 |
| Shore |
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: (Howard Shore)
How can it be, given all the lessons taught by George Lucas with
Star
Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1999, that movie-goers and film score
collectors have forgotten everything they needed to remember about high
profile trilogy prequels in cinema prior to approaching Peter Jackson's
return to Middle Earth in 2012? Despite the extraordinary buzz generated
ahead of
The Phantom Menace, the film never stood a remote chance
of meeting audience expectations, especially amongst the most die-hard
fanatics of the concept. Its vision of the
Star Wars universe was
critiqued to death, largely negatively, and its music, despite
exhibiting solid, often brilliant material by John Williams, was reduced
in stature by both those same expectations and a butchering of the
recorded score in the film's hasty, last-minute edits. Fast forward
thirteen years and that exact scenario has repeated itself with the
release of
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The legendary
status of nearly every aspect of the original
The Lord of the
Rings trilogy of 2001 to 2003 spawned a demand for continued,
across-the-board excellence when Jackson and the studios behind the
J.R.R. Tolkien concept adaptations announced first a pair of films
devoted to
The Hobbit, then three. In almost humorously
predictable fashion, there were inevitable production problems, some
resulting from studio financial woes and others caused by conflicting
scheduling and the loss of Guillermo del Toro as the director for the
projects. The split of the two films into three rather late in the
process caused havoc in the pacing of the adaptation, forcing Jackson to
wildly embellish portions of the original Tolkien tale and, in so doing,
causing the first entry in the three films,
An Unexpected
Journey, to languish in its storytelling. Critics lamented the
decline of the concept in widely disgruntled reviews. Audiences did not
elevate the film to the fiscal powerhouse status enjoyed by its
predecessors, relatively speaking given inflation; in fact, the prequel
struggled to match the other, higher-grossing films of 2012. Film score
fans, ecstatic for a reunion between Jackson and composer Howard Shore
that was not guaranteed given their split over the 2005 remake of
King Kong, were confronted by challenges made obvious by the
film's post-production troubles, adding their general discontent to the
equation.
And yet, there still stands
The Phantom Menace,
long beleaguered by the lashings it took in the early 2000's but
eventually recognized as, quite frankly, an achievement that stands
above and beyond most equivalent entertainment of its era. Despite
losing the expectations game and retaining residual resentment from some
Star Wars purists, it is still a marvelous spectacle of fantasy
when compared to its contemporary peers, both in the fun of its
cinematic entirety and the prowess of Williams' music. The score
remains, regardless of its trials at the time, among the best of its
year. All the same lessons apply to
An Unexpected Journey, and
perhaps it is fitting that the film music community has recognized these
circumstances better than mainstream viewers and awards groups. So much
has been documented about the three scores for
The Lord of the
Rings that the initial absence of such clarity in the creative
process for
An Unexpected Journey caused heartache and endless
questions about the decisions that led to an undoubtedly messy but still
basically effective final soundtrack for the picture. Whereas Shore's
popular musical tapestry for the prior trilogy was finely tuned to the
point of absurdity,
An Unexpected Journey surprises in that it
raises questions and challenges at all. Time is destined to tell the
answers to these conundrums, but until that day, enthusiasts of Shore's
sound for Middle Earth are left for the first time wondering why
senseless thematic attributions were tracked into inappropriate places
in this universe. While not an absolutely certainty, the absolution of
Shore for these curiosities is likely merited; it is not difficult to
imagine (and based upon the original album releases, actually
appreciate) the musical journey that Shore intended to provide for
The Hobbit, only for Jackson and his remaining crew's late
efforts to rearrange their work and reaffirm their affection for Shore's
prior achievements to sully the final soundtrack with re-recordings of
occasionally bizarre material from especially the first and third
The
Lord of the Rings scores. As such, whatever negative criticism that
results henceforth in this review is a reaction to circumstances outside
of Shore's control. All veteran composers have dealt with rejections and
last-minute re-recordings, but few expected Shore to deal with such
daunting sets of rearrangements in this context. Perhaps relationship
issues from
King Kong did indeed linger through the years and
rear their ugly heads once again.
One of the intriguing consequences of Jackson's bloating
of the early elements of Tolkien's story for
An Unexpected
Journey is that Shore was presented with more avenues of exploration
for character and concept themes than one might otherwise have expected.
