Search - Kevin Pearce, James Prior :: The One Ring: Music Inspired by The Lord of the Rings

A good listen, filled with the spirit of Tolkien's tale!

Brianna Neal | USA | 10/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Using a rich variety of fairly authentic-sounding synthesizer voices, Kevin Pearce and James Prior weave a convincing tapestry of timbre and mood to interpret J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy trilogy. From the jolly tavern music of "The Prancing Pony" to the building, thunder-spurred terror of "Journey in the Dark" and "Shelob's Lair," this music really does function well as a soundtrack, stirring the emotions and evoking images in the mind. When Peter Jackson's movies were released, CD stores were besieged by a plethora of discs claiming to contain music "inspired" by the story and packaged to cash in on the "Lord of the Rings" craze. Some were pretty darn lame, but I'm pleased to say that "The One Ring" isn't one of them. Pearce and Prior have crafted some very good compositions here--appealing, engaging, complexly harmonized, fully voiced, and brimming with heart. The sound effects are cool too--nature sounds, cheering revelers, pounding hoofbeats, crackling thunder, etc. Most of the music is quite well constructed: building, changing, and developing in those unexpected yet satisfying ways that always make listening worthwhile. I did find myself wishing now and then for a bit more attention to the concept of "melody," and the "Flight to the Ford" could have been a little shorter; it's a dramatic and well-crafted theme, but a bit too repetitive to go on and on without changing musically. But over all, I really enjoyed the selections, as well as the variety amongst them in terms of mood, voicing, pace and sound levels. The overall effect of this CD, due mainly to the almost-but-not-quite-acoustic sound of the synthesizers used, is that of really good computer game music, but I stress the "really good" part, especially since the quality of game music has risen tremendously in the past few years. I'd love to hear what these two composer/keyboardists could accomplish with the added dimension of some live musicians. They certainly have the knack and the compositional chops to make good use of them! For more fantasy-inspired music, try also "Music Inspired by Middle Earth" by David and Diane Arkenstone, the "Dark Age of Camelot: A Musical Journey Through the Realms of Hibernia, Midgard and Albion," the work of Llewellyn, that of Jeff Johnson and Brian Dunning, and any of the soundtracks by Joseph LoDuca, which have a similar sense of drama, wonder and fun about them.

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