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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Howard Shore)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... on the "special edition" CD release if you seek a more
fluid arrangement of many of the cues from this, Howard Shore's
impressive final journey to the realm of Middle Earth.
Avoid it... on any album if you still absolutely insist upon hearing music that will compete favorably with that from The Lord of the Rings, a feat never realistic for Shore given the butchering of this prequel trilogy by its director.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: (Howard
Shore) History will not look back at Peter Jackson's treatment of J.R.R.
Tolkien's classic "The Hobbit" with any more respect or admiration than
what existed in the muted response to its debut in the early 2010's. The
affection, acclaim, and goodwill extended in perpetuity to Jackson's
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was perhaps never destined to
continue with his bloated adaptation of "The Hobbit" a decade later, the
director's choice to mangle the narrative in an effort to extend the
story over three films a fatal blow to its opportunity to reach the same
pinnacle. Audiences indulged themselves with the three The Hobbit
films between 2012 and 2014 anyway, making the trilogy a continued
fiscal success, but little of the same critical praise persisted by the
end of the three films dedicated to The Hobbit, that scant flurry
of residual affirmation typically manifested in nostalgic references to
the art direction, visual effects, characters, and music that carried
over from The Lord of the Rings. The last of these films based
upon The Hobbit stormed through the holiday season of 2014 with
over $800 million in grosses to show for itself, but few viewers could
honestly say that the culmination of this Tolkien story could compete
emotionally with the impact of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the
King in 2003. Jackson's finale this time consists of the portions of
"The Hobbit" dealing with the defeat of the dragon, Smaug, and the
conflict between the armies of orcs, dwarves, men, and elves (and a few
singular contributors, including the titular hobbit) as they posture
themselves for control over treasure and territory before the dark days
that lie ahead in the tale of The Lord of the Rings. The
interracial warfare resolves itself through seemingly endless battle
scenes and a touch of cheap, slow motion, gravity defying fighting style
that takes this story a bit too close to The Matrix for comfort.
Nevertheless, the table is set for The Lord of the Rings by the
conclusion of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the
entire flashback of this trilogy neatly resolved and set to lead
directly into the next narrative.
The music for this series of The Hobbit films has taken listeners on a wistful but elusive journey back to the glory of The Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore's three new scores constructed with the same structural and instrumental elements and performed with a similar vocabulary and voice. For many, the music of The Hobbit has presented itself like one massive "bonus feature" related to The Lord of the Rings, a collective work never meant to compete with the unquestionable classic status of the original but still entertaining in its offshoots from those origins. Just as it is pleasing to see Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, and especially Christopher Lee alive and well enough to perform in this trilogy, it's equally satisfying to hear Shore continue with this franchise regardless of the quality. The same sentiment was expressed regarding John Williams and the Star Wars prequel scores that debuted from 1999 to 2005 (not to mention his work on the final trilogy in the 2010's), and there remain interesting parallels between the prequels in both these George Lucas and J.R.R. Tolkien universes. More about such observations will conclude this review, but it suffices to say that listeners may very well react to the scores of The Hobbit the same way they interpreted the Star Wars prequel scores, causing the perception of the quality of the newer entries to diminish as a result of expectations and fatigue. By the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, it has become clear that the universe was not aligned to allow Shore's prequel scores to compete with the preceding classics, and the vaunted status of The Lord of the Rings all but ensured that outcome. But also at play is a sense of fatigue with these scores for The Hobbit due to their rapid succession. Whereas the Star Wars prequels were offered up at three-year intervals, Jackson pushed out his films based upon The Hobbit in three consecutive years, leaving The Battle of the Five Armies at a disadvantage for fatigued listeners not ready to truly appreciate each of these prequel entries as any kind of singular event. The passage of time, along with thousands of lesser new film scores by comparison, will inevitably elevate the status of these prequel works given the likeliness of renewed perspective. Before launching into a direct analysis of the score for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, there are a few disclaimers that have to be made, because these issues have a significant impact on any review of Shore's music. First, obviously, is the fact that the initial iteration of this review takes into account only a portion