The basic story is intact, Gandalf the wizard convincing hobbit Bilbo
Baggins to accompany a group of thirteen dwarfs on their journey to
reclaim their kingdom from Smaug, the evil dragon displacing the dwarves
from their treasure and home. Along their journey, they run into a
number of obstacles old and new (for audiences, at least), some of which
exhibiting awkward special effects and taking viewers on tangents meant
to simply justify the existence of a trilogy rather than a duo of films.
By the end, the dwarves, the hobbit, and the wizard form a fellowship
much like that at the end of
The Fellowship of the Ring, gazing
off to a preview of the next leg of their adventure. Despite existing in
the same Middle Earth environment, the story's wealth of additional
elements allowed Shore to not only revisit a variety of fan favorite
themes from the previous trilogy, but introduce a dozen new identities
that, at least in a few cases, were not intended to make full sense in
this first installment. One thing can be made absolutely clear about
Shore's approach to
An Unexpected Journey: there are motific and
instrumental techniques on display in this score that were strictly
stated for the purpose of foreshadowing. Regardless of your opinion of
the thematic results of Shore's labor, there is little debate about the
continued intelligence of the composer's approach to this concept. He
has recaptured his essence of Middle Earth through the continued
employment of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and supplemental group
and solo vocalists with ease, despite the replacement of some favorite
instrumental colors (anvil, Hardanger fiddle, cimbalom) and seeming
diminishment of the overall quantity of flashy solo applications. Do not
expect, for instance, to hear as wide a variety of solo vocalists of
both genders in this initial prequel work. But Shore's strict rules of
structural methodology are all he really needed to carry over to make
An Unexpected Journey sound so familiar. His knack for utilizing
common phrases, keys, meters, inversions, orchestrations, and other
tools to connect concepts musically is still masterful, and most
listeners will probably recognize this loyalty in the process of
interpreting that the overall tone of the music is a continuation of
both nostalgic comfort and intellectual satisfaction.
If anyone doubted Shore's dedicated to his craft for this
concept, all you have to do is analyze the application of the themes
from
The Lord of the Rings, at least as he intended before the
re-write process started. Even within the obvious motific statements,
there are fragmented references so intelligent that something like the
Fellowship theme, the de facto identity of the prior trilogy, can be
referenced in just a single note, exposed by what comes immediately
before and smartly left to hang as a hinting indicator of what is to
come. It is truly a pleasure to hear such subtleties be perpetuated in
an era of film scoring expediency, the industry plagued by the kind of
brainless music that results when ease of process and an intellectually
devoid public result in scores that all sound like Hans Zimmer
leftovers. From the opening bars of
An Unexpected Journey, you
know you're in for a transcendent experience, no matter how you haggle
with the placement of thematic attributes. From a reviewing standpoint,
these scores are a nightmare, if only because there is so much happening
in every moment that no regular review will suffice. Author Doug Adams,
who has made a new career out of an incredibly deep understanding of
Shore's work for this concept, realizes this fact more than anyone else.
No doubt, this review at Filmtracks will undergo several revisions as
more of the procedural mysteries (both in the tracking/revision issues
and in the revelations of the subsequent films) are solved. Complicating
matters even further for this review are, like
The Fellowship of the
Ring, a dissatisfactory initial album situation and the lack of 5.1
DVD audio with which to compare the true sound quality of the prequel
scores to their predecessors. Fortunately, the commercialization issues
with
An Unexpected Journey are nowhere near as offensive as those
facing score collectors when
The Fellowship of the Ring smacked
the community with an emphasis on Enya trading cards. In fact, at least
some effort was made to release more than just a single CD's-worth of
highlights, regardless of the medium and despite the lengthier "special
edition" product's laughably ludicrous claim that it contains the
complete score for the film. The lack of DVD-quality audio for this
review's initial incarnation is more problematic. So much of the
mystique of the previous Shore scores rested in the immense size of the
recordings, along with their controversially wet mixing qualities.
Hearing this universe reduced to standard stereo sound after listening
to it exclusively in DVD audio quality for many years is a challenge by
itself.
