Jay 39,396 Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 Yeah that's a pretty good track. I realized the other day that while the season 1 album was 2 hours, 32 minutes in total length, the season 2 album is only 1 hour 40 minutes! I wish he had included another 45-60 minutes of episode cues on it! There's SO much good music that's only on the episode albums! And it would have been neat to see other ways that he condensed highlights down into shorter tracks. Tydirium and Yavar Moradi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 I had the same thought. It’s going to be fun (and sad) to think of other cues that could have been included to fill out the album to the same length as S1. If I had to speculate, I wonder if maybe part of the reason he went with a shorter album this time is because a good chunk of the S1 album was dedicated to concert arrangement theme tracks. This season has far fewer new themes, so maybe he felt that it was less interesting (or more tiring) for the casual listener if he filled that time back up with standard score material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 Maybe this Friday the season album will get updated with new stuff like how the season 1 album eventually got updated with the Fiona Apple song Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo_liss 6,408 Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 50 minutes ago, Edmilson said: Bear just typed "Bulgarian choir" on Youtube and clicked on this exact video lol But personally I find this kind of choir too weird, somewhat annoying but also unintentionally funny. It's appropriate for representing exotic mystical stuff in fantasy/sci-fi but not my favorite though. You probably find it annoying because it's basically just all high register, with a bit of "twang" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsmoviemadness 3,494 Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 Do remember that a large part of the S1 album is themes. If you take those cues out it comes pretty close to the S2 album runtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,217 Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 How do the overall lengths compare between seasons when just looking at episode albums? I get the impression season 2 is much shorter, but I haven’t checked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 39,396 Posted October 2 Popular Post Share Posted October 2 2 hours ago, tomsmoviemadness said: Do remember that a large part of the S1 album is themes. If you take those cues out it comes pretty close to the S2 album runtime. Nah. The Season 1 album is 55 minutes of concert arrangements, and 1 hour, 37 minutes of episode cues. The Season 2 album is 24 minutes of concert arrangements, and 1 hour, 16 minutes of episode cues. 1 hour ago, Taikomochi said: How do the overall lengths compare between seasons when just looking at episode albums? I get the impression season 2 is much shorter, but I haven’t checked Season 2's score is A LOT shorter than season 1's score, indeed. Season 1 albums were: Episode 1: 56 minutes Episode 2: 49 1/2 minutes Episode 3: 51 1/2 minutes Episode 4: 55 minutes Episode 5: 55 minutes Episode 6: 49 minutes Episode 7: 55 minutes Episode 8: 1 hour TOTAL: 7 hours, 10 minutes TOTAL with concert arrangements & alternates on the season album added: 8 hours Season 2 albums were: Episode 1: 45 1/2 minutes Episode 2: 40 minutes Episode 3: 41 minutes Episode 4: 40 minutes Episode 5: 40 minutes Episode 6: 40 minutes Episode 7: 45 minutes Episode 8: 55 minutes TOTAL: 5 hours, 48 minutes TOTAL with concert arrangements from the season 2 album added: 6 hours, 12 minutes AlejandroGO, Yavar Moradi, Stark and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 Does anyone else think the score sounds strange starting at 0:33 in this new clip from the finale? (Corresponds to 4:46 in “The White Flame” or 3:09 in “Army of Orcs.”) It’s like the strings were totally dialed out, so pretty much only the choral Eregion theme is heard. It gets really weird when the strings stay dialed out when the Elvish action motif kicks in, and the actual tune in the violins is nowhere to be found, with just the rhythmic French horn interjections taking center stage… I can maybe understand a choice to make the Eregion theme more obvious (since I think many of us here didn’t even notice that’s what it was, at first!), but it feels like a mistake to not bring the strings back in once that theme is over. https://www.reddit.com/r/LOTR_on_Prime/comments/1fubrtd/s2_finale_sneak_peek/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,498 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 13 hours ago, Jay said: Nah. The Season 1 album is 55 minutes of concert arrangements, and 1 hour, 37 minutes of episode cues. The Season 2 album is 24 minutes of concert arrangements, and 1 hour, 16 minutes of episode cues. Season 2's score is A LOT shorter than season 1's score, indeed. Season 1 albums were: Episode 1: 56 minutes Episode 2: 49 1/2 minutes Episode 3: 51 1/2 minutes Episode 4: 55 minutes Episode 5: 55 minutes Episode 6: 49 minutes Episode 7: 55 minutes Episode 8: 1 hour TOTAL: 7 hours, 10 minutes TOTAL with concert arrangements & alternates on the season album added: 8 hours Season 2 albums were: Episode 1: 45 1/2 minutes Episode 2: 40 minutes Episode 3: 41 minutes Episode 4: 40 minutes Episode 5: 40 minutes Episode 6: 40 minutes Episode 7: 45 minutes Episode 8: 55 minutes TOTAL: 5 hours, 48 minutes TOTAL with concert arrangements from the season 2 album added: 6 hours, 12 minutes I wonder if we ever get to hear the remaining 2 hours of music from season 2. Bear teased a couple of months ago he wrote 8 hours. Unless, of course, he meant that he wrote music for 8 hours of show. Perhaps someone on social media should ask him to claarify. Karol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,217 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 He definitely meant he did 8 hours of