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

[VenomVeVenom 196]

20 minutes ago, Taikomochi said:

 

There’s having a view and then there’s trolling, constantly bumping these threads with the same off base complaints over and over and over and over. Plenty of good faith criticisms of this show and score, but what TolkienSS is doing is not that. No one is entitled to that. 

This.

 

40 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 But at the same time, it is a very admirable effort.

It is. You can see how the guy put his heart into it. Sometimes we talk on Twitter, and the way he just starts explaining his themes out of nowhere and how he put this detail here and this other detail there shows how he is actually trying.

This incessant negative criticism (or trolling) by TolkienSS is unfair in my opinion. Most TV show composers wouldn't even try to write more than 3 themes, let alone more than 20.

[crocodile 9,051]

Just got a shipping notification from Made by Mutant for the CD OST album.

 

Karol

[Jay 41,825]

Interesting.  Nothing here yet.

[crocodile 9,051]

 

Karol

[Jay 41,825]

My physical CD edition arrived today from Mutant!

[Knight of Ren 1,244]

The blog post for the third episode was finally shared!

https://bearmccreary.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-episode-203/

 

I hope the rest of them now don't take as long as this one did!

[Jay 41,825]

Holy shit I completely forgot I saw that post and still haven't read the blog! I'll do that shortly.

 

Was just coming in here to say that I opened up my physical copy of the season 2 OST album today and am listening to it now.  It was so strange to put in the first disc into my player and see that it's only 46 minutes long.  This score is SO GOOD, I don't know WHY he didn't craft a longer season-album.  Why in the world is it so much shorter than season 1's album?  I swear this hobby has as much frustration as it has joy

 

Anyways, what spurned me to come here is listening to the track "Estrid".  WOW!  What a great concert arrangement track; I think I kinda forgot about it, since once the episode albums came out it was mostly those that I listened to when I had any jonesing for this score.  But this track is really wonderful, and really makes it seem like the character is an important one! In the end, she was barely in the show, right?  Did she have a lot of scenes cut or something?  I'm always curious to see where composers get inspiration sometimes for things that don't pop on screen, at least in what we get to see.

[Jay 41,825]

OK I finished the 2-CD set.

 

The first disc is 46 minutes, the second disc is 54 minutes.  Both should be so much longer.  The first disc should have had another 30 minutes of music from the first 3 episodes (the disc split is between episodes 3 and 4 for some reason), and the second disc needs another 20 minutes of all the amazing highlights from the second half of the season.

 

The second disc is already reaching the ending battle music by track 4, there's just so much missing.

 

And boy.  By far my least-played track of the season is the Ballad of Damrod track.  I love this season's score (overall) so much, could write a lot about how great so many different aspects are, but this one track I just cannot get into.  It's not a style of music I like anyway, but it also just doesn't gel well with the rest of the score, or the show itself.  It feels like an indulgence Bear got to have, and that's great for him, but I just can't enjoy it.  The variant of that idea in the actual episodes is fine, though.

 

Overall, I'm bummed all over again at the missed opportunity this album was to really showcase the highlights of this great score as a fully fleshed out album, but also reminded again of how much I love the score overall; I hadn't actually heard it in a while.  The episodic albums are SUCH a blessing, I wish every show did that!
 

 

The physical release is very nice.  There's some more info in the booklet that you can't get from the digital release, like some more named solosits for certain tracks and stuff.  I'll go through it more later.  Gotta read that blog post, too!

[DangerMotif 1,263]

The season 2 prologue should have been on the season album 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,035]

Agree.

 

Pieces that I would've (at least) put on the season album that weren't would probably be:

• Dawn Of The Second Age (even an edited version like the prologue of S1 would've been great)
• Eldest
• Sauron's Design
• The Secret Fire

Maybe some others, but these are just from the top of my head.

[crocodile 9,051]

To be honest, it would be good to have the reharmonised Khazad-Dum theme for Ring-corrupted king on there as well.