Alas, the opinions about the "meta" aspects of the score's
releases will be saved for the end of this review, as is typical at
Filmtracks. The substance of the score merits more time, especially in
such an iconic franchise effort. The issues of the ensemble and soloists
have already been touched upon, but it is worth repeating that there
exist no issues of size and style with this score. Some listeners will
be disgruntled with the diminished quantity of outwardly elegant vocal
and woodwind solos in
An Unexpected Journey. The material for the
Shire doesn't emphasize as many outrageously pretty recorder and flute
solos, for instance, despite those themes' significant carry-over. On
the other hand, you have to temper your reaction to the album with the
knowledge that Shore, either by his own volition or by instruction,
recorded a few of these awe-inspiring moments later in the process for
inclusion in the film, the notable eagle rescue sequence at the height
of the picture greatly expanding upon the lovely nature's reclamation
theme with vocal magnificence. Additionally, there are fewer long-lined
themes of glorious resonance in this first prequel, what new ideas of
that type often replaced by those aforementioned re-recordings or saved
for better references in later pictures. Shore does offer up more than a
dozen new ideas for
An Unexpected Journey, many of them
introduced in the lengthy and impressive "My Dear Frodo" cue that opens
the score. The "Misty Mountains" theme is not among those that is
immediately heard, though it eventually comes to serve this film much
like the Fellowship theme did for the original entry in the other
trilogy. Referred to as the "Dwarven Company Theme" in some circles,
this general identity for the adventure of the dwarves was written by
New Zealand group "Plan 9" (David Donaldson, Steve Roche, Janet Roddick,
and David Long), which had contributed source material to the original
trilogy. Shore is not the type of composer to be protective of his
melodic domain, and not only does he welcome contributions by other
writers, but in this franchise, he has adapted their ideas effectively.
Heard first in the hummed and barely audibly sung "Misty Mountains," the
robust idea receives tremendous brass interpretations in "The World is Ahead,"
"Over Hill," and one version of "Roast Mutton." It became popular after
its usage in the film's first trailer and eventually evolved into the
basis for the "Song of the Lonely Mountain" interpolation and
performance by Neil Finn (which will be addressed later in this review).
For many listeners, the several heroic performances of this theme with
fortitude in the film will reflect the melodic highlights of the
film.
Extending out of the significant amount of returning
thematic material for the Shire in
An Unexpected Journey are
three themes for Bilbo, unfortunately none of them related directly to
the pretty "Bilbo's Song" melody heard (with some relation to the
nature's reclamation theme) in the extended version of
Return of the
King. The primary one of these themes is a knock-out that was
inexplicably marginalized in the context of the film, replaced by
additional, previously existing Shire theme arrangements. Initially
heard at 4:43 in "Axe or Sword?," this idea once again shares the first
three rising notes with Shore's desired, overarching Shire identity (a
trait that exists in a mutated form in "Bilbo's Song" as well, not
coincidentally). The best presented of this theme's statements comes in
the entirety of "Dreaming of Bag End," its progressions perfectly
reflecting the yearning that the hobbits in the previous trilogy felt as
they travelled further from home. More prevalent and a tad irritating is
Shore's secondary theme for Bilbo, one representing the humor associated
with the character. This mischievous idea gurgles out at 1:40 into "An
Unexpected Party" and immediately will remind Shore collectors of
Hugo, a very awkward piece of self-referencing in this context
that becomes problematic when it interrupts the action at 3:42 into
"Brass Buttons." It is better placed with existing Shire material in "A
Very Respectable Hobbit." The composer compensates for this strange
misstep, however, with hints of a Bilbo adventure theme early in "The
World is Ahead," an idea with two phrases smartly connected to the later Erebor
identity. Also possibly for Bilbo is a heroic theme that emerges in its
solitary major statement at 3:42 into "Out of the Frying-Pan," a
blatantly optimistic fanfare that wouldn't sound out of place in Basil
Poledouris'
Cherry 2000. The revisited Shire themes mainly rely
upon Shore's primary identity for the hobbits. The cue "Old Friends"
journeys through this familiar territory (the hint of the fellowship
theme with just one note comes at 0:57 into this cue), the playful
location variant for the Shire coming at the 1:02 mark. As the timeline
in the film shifts back at 2:30, Shore explores different avenues
without losing touch with at least a couple of very specific references
to plot elements like the fireworks and the map. The Shire's themes seem
to be Shore's most pervasively reprised element from the prior scores,
for even before the re-writes you hear exuberant Shire expressions at
the end of "The Adventure Begins" and the lamenting sub-theme for the
hobbits briefly at the start of "The Hill of Sorcery." Given that these
themes are fan-favorites, this isn't necessarily an unwise move, but the
replacement of Bilbo's new primary theme with existing Shire identities
late in the process is one of this soundtrack's major
disappointments.