music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 That makes no sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo_liss 6,408 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 3 minutes ago, Jay said: That makes no sense How does it not? There is 8 episodes, there is surely a couple little bits not on the OST's, possibly some alternates not included (though I could see there being none), and of course some stuff could wild performances, improv etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 Of course. But there's no way all of that adds up to another TWO HOURS of music. I think he just remembered wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,217 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 I really hate the snipping in the episode albums. The cut in True Wealth of the Mountain is particularly egregious, squashing such a beautiful passage. It can be easily fixed, but these albums shouldn’t be “some assembly required”. Why even bother? There is unused music elsewhere on the albums. Also, oof, that echo at the end of the singing in Shadow and Flame… That’s rough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 10 minutes ago, Taikomochi said: Also, oof, that echo at the end of the singing in Shadow and Flame… That’s rough Yup. No idea why he didn't end the track gracefully there, then have the Rhûn music kick off a new track. Holko and Yavar Moradi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TheUlyssesian 2,587 Posted October 3 Popular Post Share Posted October 3 1 hour ago, Jay said: Of course. But there's no way all of that adds up to another TWO HOURS of music. I think he just remembered wrong. He isn't going to remember he composed 6 hour 23 mins and 47 seconds of music. For his purposes, he thinks of it as an 8 hour show that almost (ALMOST) has wall to wall music. Hence he thinks of it as 8 hours. People speak colloquially generally, not accurately. 🙂 Monoverantus, crocodile and Jay 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsmoviemadness 3,494 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 The fading out of the voices is like that because it's like that in the episode and the decision was made to leave it like that on the album as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taikomochi 1,217 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 I figured that was the case, but it suuuuucks 😭 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Richard P 4,182 Posted October 3 Popular Post Share Posted October 3 I never take figures like that seriously - Bear may misremember or generalise, and there may also be lots of alternates, revisions, demos, etc, that we don't know about. It would only take 10 minutes of music per episode that's either not on the albums or revised, to add 80 minutes onto what we do have and that feels on the low side for a major show - there's no way he wrote the score and had no revisions or alternates to write. Tydirium, TheUlyssesian and enderdrag64 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 36 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said: He isn't going to remember he composed 6 hour 23 mins and 47 seconds of music. For his purposes, he thinks of it as an 8 hour show that almost (ALMOST) has wall to wall music. Hence he thinks of it as 8 hours. People speak colloquially generally, not accurately. 🙂 exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 The first seven episode soundtracks are on the Qobuz NZ site, but no sign of the eighth… Strange, as the eighth is on Apple Music. I really hope this isn’t a Qobuz screw-up in the opposite direction, after they released episode two so early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,498 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 43 minutes ago, Tydirium said: The first seven episode soundtracks are on the Qobuz NZ site, but no sign of the eighth… Strange, as the eighth is on Apple Music. I really hope this isn’t a Qobuz screw-up in the opposite direction, after they released episode two so early. I also noticed the absence of episode 8. We shall see what turns up here tomorrow morning. Karol Tydirium 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo_liss 6,408 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 6 hours ago, Jay said: Of course. But there's no way all of that adds up to another TWO HOURS of music. I think he just remembered wrong. It's obviously just two hours of Jens Kidman vocals. 5 hours ago, tomsmoviemadness said: The fading out of the voices is like that because it's like that in the episode and the decision was made to leave it like that on the album as well. It also seems like an intentional production choice for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 29 minutes ago, The Great Gonzales said: It's obviously just two hours of Jens Kidman vocals. Bear actually already released the extra music earlier this year; he called it “The Singularity”… 😛 Monoverantus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard P 4,182 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 Just watched the episode and heard the score in it for the first time: holy hell that was amazing! I'm so glad I did it this way round for the last episode because there's one moment in particular that was soooo effective in the show (Adar variation). The first half is really good with some great Khazad-dum material, but it's the last four tracks that really excelled - Estrid in No Passage for Low Men and Adar's theme completely twisted to give him a fitting send-off Wounds That Have Endured. It took me a few moments to realise it was his theme - Bear went slightly into Walking Dead territory there, as it has a very similar sound to a cue from the pilot episode. I didn't mind the segue from Bombadil to Rhun too much, although I haven't listened to it standalone so I'll soon see whether it works on album. It was a wonderful summation of all the themes - the segue into the first part of The Staff worked for me