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SUN: Soul of the Ultimate Nation
Composed by Howard Shore
Sony/BMG Records (Korea)
Rating: 8/10
or
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 Sanctuary Ether
(194 kb)
A Prelude to Revolt
(199 kb)
The Valley
of the Dragons
(196 kb)
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“This is serious music here and
Howard Shore delivers a number of powerful pieces that one might
think were beyond the needs of a "mere" video game.”
|
 Howard
Shore's New Soul
Review by Christopher Coleman
In the the 3 years
since the last LORD OF
THE RINGS film was
released, there has
been somewhat of a
void in the collective
hearts of the film
music appreciation
community. Sure,
there have been good
scores released since
then, but nothing with
the scope or depth of
HOWARD SHORE's
masterwork for the Peter
Jackson trilogy.
Further disappointment
was dealt to Shore
fans with his
departure from the
KING KONG project.
His work, however
satisfying, for A
HISTORY OF VIOLENCE,
still didn't quite
feed the musical
hunger he, himself
created with his music
for THE LORD OF THE
RINGS.
The video game genre
to the rescue!
The MMORPG (that's
MASSIVE ONLINE ROLE
PLAYING GAME) SUN:
SOUL OF THE ULTIMATE
NATION has caused a
stir in the gaming
world. The
producers of the game,
having been clearly
influenced by Peter
Jackson's LORD OF THE
RINGS trilogy, were
somehow able to land
the Rings composer
himself, Howard Shore.
Filled with Lord of
the Ring-like camera
angles, set pieces,
and character-types,
who would be a better
choice to compose the
game's score?
The fact that yet
another A-list,
Hollywood composer has
gone and scored a
video game AFTER
achieving such status,
is another clear sign
that music for video
games is just as
creatively challenging
as music for film and
television...and likely
just as lucrative.
What's more surprising
is that what Howard
Shore delivered was
not some synthesized,
scaled-down version of
his Ring-style, but a
full orchestral,
wham-bam, that,
quality-wise, throughout most the
soundtrack, is a
dead-ringer for his
earlier work.
This is serious music
here and Howard Shore
delivers a number of powerful
pieces that one might
think were beyond the
needs of a "mere"
video game. Most of
the music for SOUL OF
THE ULTIMATE NATION is
so similar to that of
LORD OF THE RINGS that
one would have to
guess that some of
these pieces were
rejected variations of
his work for Rings.
Tracks like: "Prelude
to Revolt," has the
choir, the brass
fanfares, the
encircling strings,
all elements that most
film music fans
readily associate to
some Gondorrian
battle, while "Tides
of Hope" could easily
pass for a majestic
theme for the Rohan...or
perhaps even for the
Shire. Rather
than go through a
one-to-one comparison
between SOUL OF THE
ULTIMATE NATION and
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
(and believe me...one
could EASILY do so)
let's look at what
helps to distinguish
this project.
There are a few
elements that
certainly set apart
SOUL OF THE ULTIMATE
NATION from Howard's
work for LORD OF THE
RINGS. "The
Valley of the
Dragons," "Hymn of
Battlefields" and
"Night of the Crescent
Moon" feature an
other-worldly synth
lead, that is more
akin to some B-sci-fi-film
of the late 1950's
than a video game from
the 21st century.
The tremolo, synth-lead
is a bit jarring as it
strongly contrasts
with the instruments
accompanying it. "Ethereal Life" is another
subtly
distinctive track
that, at its onset,
has a contemporary,
hopeful characteristic
not comparable to
anything from the
Rings trilogy.
Lastly, "Graveyard of
Aiort" begins with a
electronic, "secret
laboratory" feel that
courses throughout
most of the track.
It would be very easy
to get hung up on all
of the similarities to
Howard Shore's
masterwork from a few
years ago, but if one
takes care in
listening, there is
quite a bit to be
appreciated in SOUL OF
THE ULTIMATE NATION
that has a character
all its own.
The soundtrack
released by Sony/BMG
of Korea contains 20
tracks of music, but
before you get too
excited, the majority
fall under the 3:00
minute range.
Still, in
the end, the total
running time is more
than sufficient at
over 62 minutes.
The liner notes are
predominantly in
Korean, but the track
titles and a brief bio
of Howard Shore are
presented in English.
The performance of the
National Philharmonic
of Russian and the
Academy of Choral Arts
here surprisingly
rivals that of the
world-renown London
Symphony Orchestra.
This orchestra
is "the new kid on the
block" and was only
founded in 2003.
Commissioned by
President Vladimir Putin and lead
by
violinist/conductor,
Vladimir Spivakov, the
orchestra has fast
made a name for itself
around the world.
There work for SOUL OF
THE ULTIMATE NATION
will hopefully mean
more contracts for
them in the film and
game score genre.
For those of you who
may be dying for a
score with strong
thematic material,
then look no further.
SOUL OF THE ULTIMATE
NATION will certainly
satisfy the palette of
the Howard Shore or
Lord of the Ring's
fan. Further, this music
easily some of the
best orchestral music
scored for a video
game to date.
While it does feature
a few elements that
might feel a bit
quirky, let's hope
they go on to bolster
the character of the
video game - a game,
which hopefully, will
be worthy of such an
effort from Howard
Shore.
Rating: 8/10
|
Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Sanctuary of
Ether |
2:35 |
**** |
|
2 |
A Prelude to
Revolt |
6:47 |
**** |
|
3 |
Tides of
Hope |
3:19 |
**** |
|
4 |
Helron's
Castle |
2:10 |
*** |
|
5 |
The
Triumph |
2:08 |
**** |
| 6 |
The Valley of Dragons |
2:18 |
*** |
| 7 |
Forest of the Beasts |
4:03 |
*** |
| 8 |
Empire Geist |
3:23 |
**** |
| 9 |
The Epitaph |
3:05 |
**** |
| 10 |
Night of the Crescent Moon |
1:35 |
*** |
|
11 |
Hymns of
Battlefields |
2:14 |
*** |
|
12 |
Immortal
Emporer |
2:44 |
**** |
|
13 |
March to
Victory |
2:10 |
**** |
|
14 |
A
Poem
for
Nemesis |
2:20 |
**** |
|
15 |
Soul
of
the
Ultimate
Nation |
3:13 |
**** |
| 16 |
Requiem for the Dead |
4:35 |
*** |
| 17 |
Ethereal Life |
2:53 |
*** |
| 18 |
A Pernicious Plot |
2:12 |
*** |
| 19 |
Graveyard of Aiort |
2:43 |
*** |
| 20 |
Menace of the Army Wings |
7:54 |
**** |
| |
Total Running Time |
62:23 |
|
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