of the score. The totality of brilliance in the music for The Lord of the Rings only became apparent upon the release of the complete recordings (which, of course, were not truly complete), and the same is true of The Hobbit. Whether you choose the regular or special edition of the original album presentations of The Battle of the Five Armies, you will encounter tasteful but unsatisfying edits of longer cues into shorter tracks. Another general disadvantage you have with the music of The Hobbit is the seeming change of direction that took place with the strategy of the scores after An Unexpected Journey. Whereas that first score in this prequel series retained more of the long-lined thematic tendencies of The Lord of the Rings, Jackson butchered that recording in the final edit of the film, diminishing Shore's narrative technique. Possibly as a result, Shore seems to have abandoned that prior inclination towards longer statements of theme and has taken the "attention deficit disorder" route instead, unfortunately yielding scores for The Desolation of Smaug and, to a lesser extent, The Battle of the Five Armies that fail to satisfy with their development of the melodic foundations due to hasty entrances and exits for each theme. There is no doubt that these six scores in sum strive to set the bar for leitmotific excellence, and blame has to be placed on Jackson for steering Shore away from a proper execution of that technique over the course of The Hobbit. On top of those two issues, you also have the simple mathematical logic that, by the time of The Battle of the Five Armies, indicates that Shore had between 25 and 30 new themes in the trilogy of The Hobbit to utilize, not to mention the multitudes of those from The Lord of the Rings that remained applicable to characters and settings. Part of the "leitmotific attention deficit disorder" owes to this oddly intriguing problem. Read the following review with these disadvantages in mind and, where necessary, do try to cut Shore some slack in how you respond to his tackling of this final Middle Earth assignment. For Shore, much appreciation must be expressed for his continued participation and vigor in this franchise at all. While Shore isn't in his 90's like Christopher Lee, the demands placed upon any composer in his late 60's by this franchise are not to be easily dismissed. Some listeners have taken note that there may some diminished accomplishment to the music after Shore ceded conducting and orchestration duties to veteran collaborator Conrad Pope, though there is nothing tangibly noticeable about the scores that can point directly at Pope's increased involvement being a detriment. The general complexity of the composition is what matters the most in this franchise, and here Shore continues to excel. There is truly nothing in film music during this era that can compete with the motific tapestry and the execution of those ideas in this franchise. There may be several faults worth mentioning about The Battle of the Five Armies, and these are illuminated by this review, but the lack of adherence to the superior quality of manipulation of the musical language in this score is certainly not one of them. When listeners claim to have less of an emotional connection to this score (and also The Desolation of Smaug), it's because of Shore's inability to state his ideas with longer expressions of majesty instead. Whereas the themes in The Lord of the Rings, whether major or auxiliary, were offered up for minutes at a time, largely uninterrupted, The Hobbit doesn't allow Shore the same luxury of time. Count this as the primary manifestation of Jackson's "attention deficit disorder" issue. The moments of absolute tonal grandeur in The Battle of the Five Armies still exist, but they last seconds rather than minutes. So short are these sequences now that Shore doesn't even bother hauling in an array of vocal and instrumental soloists to perform them, another major difference between this trilogy and the one before. Also count the sheer quantity of themes as another issue relating to the lack of connection for some listeners. The pivotal concluding sequences in The Battle of the Five Armies have no chance to compete favorably with the equivalents in The Return of the King. There is no match for the definitive sense of release you sense at the end of "Elanor," for instance, as the door to The Lord of the Rings is literally shut. The same general narrative flow exists in The Battle of the Five Armies, but the touches of magnificence in each thematic statement are sadly missing. Instrumentally, there isn't one element you can point to in The Battle of the Five Armies as being a notable solo contributor, outside of a few compartmentalized exceptions. Most memorable is the infusion of bagpipes into the new identity for the dwarf king Dain in "Ironfoot," arguably the highlight of this score's recordings despite the instrument's polarizing characteristics. Also of interest is the application of a hybrid Jerry Goldsmith/Basil Poledouris pulse (pointing more to the latter's preferences, probably) for a statement of the dragon sickness theme in the second minute of "Beyond Sorrow and Grief," a surprisingly effective use of electronics owed to its perfect placement in the mix. Otherwise, the instrumental choices in The Battle of the Five Armies are as expected, reflecting existing franchise norms. The themes are a different manner, for this film represents the first time that Shore seems to repurpose