particularly well, and Nori's statement is gorgeous, as is the mournful Stoors. Also they finally did a really good cover for the album. The sooner they put out a box with this lot the better - another career-best achievement for Bear. Jay and Yavar Moradi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 3 Share Posted October 3 "The Sun Yet Shines" is my easy top contender for track of the year. What a brilliant piece of film music that accomplishes so much and has such an epic feel, and make a glorious finale! Listening to the version at the end of "Shadow and Flame" is disappointing because when it builds to that cool choir-free Nolwa Mahtar passage we hear in the "Sun Yet Shines" version, instead of getting that it going right into the huge powerful choral version feels so abrupt. The extra build-up with the choir-free passage coming in first is essential part of making the whole track flow perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 So I just watched the season finale and.... On 13/09/2024 at 12:26 PM, Jay said: I just had another epiphany! I bet that "The Sun Yet Shines" is another track like "Sauron's Design", where it is partly the final cue of the episode, and partly the end credits cue. I think that 0:00-2:08 is the final cue of the episode, and then 2:08-end is the end credits. Nailed it. Yavar Moradi and Monoverantus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo_liss 6,408 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 Also, I was right about the Arondir theme in "No Passage...", it was used for Theo. Monoverantus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,587 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 1 hour ago, The Great Gonzales said: Also, I was right about the Arondir theme in "No Passage...", it was used for Theo. I think that was a good usage. Using his mother's theme for him. So that theme has now represented 3 people. I think it's a good idea as it musically shows the connections between characters. Stark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tomsmoviemadness 3,494 Posted October 4 Popular Post Share Posted October 4 Yavar Moradi, Stark, Monoverantus and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monoverantus 531 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 4 hours ago, tomsmoviemadness said: That's a pretty ironic use of the word "reedy"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,498 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 I wonder why episode 8 album is still missing from Qobuz or any if the high-res retailers? 🤔 It is available to stream elsewhere. Karol Tydirium 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 Yeah, I’ve been semi-obsessively checking there every so often, hoping that it will be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 Since he's answering questions on twitter maybe someone can ask what the unknown theme represents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard P 4,182 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 I still think it's the dumbest thing from the viewpoint of a purchaser, to make these exclusive while it airs. If they dropped weekly to the retailers, people could spread out their album purchases, whereas now they suddenly have 8 albums, costing £60-70 and it feels so much worse, financially. Holko and Tydirium 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 Sure but Amazon thinks they'll make more money getting people to sign up to Amazon Music to hear them, than they will from the percentage of the sales they get from digital music stores and streamers. Of course they're wrong, and most people who really wanted to hear them before the all-services drop simply pirated them, but that's a giant corporation for you Yavar Moradi and Tydirium 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard P 4,182 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 Well yes, of course they're hoping people will sign up to AM to hear them. I think they're wrong for more than just what you said - even if all those early listeners did pay to sign up, I struggle to see that making any noticeable difference in long-term sign-ups. Maybe Amazon has data that proves us wrong, but I don't see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 Interesting: Episode 8 is also missing from 7digital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 39,396 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 It's either being held until next Friday or some glitch preventing it from going out to all the retailers as planned Tydirium 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 Seems like it's a glitch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo_liss 6,408 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 Rock Bear's Rings, the new replacement for Rock Paper Scissors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,498 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 1 hour ago, Tydirium said: Seems like it's a glitch: Well, they are streaming everywhere. So what he's saying is correct. What you cannot do is purchase the last one. Karol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 4 Share Posted October 4 53 minutes ago, crocodile said: Well, they are streaming everywhere. So what he's saying is correct. What you cannot do is purchase the last one. Karol The last one is streaming on Qobuz? Other streaming-only albums on Qobuz still have a page, but they simply say “Download not available.” I’m not even finding a page for Episode 8, which makes it seem like it’s just not on Qobuz, period. EDIT: For example: https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/star-wars-the-acolyte-vol-1-episodes-1-4-michael-abels/z6wps1gf90dmb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,498 Posted October 5 Share Posted October 5 8 hours ago, Tydirium said: The last one is streaming on Qobuz? Other streaming-only albums on Qobuz still have a page, but they simply say “Download not available.” I’m not