 

Karol

[Jay 41,825]

I wonder if some of the decisions made were to not spoil things, but they already extended the original season 1 album after the fact with the Fiona Apple song the first time around, so they could have extended this one too.  The physical editions didn't ship until well after the season ended so it was totally doable.  Real missed opportunity.

[Jay 41,825]

On 03/12/2024 at 6:25 PM, Knight of Ren said:

The blog post for the third episode was finally shared!

https://bearmccreary.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-episode-203/

 

I hope the rest of them now don't take as long as this one did!

 

Finally reading this now!

 

So he says the 8-note motif in the opening track is a theme for Shelob.  I hesitate to list it as a full theme since it only appears in one cue!

 

He says he didn't come up with the idea to use Jens for the Damrod theme until he was working on episode 7, and he had to make a specific request to quickly record a cue that could go into episode 3, which was in its final dubbing stages at the time.  Crazy!

 

For the track "Mithril For Rings", he says it has "a luscious variant of “Where the Shadows Lie.” The mysterious melody is still the same, but the harmonies around it have changed, carrying a completely different emotional message. This uniquely warm, new variation of this theme represents Sauron’s desire to forge new rings as presented through Celebrimbor’s positive outlook, which is itself a result of Sauron’s manipulative influence."

 

Did anybody here point out this "new variation" before?

 

Talking about the Ents theme in "WIld Men" (that will return in episode 5's "Mud Beast" and "Sanggleroot and WInterbloom") he says "This sequence is scored with aggressive orchestral horror writing, punctuated by relentless wooden percussion, including log drums, claves, and bamboo sticks. As Theo is whisked off his feet and lifted into the air, an ascending phrase in the choir bursts forth with the Quenya words “Rikila sundor,” meaning “Twisting roots.”"

 

Very cool!

 

Huh, he says that "The Great Eagle (and the Forging)" contains the "last time this season that the rousing march of the Númenor theme is presented in a wholly positive light."  I guess I hadn't noticed / thought of things that way!  Wow!

 

OK, huh.  He says starting with the end of this episode, he turns two foundational major chords of the theme and turns them into minor chords, and refers to the minor version of the theme as the "The King's Men" theme.  Fascinating!

 

I don't remember anyone talking about this either!

 

Finally he says that the "The Rings of Power – London Premiere Season One Fanfare" track is the very last music he composed for season 1.

[Chen G. 5,080]

39 minutes ago, Jay said:

OK, huh.  He says starting with the end of this episode, he turns two foundational major chords of the theme and turns them into minor chords, and refers to the minor version of the theme as the "The King's Men" theme.  Fascinating!

 

When we start saying "Oh, but this is a different theme because its in the minor" it can get pretty funky pretty fast. A good example from the way people analyse the Ring:

 

 

I mean, sure, that's a way to look at it, and in the context some of these pass muster. But, having said that...they're all the same music!

[bsaenz24 0]

Does anyone know if there are plans for a 10 CD set for Rings of Power S1, like Mondo did doe S1?

[Jay 41,825]

I do not recall Bear hinting at that this time, like he did last time for season 1.

[DangerMotif 1,263]

30 minutes ago, Jay said:

I do not recall Bear hinting at that this time, like he did last time for season 1.

He mentioned it on an Instagram live

[Jay 41,825]

What did he say?

[tomsmoviemadness 4,035]

Thought this was already posted, but it wasn't.

Bear wrote a blog just about the Old Tom Bombadil song and his collaboration with Wainwright & Yarbrough.

 

https://bearmccreary.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-old-tom-bombadil/

 

[Jay 41,825]

Oh great!  That will be nice to read with my morning coffee

[crocodile 9,051]

I finally managed to watch your in-depth interview with Bear @Monoverantus. Really enjoyed it. Would be cool to have one per season.

 

Karol

[Monoverantus 566]

3 hours ago, crocodile said:

I finally managed to watch your in-depth interview with Bear @Monoverantus. Really enjoyed it. Would be cool to have one per season.