a theme for a use not originally suggested. For instance, the aforementioned dragon sickness theme transfers from Smaug to the dwarf Thorin to represent the larger concept of wealth obsession. Many of Shore's melodic attributions make sense in the larger picture, but where fans will find fault is in the absence of certain ideas where they were clearly necessary. For instance, Shore seems to have abandoned the main idea for Bilbo from An Unexpected Journey, a really bizarre choice given that this trilogy called for a neatly-wrapped conveyance of Bilbo's material upon his return home. Along that line of thinking, Shore also doesn't bring the franchise back to the "Bilbo's Song" recording he added to The Return of the King. There has been speculation that the abandonment of this newer hobbit material (in favor of the older themes) was the preference of Jackson. The likewise abandonment of the Misty Mountains theme from An Unexpected Journey is also completely unacceptable for some, especially given the over-abundance of the "Erebor" theme in its place. This returns the discussion to the problems some listeners will have with Shore's inability or unwillingness to adapt the song melodies from each score in the franchise (whether he wrote them or not) into subsequent scores. Nobody will fault him for neglecting to adapt "I See Fire" from The Desolation of Smaug, but the lack of continued presence for "Song of the Lonely Mountain" and the total absence of any foreshadowing of this score's "The Last Goodbye" in the closing score sequences is senseless. This was one of the few lasting negative criticisms that could be leveled at The Lord of the Rings and these complaints persist here with good reason. Despite such quibbles about the absence of existing themes in logical places in the music for The Hobbit, Shore does compensate nicely in several other references, some of them unexpected, such as the brief "Mithril" reference at the start of the track of that name in The Battle of the Five Armies. By the end of Return of the King, the thematic resonance of the work was provided by the realm of men, and in The Battle of the Five Armies it is dominated by the combined identities for the dwarves. The "Erebor" theme is distinctively placed throughout the score, easy to remember because of its three two-note rising phrases on brass. It closes out "Fire and Water" with hesitance, gains urgency early in "Beyond Sorrow and Grief," and morphs into its militaristic variation at 0:40 into "The Ruins of Dale." By the end of "The Clouds Burst" and start of "Battle for the Mountain," the theme is in full war mode, only to retreat back to a contemplative statement in the middle of "The Darkest Hour." It does sonic battle with the other dwarf themes in "Sons of Durin" as its final major contribution to the score. Those other dwarf identities reflect some highlights of this trilogy, including the theme for Thorin that dates back to An Unexpected Journey. This hopeful representation logically takes a while to get off its ass in The Battle of the Five Armies, hinted first at the end of "The Gathering of the Clouds" and slightly in the middle of "Mithril" before more clearly languishing on strings early in the third minute of "The Clouds Burst" and at the same point in "The Darkest Hour" (with the "Erebor" theme in counterpoint nicely). That trend continues in its pervasive role in "Dragon-sickness." It's in "Sons of Durin" that this idea for Thorin finally reaches it potential, several major statements ready to impress, and the several solemn references thereafter accompany the character's coming to peace. The Durin theme follows the same general ascent in the score, also ascending but with more majesty. Heard first at the outset of "Beyond Sorrow and Grief," you also hear this theme intermingled with the "Erebor" idea. Hints of this theme late in "The Gathering of the Clouds" foreshadow the full, puffing choral rendition late in "Mithril" before the idea returns to the shadows several times in "Bred For War" and "A Thief in the Night." Like the idea for Thorin, the Durin identity culminates in massive sonic battle in "Sons of Durin" with very satisfying results. The thunder is stolen from all of these other dwarf themes by Shore's most major new identity for The Battle of the Five Armies, however, the aforementioned bombast for Dain "Ironfoot" that receives precious little air time in the score and film. Listeners enamored with the presentation of the new Dain theme in "Ironfoot" are really only treated to the theme two or three times in the movie, first in the cue as he arrives at the Lonely Mountain and again with rousing rhythmic force in the first half of "Battle for the Mountain." The martial performance of this identity starting at about the 1:00 minute mark in "Battle for the Mountain" is a highlight of the entire score, gaining light choral accompaniment and maintaining rhythms and trumpet counterpoint reminiscent of some of the swashbuckling identities from The Lord of the Rings. Competing with the dwarves' material in your memory will be the continued presence of the three themes originally associated with Smaug the dragon. As already mentioned, the dragon sickness rhythmic motif that pulsates hypnotically between two notes is revealed to be more of a motif for the obsession with wealth, and although it is omnipresent in the Smaug-related scenes in the first half of The Battle of the Five Armies ("Fire and Water," "Beyond Sorrow and Grief"), it