The Hobbit – The Desolation Of Smaug Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the film score The Hobbit – The Desolation Of Smaug by Howard Shore.
At a glance:
28 tracks
124 minutes of score
Geek Score: 100
Total Minutes Of Excellence: 124,4
Album Excellence: 100%
Buy or stream? Buy
How are the scores calculated and what does it mean?
There were few more impressive scores than Howard Shore’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey last year, but it was also a way off from what we were used to with Lord Of The Rings. It felt inferior somehow, but still one of the best scores of 2012 in my opinion. It also introduced the Misty Mountains theme which is right up there with some of the best of Shore’s work on Lord Of The Rings. With the second movie in the Hobbit saga, Shore’s music is much less dependant on great themes because this score has something called gravitas. It weighs heavy, even as heavy as the later Lord Of The Rings scores in the way it plays. The heavy textural work on this score is magnificent and up there with the best he has ever written for LOTR and this is what I truly wanted in this score. I am reviewing the Special Edition of the score.
Just listen to ‘Flies and Spiders’ for an example of fantastic scoring where he picks up the listeners mood and really milks it with angel-like choir and goes truly deep and dark for an engrossing listening experience. It flows just right and every little sub-theme in the cue is remarkable like the spiders theme and of course the warg riders. It has me so engulfed that I don’t even need to see the movie to actually be there and my hairs truly standing on my back.
In ‘The Forest River’ there’s an excellent and bold opening theme, almost uplifting but never far beyond danger. There’s action aplenty and there’s more to come. Tauriel’s Theme is as gorgeous as ever and while An Unexpected Journey had small moments like these, nothing weaves it so well together like this cue and practically everything on the album. It’s a perfect listening experience from start to finish and you are never taken away from what is essentially the story and while listening, you might even find your own story.
Of course, for Lord Of The Rings fans you will get glimpses of themes like The Shire and some Sauron material plus Bree and Nazgul and for those who wants continuity from An Unexpected Journey will be somewhat happy as well. Most of the themes are there like Erebor, Thorin, Woodland and of course Smaug. What I couldn’t find was the excellent Misty Mountain theme from AUJ. As for new themes, there are quite a few although I feel they are more hidden inside the cues, but it makes for a more flowing and rewarding experience. I’ve already mentioned a few like Beorn’s Theme, and some of the Mirkwood themes. One of my favorite new themes are The Nine which appears in ‘The House Of Beorn’ and a lot of times in ‘The High Fells’ and is usually introduced by a high pitched vocal performance, a single woman’s voice and it’s wonderful. Tauriel has the best theme though with a gorgeous love theme at the start of ‘Beyond The Forest’ and it’s funny, but the second part of that love theme reminds me so much of Ennio Morricone’s secondary theme from The Mission. The main Tauriel theme starts from around 2:35 and goes to the end. Lake-Town has a great medieval up-beat feeling to it as you can hear in the beginning of ‘Thrice Welcome’. Girion’s theme is really powerful and can be heard in ‘Girion, Lord Of Dale’.
What I am missing from the Lord Of The Rings days however is the inclusion of great voices and songs by Annie Lennox, Enya etc. I’m sorry but Ed Sheeran’s ‘I See Fire’ does nothing for me and An Unexpected Journey wasn’t impressive in that regard either.
An Unexpected Journey felt more open, but more disjointed. The themes were very clear and in full head-on mode, but as a listening experience, it’s not near as good as The Desolation Of Smaug. I am inclined to make the whole score into a suite because you really should listen to the cues from start to finish and if you are like me, you will truly be in awe of what Shore has accomplished here. There’s more great music in the LOTR scores, but as a complete album listen, The Desolation Of Smaug has all of LOTR beat. For me it’s not a question of to buy or not to buy, but rather how many copies should I get for me and everyone who loves middle earth. This is a great companion to An Unexpected Journey and for me it has beaten every single score in 2013 and I’m calling it now, best score of 2013.
HIGHLIGHTS;
CD1:
1. The Quest For Erebor
2. Wilderland
3. A Necromancer
4. The House Of Beorn
5. Mirkwood
6. Flies And Spiders
7. The Woodland Realm
8. Feast Of Starlight
9. Barrels Out Of Bond
10. The Forest River
11. Bard, A Man Of Lake-Town
12. The High Fells
13. The Nature Of Evil
14. Protector Of The Common Folk
CD2:
1. Thrice Welcome
2. Girion, Lord Of Dale
3. Durin’s Folk
4. In The Shadow Of The Mountain
5. A Spell Of Concealment
6. On The Doorstep
7. The Courage Of Hobbits
8. Inside Information
9. Kingsfoil
10. A Liar And A Thief
11. The Hunters
12. Smaug
13. My Armor Is Iron
15. Beyond The Forest