Among the thematic identities for
An Unexpected
Journey introduced in the expansive "My Dear Frodo" is a quick call
of attention to the dwarves' kingdom of Erebor. While the full theme for
this location is not heard immediately, this brief trio of rising pairs,
stoic and grounded in sure dwarf fashion, is previewed at 1:58 into "My
Dear Frodo" (and reprised at 0:55 into "Axe or Sword?"). Also hopeful but
rather restrained in its heroism is the theme for the lead dwarf,
Thorin. Intertwined with later phrases of Misty Mountains theme, his
identity (2:17 into "My Dear Frodo") mirrors the ascending personality
of Rohan's material in
The Two Towers but is already destined for
a more tragic musical conclusion. Shore immediately continues to explore
the new themes in "My Dear Frodo" by expressing the mystical choral
motif for the Arkenstone jewel at 3:03 (reprised at 2:40 in "Axe or
Sword?"). The theme for Smaug the dragon is rarely utilized in this
score, but its obnoxious, descending phrases (connected to Mordor in
many ways) gain momentum at 4:16 into "My Dear Frodo." The alternating
major and minor modes of this idea denote constant, inherent conflict,
and while the theme is a bit difficult to stomach (unless in simmering
performances, such as at 1:35 in "Axe or Sword?"), its prime, most
appropriate performance at the end of the film, heard at the close of "A
Good Omen," was struck from the final picture. Also diminished are a
handful of other new themes for
An Unexpected Journey. A new
identity for Gandalf (the Grey, in this case) consists of two five-note
phrases introduced at 3:32 into "Old Friends" and extended at 2:14 into
"An Unexpected Party." Shore does not tip his hand at this point about
the full purpose of this theme. A little more obvious but dropped for
reasons logical to the franchise's extension to six films is the fuller
theme for Erebor, a definite winner that bodes well for the following
films. Connected obviously to Bilbo's adventure theme in its first two phrases
and hinted at 0:41 into "The World is Ahead," where the idea's
secondary phrase is afforded lovely string treatment, the massive
fanfare for this location is provided with bagpipe color in the bonus
album track "Erebor" and reprised at the start of another bonus, "The
Edge of the Wild." What the bagpipes have to do with the dwarfs remains
an interesting question, though perhaps Shore was making a somewhat
humorous connection between the bagpipes' real historical region and
dragons. Also stripped largely from the film is Shore's unique idea for
"Radagast the Brown," the album track of that name featuring children's
choir, lively fiddle solo, and table-setting percussion in striking
roles, which may have been too much quirky musical character for Jackson
to handle.
For the various villains of
An Unexpected Journey,
Shore continues his habit of connecting the structures of his themes of
evil in some way to the identity of Mordor, which looms even in this
story. His habit of ripping off short, repetitive ideas for brutal,
bass-region pounding is in full force, the identity for nasty Orc
chieftain Azog not straying far from subsequent Orc material in the
franchise. Interestingly, as presented on snarling brass at 0:57 into
"An Ancient Enemy" and on low woodwinds at 5:11 into "Radagast the
Brown," the theme sounds like a coincidentally direct offshoot of
Gollum's material. In the latter cue, Shore takes a moment to introduce
the Necromancer identity with a greater touch of Mordor. The trolls are
afforded a quick, rising series of four notes by Shore in "The
Trollshaws." The Warg wolves enjoy an inverted version of this format,
their brutally harsh blathering at the start of "Warg-scouts" featuring
deep brass growls of immense power (under puffing flutes, intriguingly)
and strong rhythmic propulsion from bass strings. This theme returns
prominently in "Out of the Frying-Pan." The remainder of the thematic
duties fall upon the ideas that, like the Shire melodies, carry over
from the original trilogy, some in "cut and paste" form while others
masked quite well. For example, the Rivendell theme in "The Hidden
Valley" is largely intact in its lovely choir performance. Standing out
as a bit obvious as well is the Lothlorien theme's explosion of heroism
at the end of "Warg-scouts." The Mordor material really is well planted
in this score, descending minor third figures integrated everywhere to
hint at the impending evil. Some of the most intriguing references come
in the variably understated (and potentially boring for some listeners)
but still fascinating "The White Council," which goes so far as to
feature an ominous statement of the Isengard theme at 4:37 for Saruman's
cameo. Both the "history of the ring" and Gollum's non-song themes
return, highlighted in a clever "Riddles in the Dark" cue that allows
some subtle sonic battling between the Gollum and Smeagol identities.
