babies Yoda around the galaxy!

[Chen G. 4,712]

More like this Don Juan:

 

Quote

“What is don Genaro doing in this?” “That subject is not in your realm yet,” he said. “Today I have to pound the nail that Genaro put in, the fact that we are luminous beings. We are perceivers.

 

But let's not get too off-track.

[TolkienSS 471]

On 10/08/2024 at 7:28 PM, Monoverantus said:

Metal is the genre by far most reverent of Tolkien

 

But Tolkien wouldn't be so reverent of Metal.

So.

[Monoverantus 537]

27 minutes ago, TolkienSS said:

But Tolkien wouldn't be so reverent of Metal.

Most likely, since afaik he didn't even like rock.

[tomsmoviemadness 3,611]

The second half of this video 100% contains new music from Season 2.

It's fantastic!!!!!!

 

 

[Tydirium 1,402]

Isn’t the whole video Season 2 music?

[Richard P 4,265]

I was thinking that as I watched the first half - all sounds new to me. I have to say the battle (?) music in the second half sounds a tad anonymous to me, but it's risky to take these bits out of context. Criticise when the show is out, not in an isolated clip.

[TheUlyssesian 2,589]

13 minutes ago, Tydirium said:

Isn’t the whole video Season 2 music?

 

I think I definitely heard Sauron, Galadriel and Nolwa Mahtar.

[Monoverantus 537]

3 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said:

 

I think I definitely heard Sauron, Galadriel and Nolwa Mahtar.

And some Halbrand/Southlands at 0:40

[tomsmoviemadness 3,611]

I meant new music as in "not heard in S1". The first half has some new arrangements on themes we already new.

[Tydirium 1,402]

17 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said:

 

I think I definitely heard Sauron, Galadriel and Nolwa Mahtar.

 

I heard the themes, but aren’t they new arrangements/recordings?

 

6 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

I meamt mew music as in "not heard in S1". The first half has some new arrangements on themes we already new.

 

Oh, okay. The second half also has arrangements of themes we already know.