 

Karol

Many thanks! Yeah, I've been meaning to have another chat with him for a while, about both TRoP and GoW, but been a bit otherwise pre-occupied. I'm actually surprised to see none of the other guys (Nerd of the Rings, In Deep Geek, Corey Olsen) have had him back either.

[tomsmoviemadness 4,035]

New blog on S2 Ep. 4

 

https://bearmccreary.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-episode-204/

[crocodile 9,051]

Entwives theme (0:05-1:43). 😍

 

 

 

Karol

[Jay 41,825]

Season 2 is nominated for SCORE OF THE YEAR, BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION, and both "Battle For Eregion" and "The Sun Yet Shines" are nominated for COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR, at this year's IFMCA Awards!

 

 

 

[crocodile 9,051]

Episode 5 blog entry.  

 

Karol

[Jay 41,825]

I still haven't found time to read the last two!

[Yavar Moradi 3,459]

Season 2 CD box set coming from Mutant!!

 

From Kev McGann at FSM board:

Quote

Some splendid breaking news from Mutant.
A follow up 10 disc CD set for series 2 (just like the first season) is currently with Bear's team for proofing and they hope to have it up for pre-order while Mr Mc is on his tour this summer.
WOOT!!

 

I asked him to clarify his source since I couldn't find anything on their website, and he replied:

Quote

Yes Yavar, an email response from Mo Shafeek in answer to a query from me.
I can't wait.

 

Amazing news!

 

Yavar

[crocodile 9,051]

Amazing!

 

Karol

[Richard P 4,684]

Great news! I've been in a perpetual purchase delay under the assumption that this would happen.

 

'Summer' is a wide berth though for a release window. I'd be crushed if I missed this after getting the first one.

[Stark 653]

I missed the first one and now I'd feel weird getting just this one! But in all fairness, I don't need really this release as much as many OOP other things.

[Laserschwert 566]

I hope they at least match the design of the first box.

[crocodile 9,051]

12 hours ago, Laserschwert said:

I hope they at least match the design of the first box.

The season album CD looked very similar so I bet this will be the case as well, save for the label logo.

 

Karol

[Jay 41,825]

Old Tom Bombadil and Last Ballad of Damrod live in concert

 

 

[Richard P 4,684]

Nice rendition of Bombadil - it suits the singer.

 

Damrod.... eww. That performance amplifies the heavy metal aspect completely beyond the concert version. I don't like it at all.

[VenomVeVenom 196]

Hmm... I like the Damrod performance. It's a metal concert after all.

[Exar Xan 1]

I am guessing this was posted somewhere, but I cannot find it (found two Excel cue sheets but they do not cover this), but where/how do the tracks from the Mondo Disc 9 and 10 fit between the episodes of Season 1? I am about to finally start the series and would like my music to be  chronological.

https://mondoshop.com/products/lotr-rop-10cd-box-set

Thanks!

[Jay 41,825]

That's covered in my google doc

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iPZSq84CsDwNeyokPVDh4adCyagChXIEW9X_-sYu5sc

 

(Note there are multiple tabs)

 

Can always look for my docs here:

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/29073-jays-score-information-collection-non-williams-edition

&

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/29072-jays-score-information-collection-john-williams-edition/

 

 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,035]

Blog for Episode 6: Where Is He?

 

https://bearmccreary.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-episode-206/

 

[Jay 41,825]

Bear discussed the score at a panel run by Deadline, some quotes from it in the article

 

https://deadline.com/2025/05/lotr-the-rings-of-power-composer-bear-mccreary-interview-1236390339/

 

Video coming Monday

[Monoverantus 566]

On 06/05/2025 at 9:38 PM, tomsmoviemadness said:

Blog for Episode 6: Where Is He?

 

https://bearmccreary.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-episode-206/

 

I'm not sure if Bear's underselling himself here, because he never mentions that the chords used to make Annatar appear so angelic are all exclusively picked from the Eregion theme: