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review by Dene Bebbington What better time to release music inspired by the Lord of the Rings novels than when interest in them has been renewed by big budget Hollywood films? Just over an hour's worth of music can, unfortunately, only convey a few of the highlights from the novels. The One Ring does this admirably well, though, and helpfully the liner notes describe which part of the book each track refers to. The album nicely puts into music some of the impressions one gets from reading the books (I've read the first two volumes). There's a wide variety of instruments used on the album; from synths to what sound like flutes and violins, and there's also some samples of animal sounds. On some tracks, there's a distinctly cinematic feel to the music; you can easily imagine these pieces being used in a film of Lord of the Rings. If you've not seen the film then listening to this music is sure to conjure up your own mental images of scenes. In this sense, the album works really well, but trying to do justice to a three volume novel in one CD is a bit of a stretch - I believe it would have been better to do a CD's worth of music for each of the three volumes. Most of the tracks are good at conveying the impression of an unusual world (Middle Earth). However, the piece "The Prancing Pony" is maybe a little too Celtic sounding, though it works well, given its theme. Overall, and not surprisingly if you read the novels, the music on this album tends to the dark side after the first three tracks which are relatively light, and even jolly in nature. As the album progresses you hear more brooding and portentous sounds, especially on the synths. The One Ring is a well-crafted and thought out album that will probably appeal most to people who like soundtracks, and it's sure to be a good addition to the CD collection of any Lord of the Rings fans. |
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