Amazon.com: Howard Shore's music for the massively successful first film chapter of Tolkien's Ring saga won him the Oscar® for Best Original Score, something of a surprise given the music's ambitious scale and determinedly dark overtones, factors that handily blurred the line between typical film fantasy music and accomplished concert work. Its sequel takes the same, often Wagnerian-scaled dramatic tack, following the film's story line into even more brooding and ominous dark corners. The previous film's Hobbit-inspired pastoralism is supplanted here by rich ethnic textures that expand the musical scope of Middle-earth and the World of Men; the Hardanger, a Norwegian fiddle, represents the Rohan and the North African rhaita colors the Mordor theme, while log drums, dilruba, wood xylophone, and cimbalon add intriguing textures elsewhere. The score's looming orchestral clouds are brightened by Shore's masterful choral writing, which infuses ancient liturgical influences with various solo turns by Isabel Bayrakdarian, indie-pop star Sheila Chandra, Ben Del Maestro, and Elizabeth Fraser. "Gollum's Song," the composer's concluding collaboration with lyricist Fran Walsh, is delivered with Björkish, postmodern angst by Emiliana Torrini, and helps punctuate the story's modern sense of allegory. --Jerry McCulley
Disc 1:
Foundations Of Stone
The Taming Of Smeagol
The Riders Of Rohan
The Passage Of The Marshes
The Uruk-hai
The King Of The Golden Hall
The Black Gate Is Closed
Evenstar - featuring Isabel Bayrakdarian
The White Rider
Treebeard
The Leave Taking
Helm's Deep
The Forbidden Pool
Breath Of Life - featuring Sheila Chandra
The Hornburg
Forth Eorlingas - featuring Ben Del Maestro
Isengard Unleashed - featuring Elizabeth Fraser & Ben Del Maestro
Great Music, Annoying Presentation Orchestral music enthusiasts who enjoy cinematic scores will, predictably, enjoy Howard Shore's composition for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the other scores in this series as well. Of the three CDs, The Two Towers does I think show us the greatest range of Shore's thematic elements used in the eponymous movies. This CD is comprised of music incidental to scenes set in Rohan, Fangorn's Forest, and the approaches to Mordor, but it is the Meduseld/Theoden themes that "stay with you" well after the soundtrack ends.
The CD does, however, have a major presentation flaw. When played in a computer, there is an autostart web-link that impedes listening. You have to work around the web link in order to merely play the music. The link is nothing other than a garden variety in your face advertisement, and a solicitiation to join their website and otherwise provide them with information that will presumedly be used as an excuse to annoy you with MORE advertising.
Gorgeous! I love how this soundtrack is different from the first film's, yet, you can definietely tell that they are part of the same film. It flows so well. The music ranges from soothing to dark and powerful. Its a wonderful CD to listen to. I love 'Gollum's Song'. Its so dark and spooky sounding. Its a great way to end the CD. If you love the movie, you must get the CD.
great series of soundtracks for the classical geek I personally loved the movies, and they job they did in compiling a soundtrack was surprisingly good. They edited the aspects of the tracks to make a 3 series soundtrack that you can enjoy from start to finish. thats right, just pop it in, hit play, and let it go. A+ for me
Movie CD Sountrack Movie Soundtrack to the first The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. If you like instrumental scores you will enjoy this CD.
Gollum's Song - no loyal friend was ever there for me Yes, this review is five years late, but there's so much depth to the Lord of the Rings movies, they remain a prime source of entertainment. I have always loved movie soundtracks, and recently acquired all three LOTR theatrical soundtrack CDs, which brings me to "Gollum's Song", the last track on the Two Towers CD.
I never paid much attention to the movies ending credit music until I got the Two Towers CD, which allowed me to really hear Gollum's Song for the first time. What a unique and haunting piece of music. It perfectly bridges Gollum's tragic history and future, and is a metaphor for all who make terrible unreversable choices in their lives.
Fran Walsh wrote the bleak yet Tolkienesque lyrics, which were then scored in a sublime Howard Shore LOTR theme. But no words can aptly describe Emiliana Torinni's vocals. Her fearless interpretation of Gollum's descent into despair blows away the other two LOTR movie-ending songs. If Emiliana never finds material this good again, she can always be proud of this one searing performance, and we can be grateful for the world-class talents that came together in its creation.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