transfers over to the scenes of Thorin's despair later in the work ("Mithril," "The Clouds Burst"). Smaug's material is truly remarkable, albeit at times unlistenable, in "Fire and Water," creative percussive accompaniment key to the abrasive nature of this sequence. Both the primary and secondary phrases of Smaug's theme are used extensively by Shore, sometimes overlapping. From 3:50 to 5:20 in "Fire and Water," he alternates clearly back and forth between the separate phrases. Other villain themes include those for the nasty, ugly orcs, and expect to hear these motifs mingling extensively with the heroes' alternatives during their duels. The Moria orcs under Azog are the known evil musically, though Azog's actual theme from An Unexpected Journey seems underplayed here aside from a rendition at 0:56 into "Bred for War." Instead, you have a driving new identity for the orcs of Mount Gundabad, a melody and its underlying rhythm that stew at the start of "Bred for War" until finally being unleashed at about 2:30 into that cue. It returns prominently at 1:08 into "Ravenhill." Shore's usual series of paired descending thirds is frequent in this score, from the Necromancer version in "Guardians of the Three" to the more standard representations of evil that blast away multiple times in both "Battle for the Mountain" and "To the Death." Other singular statements of evil include the marching army motif from The Lord of the Rings early in "Ravenhill," the idea for the Warg Riders at the end of "Sons of Durin," the Dol Goldur Army motif at 0:34 into "The Darkest Hour" and concluding "Sons of Durin," and the trusty old Sauron motif a couple of times in "Guardians of the Three," including one explicit outburst at 2:34. And then you have the lighter side of The Battle of the Five Armies, and it's in the following themes that most listeners will likely find their favorite brief snippets of majestic melody. The elves feature a variety of ideas from the prior trilogy and this one, and carrying most of the weight in this entry is the "Woodland Realm" idea. Placed immediately on unsteady footing is this theme at the outset of "The Gathering of Clouds," and this uneasy take on the theme extends into several performances in "A Thief in the Night" (especially late) and "The Clouds Burst." Less ominous are the shades presented in "The Fallen," but the theme is in full war mode by "Ravenhill" and "To the Death." The appealing Tauriel material in this trilogy is sadly under-performed in length by necessity, but some of its usage here remains a highlight. Her primary theme really makes only one complete appearance on the initial album releases, limited to the last minute of "Courage and Wisdom," though the secondary phrase of the theme (punctuated by horns here for lamentation as usual for Shore) is given a larger ensemble rendition late in "Ravenhill" as well. The first half of "To the Death" confirms a martial variant of this theme for Legolas himself, as the idea represents him as he battles (sonically and literally) the orc Bolg. Even more memorable is the hapless love theme for Tauriel and Kili, which receives a couple of lovely but very brief choral treatments in the opening two minutes of "Shores of the Long Lake," the latter half of "Ravenhill," and the middle of "Courage and Wisdom." The boiling Thranduil theme from The Desolation of Smaug makes a few cameos, most notably in "The Gathering of Clouds" (twice in the first half) and "Courage and Wisdom" (at 3:15). Look for a reference to the Mirkwood theme in the middle of "The Gathering of Clouds," though don't expect anything particularly attractive to come from it. The "Guardians of the Three" cue is particularly aimed at enthusiasts of the elf-related music from The Lord of the Rings, because it contains multiple references to the Lothlorien theme as well as a powerful, militarized form of the Rivendell theme at the 3:26 mark (not to be missed), and suggestions of Galadriel's material late in the cue. While these ideas for the elves have always remained attractive, it's the collection of themes for the men in The Battle of the Five Armies that really garners the most attention, and as in The Two Towers and Return of the King, these are the moments when Shore steps up the rhythmic element a la Rohan. In fact, the steps which Shore descends for his man-related ideas are often connected, reinforcing his basic, species-specific tapestries. But these portions also provide some of this score's sequences of pure bliss in choral harmony. Three separate themes are afforded to Bard and his relatives in The Battle of the Five Armies, and beyond this evolution of ideas, Shore also builds upon the primary Lake-town theme while giving some fleeting treatment to the Lake-town politicians' identity from the previous film. The politicians' theme is only heard at 1:23 in "Fire and Water" and 2:58 into "Shores of the Long Lake" on the initial albums, but the Lake-town theme proper (some refer to this as the Esgaroth theme) is given several far more important opportunities to shine, sometimes in conjunction with the Bard material. The town's theme opens "The Ruins of Dale" with solo string emphasis but is bolstered by the full ensemble in an impressive performance at 1:16 into "The Gathering of Clouds," reprised at 2:18 into "Mithril." The last 80 seconds of "The Darkest Hour" features a few lovely, lightly choral renditions (bracketing the secondary phrase incorporating Bard's material) similar to the