Finally, the nature's reclamation theme, easily Shore's most beautiful
idea for the franchise (likely by intention), only appears on album for
a short choral sequence at 1:58 into "Out of the Frying-Pan" but it
plays an absolutely pivotal role in its extended rearrangement during
the eagle rescue sequence at the climax of the film. This unreleased
cue, defined by some as "The Flight to the Carrock," is among the most
redemptive recordings ever made by Shore for the franchise, a stunning
cue despite any misgivings you might have about its seemingly forced and
unnecessary placement into the film at that juncture.
As was the case with
The Lord of the Rings, Shore
saves some of his best moments in this prequel score for times when he
does not rely upon major, repetitive thematic statements. A few of these
exist late in "My Dear Frodo," at which time the composer extends the
personality of the "Moria" cue from the prior trilogy into an even more
aggressive set of deep male chants over rampant snare, juxtaposed from
high female fantasy singing at times. The last two minutes of that cue
provide choral lamentation for the dwarves' loss that is very
compelling, especially with the descending female voices and hints of
the Smaug theme used as poignant counterpoint. Most of the individually
remarkable cues in
An Unexpected Journey occur in its latter
half, together reminding of Shore's greatness in this arena without the
need for outward grandeur. The momentary dissonant grinding effect at
3:00 into "The Hill of Sorcery" is an excellent change of direction
mid-cue. The harmonic resonance and trombone muscularity from about 2:10
to 2:40 in "A Thunder Battle" is not to be overlooked. Many fans
immediately noticed Shore's enhanced employment of flashy brass clusters
in this score that will remind some of Don Davis' challenging music for
The Matrix trilogy. Indeed, the trilling trumpets in the second minute of
"Brass Buttons" (over the "Moria"-like expansion) do get your attention.
In the thematic realm, the heroic Bilbo theme's statement at the height
of "Out of the Frying-Pan" is another reminder of why these scores are
so fantastic, especially with the gong strike at the start of that
moment. Finally, the opening minute of "A Good Omen" offers Shore's
incredibly beautiful choral tendencies for the concept in fully
accessible glory. This cue, arguably among the best in the entire score,
was one of many fabulous recordings made by Shore for
An Unexpected
Journey that were ultimately struck from the picture. When
appreciating the bulk of this work on album, seemingly as Shore intended
it to be originally placed in the film, it's puzzling to ponder the
discrepancies between that and the music that Shore ultimately
re-recorded for the film later in post-production. Nearly everything
representing Bilbo's main theme and the catchy idea for Radagast was
eliminated, and the most important statement of the Smaug theme at the
very end of the film was dialed out in favor of silence. The striking of
the quirky Radagast material may be explainable given how different it
is, but there is no viable excuse (other than nostalgia) for the
reduction of the Smaug and Bilbo themes, the latter an arguable
improvement upon the clearly related Shire identities given the
circumstances in this film.
Compounding the issues with the butchering of Shore's
original intent in
An Unexpected Journey are a few choices for
last minute replacements that simply don't make any thematic sense. The
expansion of the nature's reclamation theme at least makes some marginal
sense, though it's easy to get the impression that its use eventual owes
to its beauty rather anything really connected to its original
representations. Even this explanation isn't water-tight, however, given
the alternate attractiveness of the opening portions of "A Good Omen."