even finding a page for Episode 8, which makes it seem like it’s just not on Qobuz, period. EDIT: For example: https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/star-wars-the-acolyte-vol-1-episodes-1-4-michael-abels/z6wps1gf90dmb Ah yes, I see what you mean. Karol Tydirium 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,498 Posted October 5 Share Posted October 5 Well,the episode 8 album comes up in search on Qobuz but you can't actually access its page at all. Nothing happens when you click on it. Karol Tydirium 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 5 Share Posted October 5 1 hour ago, crocodile said: Well,the episode 8 album comes up in search on Qobuz but you can't actually access its page at all. Nothing happens when you click on it. Karol Interesting! I just checked on the desktop site and it mentions the release date as being Oct. 6, so maybe it will show up sometime tomorrow…? Hopefully there will also be a hi-res option available. crocodile 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tydirium 1,269 Posted October 6 Share Posted October 6 The eighth episode’s soundtrack is now available at Qobuz: https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-season-two-episode-eight-shadow-and-flame-amazon-original-series-soundtrack-bear-mccreary/hg85icrz8ntla crocodile 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,498 Posted October 6 Share Posted October 6 4 hours ago, Tydirium said: The eighth episode’s soundtrack is now available at Qobuz: https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-season-two-episode-eight-shadow-and-flame-amazon-original-series-soundtrack-bear-mccreary/hg85icrz8ntla Fantastic, now I can use my gift discount voucher. Karol Richard P and Tydirium 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 39,396 Posted October 7 Popular Post Share Posted October 7 Man. Most of the season, it's been a joy to watch the episodes after getting to know the episode albums, discovering the context for all the great music, and finding a new appreciation for the music as a result. But episode 8... that was rough. As scene after scene was disappointing me because they were confusing, or boring, or poorly written, or didn't live up to prior payoff - or some manor of combination of those aspects - it was just deflating. If anything, I've found a new appreciation for Bear himself, to be able to write such amazing music - at a completely consistent level from start of season to end - in the face of so much bad writing and execution by the makers of the show! When I went back and listened to the tracks at the end of the season album after most of the season had aired (purposely avoiding them after the initial listen), the ending part of the track "Durin's Bane" conjured an image in my head of the Balrog coming out of the darkness to bring King Durin III to his death and Durin IV can not stop it. Watching the scene was satisfying, knowing that Bear had painted such a precise picture with his music like that. I was so intrigued by "The White Flame" with those awesome Númenor and Faithful variants, and it was a bit odd to see they were for a super rushed scene that was the only time we checked in on the place. Bear really made the best of this hasty almost-montage he was given to score! And the transition into the ending of "Army of Orcs" is just the same in the show as it is on the episode album "No Passage for Low Men" is such a rewarding track, to hear that Estrid theme finally come to prominence and mean something. Too bad the actual scene made me feel like I was watching a CW show! I was wondering why Númenor showed up in the track and it was interesting to learn it was because Kemen shows up at Pelargir to take over. I wonder if that shit will get his own theme next season because I associate the Númenor theme with the glory of the place, not its worst aspects. "Wounds That Have Endured" scores some of the silliest stuff in the whole episode, but it really makes me want to go back and learn the season 1 version of Adar's theme more: In season 2 it seemed like it was mostly the drum beat and Nampat chant. "The Fall of Galadriel", wow! I don't know which version I like better; While "The Fall of Galadriel" has tons of cool stuff in it that "The Last Temptation" doesn't, the perfectly crafted streamlined nature of "The Last Temptation" really is something. I was glad to see that this was all continuous music in the show, with the many themes coming in as we check in with various other stories. The way Bear wrote it all to still work together as a 12 minute assembly is astonishing! This music really is a rewarding payoff to a season of build up in a lot of ways. "Shadow and Flame" may be fairly continuous in the episode (as has already been pointed out, there's actually a brief unscored scene in the middle just before Galdriel's first appearance in the track), but it doesn't have nearly the flow that "The Fall of Galadriel" has; it often feels more like a collection of scenes than a grand idea. And boy was it disheartening to see what a silly ending that brilliant "The Sun Yet Shines" track actually scores. I am amazed that Bear found inspiration to write just a great piece of music for a nothingburger ending. So overall, not a good television show, but fantastic A+ music. And its the gift that keeps on giving as people keep finding and posting more subtle theme variations, and Bear's weekly blogs shed more light on the whole thing. What a treat! tee_oh, Holko, A. A. Ron and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doo_liss 6,408 Posted October 7 Share Posted October 7 Kemen/Numenor wasn't really a surprise to me, as the appendices say that Numenorians start building outposts around this time. One thing that was interesting, because of the "drip feed" of having one album at time, the themes can grow on you, almost like characters in a show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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