presentation at the end of "Ironfoot." That track features a robust performance of both variants as well. Interestingly, the clavichord-laced version of the politicians' theme for the "Master of Lake-Town" doesn't seem to be suggested in this score despite the character's involvement. As for the Bard-specific themes, the actual main Bard theme from the previous film's score is heard only occasionally because it is supplanted by a separate theme for his heroism. His original theme is heard at 3:23 into "Fire and Water" and briefly at the end of "Battle for the Mountain." His new leadership motif is more prominently placed, introduced in this score at 2:05 and 3:38 into "Shores of the Long Lake" (albeit with subtlety). The idea is developed with more volume in the midsection of "Ironfoot" (but minus the lovely woodwind accompaniment of the prior performance). Look for a brief reference in the middle of "Dragon-sickness" as well. Stealing the show, however, is the new Bard family theme that consolidates its foreshadowing in The Desolation of Smaug. It is this theme that brings sudden choral grace to "Fire and Water" (at 3:35) and the brightly optimistic transition in "The Gathering of the Clouds" (at 1:07). In the midst of "Battle for the Mountain," this idea shines throughout the fourth minute in two separate performances. After a fragment early in "The Darkest Hour," the theme is largely absent from the remainder of the score. Another theme that doesn't seem to have caught the fancy of Jackson is the identity that Shore created for the coveted Arkenstone, despite the fact that it remains a central aspect of one of the storylines in this film. You hear its elusive melody and wishy-washy choral tones at 1:26 into "A Thief in the Night" and twice briefly in "Dragon-sickness," but nowhere else on the early album releases. Among the plethora of secondary thematic statements in The Battle of the Five Armies, some date back to The Lord of the Rings while others don't. It is good to hear Shore continue his development of the Gandalf theme, first a bit tepidly at 4:15 into "Guardians of the Three" and then closing out "The Ruins of Dale" in a more robust fashion. It opens "The Darkest Hour" with equal force but returns to its docile incarnation at 2:54 into "The Return Journey." The rousing theme for Girion makes similar occasional blips on the radar, including at 1:52 and, with greater effect, at 3:08 into "Fire and Water" before taking a hiatus until 2:22 into "Ironfoot." The Nature's Reclamation theme remains a crowd favorite, and Shore always seems to be hinting at it when suggesting a sense of optimism and larger scope (for instance, it seems present after the Gandalf theme reference at the start of "The Darkest Hour" and at 1:01 into "Ironfoot"). The idea does receive one major rendition, though short, at 4:22 into "To the Death" for choir and brass before launching into Shore's The Hobbit equivalent of the eagles theme from The Lord of the Rings. Why Shore couldn't simply re-use some semblance of the prior eagles theme is a viable question, though this version is just as beautiful (this is its debut on album in this trilogy) and is one of those stunning sidebars in an otherwise pounding action cue. One of the other remarkable Shore motifs for a concept is his "preparation for war" idea, heard on deep brass over rousing percussion at 2:22 into "The Ruins of Dale" and again at 2:51 into "Mithril." Fans of the The Lord of the Rings will catch the "fall of man" string motif in the background at 2:57 into "Guardians of the Three," immediately following the Sauron theme reference. The related History of the Ring theme is suggested in counterpoint to several other themes in the second half of the score before finally clarifying itself adeptly at 3:12 into "There and Back Again," foretelling of another journey to come. Also serving this purpose is the affable single-phrase reference to the Fellowship of the Ring theme at 3:40 into "Courage and Wisdom." As nice as these themes all are to hear in this score, however, the most attention from casual listeners will likely be paid to the melodies for Bilbo and the Shire. There's good reason why these themes have been saved until last in this review; they are, more than anything else, the guideposts and bookends of both trilogies' scores. After all else is said and done, it's the primary theme for the Shire that will endure in the memory, if only because it occurs at the score's most peaceful, hopeful, and optimistic times. That remains true in The Battle of the Five Armies, but while these references are provided, they aren't packaged as well as they could have been. You still have to separate out the Bilbo and Shire themes for the purposes of discussion here, and, as mentioned earlier, the handling of Bilbo's identities in this trilogy has been nothing less than awkward. With no usage of the original two themes for the character (from the previous trilogy and this one, with the exception of some allusion to the latter at the very end of "The Return Journey"), you have only the secondary ideas left to persist. The character's "sneaky theme" is applied ahead of the Arkenstone theme in "A Thief in the Night" and at 0:37 into "There and Back Again." In the midsection of "The Return Journey" you hear two renditions of Bilbo's adventure theme from An Unexpected Journey intermixed with Shire progressions. The Shire's themes are vital to the proper conclusion of this trilogy, and Shore only partially