Tuesday, the 11th of December was a pleasant day for me. I got home from work to find that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey's soundtrack had arrived earlier and the adventure was ready to begin. But before I imported said Compact Disc, I scurried over to my friend's house to give her a copy. It seemed appropriate since she is the only one in this village who has The One Ring. After chatting a bit, I found myself back at my own computer, waiting eagerly as the discs imported.
About ten minutes later — thanks to my trusty off-brand 8x Blu-Ray/DVD/CD drive from Amazon — all was well in my iTunes library. After syncing everything between devices, I began listening and immediately started jotting down some thoughts on Howard Shore's latest creation.
The score starts out with "My Dear Frodo", a lengthy 8-minute piece of little loudness. It starts out with optimism, but eases in the more ominous notes. For later on — after the theme of Hobbits — it travels to a more serious note. My friend remarked, "This might be the part when we learn about Bilbo's past." And a good point that was, for he has much history to be learned. The same friend told me names of Baggins' great ancestors and their adventures, though they were so lengthy that it was most easily forgotten, even though I have read the book. This track's ending begins with choir and concludes with a sneaking-into-Mordor theme.
"Blunt the Knives" (exclusive to the special edition) and "The Misty Mountains" are two of the best tracks in the entire score. Not only are they legions better than the audiobook singing, the latter is also a fantastic a cappella. It does sound like there's either a violin or cello in the background toward the end though. Regardless, these vocal tracks, along with Neil Finn's interesting full-length "Song of the Lonely Mountain", make this score quite memorable.
"The Adventure Begins" picks things up a bit after the of the score up until then seemed to be very dire. However, it drops back down to a less adventurous mood later on, which, while disappointing, may fit the film well. "The World is Ahead", the track following, is also high-spirited with lots of strings and a touch of suspicion. There's even that extra ballroom sound to it in parts.
Moving on to "Radagast the Brown", which has a distinct burglar tone to it in areas and then a more spy-centred one after that. Toward the middle of the track, tension builds and darker notes come into play right before all cuts out twice. Things repeat once again and, save for having a choir, this track sounds a lot like Sherlock Holmes with the steady percussion and flutes. The choir gives it an Alice in Wonderland feel.
Of all tracks, "The Hill of Sorcery" brings back the familiar Shire theme of "Concerning Hobbits" (The Lord of the Rings score). That's just in the beginning though. After that, things transition back to that Sherlock Holmes-eerie-buglar-spy theme. It's not a bad things, but for something involving sorcery, one would expect the track to not resemble others of unrelated nature. Of course, if you enjoy the familiar Lord of the Rings "evil" theme that plays when visiting the army of Saruman, you'll be happy to know that it does return toward the end of this track, but only for a brief few measures. Then a true "Warg-scouts" track begins as the chase commences.
The second disc brings even more nostalgia. Beginning with "The Hidden Valley", then transitioning into "The White Council", both of which use the same melody: that from "The Council of Elrond" of The Lord of the Rings. It's good to hear something familiar, but seven minutes of it might be a bit much, at least for a score without a film to envision.
Next comes "Over Hill", a Misty Mountain-"Concerning Hobbits" melody of hopefulness. It instils that feeling of courage for the journey ahead, and it's a great middle track for the score. The whole orchestra comes in toward the end of the track and brings with it the music you'd recognise from the second trailer.
Let's move on to "Riddles of the Dark", which carries a very familiar theme of the notorious Golum. There must be some backstory during the time this theme plays in the film, because it doesn't quite match the scene that's been laid out in the novel. Regardless, it has an interesting prancing melody to it. (No, it's not of The Prancing Pony.) There's a certain darkness that is to be named when listening to this track, and if you've already seen The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it will come to mind almost immediately. I would call this track yet another suspicious one with its ups and downs, and it's hard to say whether it mixes well with the film, but I'll be sure to let you know when I watch it at the cinema.
Next is another very long track titled "Brass Buttons". It has a chase melody to it with some drums and tense strings throughout. Buildups are followed by lots lots of chanting and repeat many times. This track really doesn't need to be as long as it is because it mostly sounds like a loop until a little over halfway through, at which time a slightly different chord progression — similar to that of "The Fields of Pelennor" from the trilogy — makes its way to the track. Only a two measures later, however, it moves back to a theme of stealthy mischief.
"Out of the Frying Pan" instills fear from the very start. With its use of low brass and high strings, uneasiness builds. But near the middle of the track, "The White Council"'s theme comes back into play, only to fall out after a single measure. This entire track lives up to its title and only makes the listener more anxious to see the film. Nonetheless, it also continues the redundant tense theme that the whole film has adopted.
Falling from the heavens comes "The Good Omen", a beautiful, choir-filled piece of strings and a some large timpani drums that fade in and out. The woodwinds return toward the ending to redeem the track, but strings build the tension back up as if there is a battle afoot.
"Dreaming of Bag End" adopts a sort of inverse "Concerning Hobbits" melody. It carries an encouraging theme which sounds like something out of Brave, or really any other Scottish film. One can see the Shire floating when listening to this beautiful composition. With its pat-pat on the drums and pleasant ending note, it's a good piece to bring the Shire's spirit back. And it actually helps another whimsical theme with its birth.
"A Very Respectable Hobbit" follows with notes hinting happy times and thankfulness. The background strings and suspicious progression toward the end also help to diversify things. But there's nothing like a few bagpipes.
"Erebor" soars into your ears with its beautiful bagpipe-filled beginning. It's a track of courage and buoyancy; one that instills faith in the journey ahead. "The Dwarf Lords" is also like this, but brings back that sort of backstory theme with some sadness. One can see honour or a crown being placed upon the head of a prince as he hears the gorgeous notes being played.
And so we've made it to the ending. The last track in this score is "The Edge of the Wild", which, for me at least, brings back memories of Disneyland rides. It's a superbly confident track that incorporates the many melodies used in the film, including "The Misty Mountains", and then builds up to a string-laden ending of darkness. It sounds like the perfect ending, but we'll have to wait for the film to find out.
Overall, this score is beautiful, but it's far from what I expected. Many of the early tracks sound the same, using either very similar melodies or inverses of each other. There are even a few that reach for the stars in the beginning ("Old Friends"), but continue the more sad theme. Things do eventually pick up, but the melodies continue to be of plucked strings and suspicious themes. I even thought that Star Wars was somewhere to be heard in "The Troll-hoard". Of course, all of these thoughts are merely observations and everyone has a different ear. You should tell me what you think on Twitter.
Score: 8/10
The Physical Disc
Before I'm finished with this review, it's only fair I review the disc that I ordered. Yes, even though everyone likes their digital music, I remain set on collecting old Compact Discs. I don't go so far as to purchase the vinyls, but I do like to have music that's about 1000 kbps CBR. With this particular product, it was worth it. There's a whole book inside (bound by two staples) with lyrics to three of the songs, lots of screen-captures from the film, and a lot of great pictures of the talented musicians and portions of the composition process.There's also a synopsis of the film's storyline, but I won't tell you anything about it because you've probably already read the book. (If not, either do so or watch the film, I suppose.) It's not what you'd expect though. I'd actually go so far as to call it a review, or analysis, of the tracks and their chord progressions. It's a fantastic thing to see with this album and I'd highly recommend purchasing the special edition just to have the extra text.
One last thought: I'll admit that this isn't The Complete Recordings from The Lord of the Rings, but it is a lengthy 32-track accompaniment to the film with lots of listening in store.