In the closing acceptance scene of the film, Shore reprises Shire and
Gondor material from the end of
The Return of the King in
extremely distracting statements that are not altered enough to service
this new context at all. The continuous employment of the primary Shire
theme for practically every moment Bilbo speaks in the film becomes
almost laughable at the end, and this tactic betrays Shore's otherwise
intelligent tapestry. The controversial whopper of a placement in the
score is the quotation of choral material for the Ringwraiths/Nazgul
during the final confrontation between Thorin and Azog; aside from fire
and scary visuals, these concepts are barely related and such lack of
musical integrity will likely bother film music collectors privy to the
original three scores and their thematic meanings. It's important to
remember, however, that the vast majority of listeners fall outside that
group of dedicated soundtrack fans, and to these mainstream folks, the
bet has been made by Jackson that the music is still effective no matter
the technical attributes. And he'd be correct, as much as true
enthusiasts may not want to admit it. More universally disliked has been
the customary song for
An Unexpected Journey. New Zealand
recording artist Neil Finn was asked to adapt the existing dwarf melody
into his own arrangement for the song, which he then performed with the
help of his two sons. The vocal tone has a distinctly retro feel to it
because of these layers of vocals to form constant feel-good chords, and
the murky mix of the voices actually helps to alleviate this choice.
Structurally, the song is actually quite strong (aside from a wasted two
minutes of minimal meandering tacked onto the end of the extended
version), but the layers of background activity in the recording have
caused the most distress. Had the "ay ay ay ay" vocals been replaced by
muscular brass (think James Bond style for dwarves) and the hideous
clapping effects been substituted with more slamming metallic
percussion, the song could have been a winner. It's understandable that
the production opted to lean towards a list of New Zealand-based musical
contributors, but that choice did not yield the best song possible for
this film.
Ultimately, too much of the story behind the score for
An Unexpected Journey remains untold for a truly accurate final
evaluation to be heaved upon it. No immediate explanations were made for
the extensive re-recording of previous franchise themes to replace large
sections of Shore's new work. That said, there are declarations that can
be made based upon what was known right off the bat. First, Shore's
score and the song for the film did not receive the awards recognition
expected of them (no Oscar or BAFTA nominations). Secondly, the forced
placements will not bother some listeners as much as the similarities
between the original portions of the score (which actually made the cut)
and Shore's own
Hugo and Davis'
The Matrix. Thirdly, the
album situation is unsavory at best, deceptive in its advertising and
nonsensical in some of its arrangements. While it's obviously tempting
to recommend the expanded "special edition" release of the score (with
20 minutes more music), in part because of its great bonus material at
the end of the second CD, there remains the troubling issue of the
"Roast Mutton" track. The version of this cue on the regular album may
be shorter, but it features immense and interesting performances of the
main, "Misty Mountains" theme not heard at all on the special edition. A
similar issue exists with "Old Friends." Thus, if you're a true
enthusiast and want the best lossless CD presentation of the score,
you'll be stuck buying both products. The fourth known issue early on
arose from complaints regarding audio quality and volume drop-offs in
the arrangement of the album tracks, though it will be difficult to
truly judge these until a DVD audio-quality presentation someday
hopefully arises. The comparatively dry ambience (next to the previous
scores) will irritate some as well. Finally, there's the issue of all
the great music recorded late in the process that is missing from the
album; no matter your opinion on how inappropriate it may be, this music
is still outstanding and highly desired out of context. These issues
unfortunately sour what would otherwise be one of the strongest scores
(if not the single best achievement) of 2012. It's important to remember
that, despite all these issues, Shore's music for this franchise remains
more intellectually constructed and impressively rendered than anything
else churning out of the industry during this time. Just as it was with
The Phantom Menace in 1999, tapered expectations are absolutely
necessary to appreciate
An Unexpected Journey. And regardless of
whatever issues linger with the score as it resides in the film,
collectors someday will be treated, based upon precedent, to the truly
complete recordings that will yield a stunning, five-star listening
experience on their own.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written for the Film: *****
- Music as Heard in the Film: ****
- Music as Heard on the 2012 Albums: ****
- Overall: *****
| Bias Check: |
For Howard Shore reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.56
(in 25 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.32
(in 100,303 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
Both 2012 albums' inserts include general notes from author Doug Adams
about the composer and the score. The "Special Edition" is packaged in a
hardcover digibook and features a longer version of the notes, pictures from
the recording sessions, lyrics to the songs, and a mini-insert advertising the
label's mobile app.