delivers. A solemn rendition at 1:46 into "The Ruins of Dale" and brief snippet at 3:50 into "The Fallen" are all you really get before Shore opens and closes the "There and Back Again" cue with the identity. Unfortunately, there is no substance to these performances, nor is there any remaining beauty or grace. Their use in "There and Back Again" seems placed by necessity rather by any inspiration to truly paint an idyllic picture of this, one of the loveliest of Middle Earth settings. Unlike The Return of the King, there is no relief this time, even though Bilbo's journey is done. The opportunity for a reprise of "Bilbo's Song" is sorely missed here, though an alteration of the Shire identity in the middle of "There and Back Again" may indeed allude to it. Finally, on top of all the themes in the score, you have the obligatory song. It is no secret that the best songs in the franchise are those penned by Shore himself, but singer, songwriter, and actor Billy Boyd provides here arguably the best non-Shore song of the series. Boyd is an intriguing choice for this entry, for he played the hobbit Pip in the prior trilogy, and his voice is not only recognized as connected to the concept in a vague sense, but his small-natured tone is well suited to represent a hobbit's perspective. With its bed of acoustic guitar, the song also reflects "Days of the Ring" in its pastoral nature. The orchestration of the song by Victoria Kelly is a bit odd in that its first half features extremely impressive and robust bass string accompaniment that is diminished in the second half when the full string ensemble joins in. All things considered, including the farewell-oriented lyrics, the song is definitely a winner and the most appropriate entry since Gollum's Song (depending on your opinion of how the "Song of the Lonely Mountain" represented the dwarves). It likely won't win any major awards, and it remains an awful shame that Boyd's melody didn't make it into the score's final cue (at least), but concept enthusiasts have to be pleased. Overall, despite whatever complaints one may have about the thematic integration and perpetuation in this work, Shore juggles the collection of ideas well enough. The general shift away from prominent solos and extended performances of each theme is sorely missed, but such was the landscape seemingly forced upon Shore by Jackson for The Hobbit. This analysis, like those for The Lord of the Rings, will require expanded upon the release of the complete recordings, which is rumored to happen sometime in the late 2010's. For audiophiles, these scores in the trilogy of The Hobbit have been somewhat frustrating because it's difficult to adjust back to hearing Shore's symphonies for Middle Earth in standard stereo sound on album. It's possible that many of the ills from which these scores suffer on album will be rectified once the complete presentations are available in DVD audio. Not only are there major performances of themes not released on the initial albums for these three scores, but the difference in audio quality makes a huge difference. Once you appreciate them in DVD audio on a large sound system, there's really no going back. Until then, you have two CD options for The Battle of the Five Armies. The first, regular album fails to include "Dragon-sickness" at the end (no major loss, really; it's redundant) but does truncate some other cues awkwardly, especially "To the Death," which rams the Nature's Reclamation theme into a preceding action section awkwardly. The special edition album also features two CDs, but it has extended, more natural versions of several major cues. It also appends "Thrain," a bonus cue from The Desolation of Smaug that expands on the various villain identities somewhat anonymously (Smaug, the descending thirds, etc.) before closing out with a nice ode to Sauron and Isengard. Regardless of the album situation, you have to step back and appreciate this score despite its flaws. This trilogy was never destined to receive the same praise as its predecessor, and, much like the Star Wars prequels, a fair amount of derision will accompany expressions of opinion about the music for The Hobbit simply because Shore's output couldn't match that of The Lord of the Rings. This is asinine behavior, because these Middle Earth scores are so superior simply by their basic nature that even the diminished prowess of a work like The Battle of the Five Armies is, like its predecessors, a lock for any serious top-five list of scores from the year. This is the last goodbye for Shore and Middle Earth, and anyone who denigrates these scores due to high expectations needs to be reminded that, in the wake of greatness in The Lord of the Rings, we are extraordinarily lucky to have these subsequent works of art at all. *****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Regular Edition:
Total Time: 94:17
* written and performed by Billy Boyd Special Edition: Total Time: 108:34
* written and performed by Billy Boyd
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the regular edition includes no extra information about the
score or film. That of the special edition features a note from the director and
analysis of each of the score's major themes by author Doug Adams.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies are Copyright © 2014, WaterTower Music (Regular Edition), WaterTower Music (Special Edition) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 1/24/15 (and not updated significantly since). |
