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Favorite music track(s) from Legends of Metru Nui?


Tyrion Archer

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I never thought I’d see the day. An actual, official soundtrack release for Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui. This album is everything I’ve ever wanted. One of the best and most underappreciated film scores of all time is finally accessible as a stand-alone product, and sounds better than ever in its remastered glory. Easily my favorite music album of the year (and this year’s had some pretty great music).

 

I realize that not everyone has gotten around to listening to it yet, but to those of you who have and feel like sharing: Do you have a favorite track or favorite set of tracks from the score? If so, what are they?

 

If you remember some of my posts from a few years ago (back when my username was IAmGroot) you may already know what my favorite track is. It is, of course, “Island of Mata Nui”. I believe this to be one of the most beautiful and epic pieces of film music ever. The whole ending scene is honestly one of my favorite moments in cinematic history primarily because of the score. It’s been one of my most-desired pieces of music from the Bionicle films for years, and here it finally is along with the rest of this amazing soundtrack.

 

But I would be remiss if I didn’t make a few other honorable mentions:

 

“Legends of Metru Nui / Toa Stones”

“Faithful Matoran to Mighty Toa” (This track is just…wow)

“Follow the Light / Mask of Time”

“Lhikan’s Death / Vakama’s Power Found” (So many feels)

“Lhikan’s Theme Sketch” (I’m sure we all remember letting the menu loop play over and over again just to listen to this gorgeous little piece)

 

The unused “Kikeinalo” theme is also a fun one. It'll be interesting to hear Nathan Furst's unused Roodaka sketch when Web of Shadows comes out.

 

Feel free to respond with your favorite track or set of tracks. I’m interested to know which particular tracks you were most eager to listen to before they were released and which you enjoy listening to the most now.

 

As a side note, I was slightly jarred when I realized that this release isn’t quite the complete score like the Mask of Light release was. Ultimately, however, I don’t mind too much because all the stuff I really wanted to hear (and more) is included, and there’s not much else missing that can’t be uploaded for streaming (or, preferably, released as an extended play). As far as I know, this is all of the omitted music (excluding whatever else Furst composed that was cut from the film):

 

- The Great Disks montage (everything after Vakama's second vision and before the Coliseum scene)

- Escape from Le-Metru and journey to Po-Metru (everything after the Toa evade the Dark Hunters by jumping into the chute and before their arrival in Po-Metru)

- Escaping with the Matoran (everything from when they retrieve Matoran capsules to when Matau drives into the water)

- A fairly brief section seems to have been cut from "Heart of Metru Nui", unless it just wasn't intended as part of the original track and was edited in for the film. It includes the part where they break into the Coliseum in their vehicle (I forget the name of it) as well as the Toa's exchanges of banter during the drive.

- This is really nitpicky, but there’s also a brief choir from the opening theme that plays when Lhikan engraves the three virtues symbol into the Toa stone. Admittedly though, I prefer the bit of music that takes its place on the OST version as it makes the track seem a bit more whole.

Edited by Tyrion Archer

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Joffrey

IAmGroot

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I have been waiting over a decade to listen to "Follow the Light / Mask of Time".  It was well worth the wait.  Nathan Furst could have released this track on its own without the rest of the score, and I would still have been more than satisfied.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate "Bad Things Happen In The Desert"?  Not because of the music itself... now, don't get me wrong, the music is fantastic.  I'm talking about the track title.  I am aware that it is a direct quote from the film's dialogue, but... when taken out of context and used as a music track title, it sounds like Nathan Furst gave up trying to come up with a creative title and instead just resorted to poorly describing the relevant scene.

"This track will be titled 'Faithful Matoran to Mighty Toa', because it represents the growth of these characters and the new roles that they must play.  This track will be titled 'Heart of Metru Nui', because Lhikan reveals that the Matoran, not himself, are what the Toa are destined to protect.  And this track will be titled... uh... 'Bad Things Happen In The Desert'.  Because... um... bad things happen.  And it's in the desert."

Edited by PeabodySam
Fixed post formatting.
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Heh I've been listening to it rather thoroughly today. It's so, so good to finally hear the soundtrack clean. Easily my favorite of the three movies, and listening to it now, it's even better than I remember. I don't think I could pick just one favorite track, of course, so I'll list some of my favorites:

 

- "Faithful Matoran to Mighty Toa" Still one of my favorite scenes in the movie, and this track is a huge reason why. Such a beautiful, triumphant rendition of the main theme. Perfectly captures the sense of wonder of the transformation.

 

- "Bad Things Happen in the Desert" This one has a great collection of tracks, including the kikanalo theme and that awesome piece that plays while the Toa ride them across the sand, but this is among my favorites because of the very beginning. So moody and eerie in the best way.

 

- "Heart of Metru Nui" Another one that has music from a number of scenes, all great -- escaping the Vahki in the tunnels, the Matoran being forced into pods, dramatic return to the Coliseum. It's just great from start to finish, and it has a really, really fantastic and somewhat chilling rendition of Makuta's theme at the very end. That creepy guttural vocalization in the last few seconds (reminds me of the Emperor's theme from Star Wars) is awesome.

 

- I'm going to lump "Follow the Light/Mask of Time" and "Lhikan's Death/Vakama's Power Found" together, since they flow pretty well into each other. And they both include some of my favorite pieces from the soundtrack -- Vakama's final vision, and when the Mask of Time is being used. The actual Vakama vs. Makuta battle music is great, and so is the lead up to it, when the Toa are trying to escape and avoiding Makuta's pillars.

 

- And of course, "The Island of Mata Nui". It has that beautiful piano rendition of the main theme that never fails to tug at my heartstrings. Such a perfectly subdued, quiet piece for a great ending.

 

I am a little surprised the chute escape music wasn't included, or the Great Temple bridge scene from the end escape. No huge losses, though, in my opinion. I love what we've gotten so much. Can't wait for the Web of Shadows release!

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I have been waiting over a decade to listen to "Follow the Light / Mask of Time".  It was well worth the wait.  Nathan Furst could have released this track on its own without the rest of the score, and I would still have been more than satisfied.

 

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate "Bad Things Happen In The Desert"?  Not because of the music itself... now, don't get me wrong, the music is fantastic.  I'm talking about the track title.  I am aware that it is a direct quote from the film's dialogue, but... when taken out of context and used as a music track title, it sounds like Nathan Furst gave up trying to come up with a creative title and instead just resorted to poorly describing the relevant scene.

 

"This track will be titled 'Faithful Matoran to Mighty Toa', because it represents the growth of these characters and the new roles that they must play.  This track will be titled 'Heart of Metru Nui', because Lhikan reveals that the Matoran, not himself, are what the Toa are destined to protect.  And this track will be titled... uh... 'Bad Things Happen In The Desert'.  Because... um... bad things happen.  And it's in the desert."

Furst is pretty great at naming tracks. If he decides to release the music from the second Coliseum escape, I think he should name it "Let's Hope This Thing Floats".

 

Unless I'm getting the timeline of the movie mixed up, you can hear one of the omitted cues on his website.

True. The end credits medley also has part of another cue from around that point in the movie. Still, I'm hoping we'll get to hear the remastered versions of the remaining tracks at some point (if they were remastered). It'd be cool if he uploaded them to SoundCloud, but it would be even better if they were released in an EP that also included any tracks left out of the Web of Shadows soundtrack (unless the Web of Shadows release is more complete).

Edited by Tyrion Archer

Previous usernames:

Joffrey

IAmGroot

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All of them.

 

Oh, wait, that's cheating?

 

Okay then...

 

I must say Follow The Light / Mask of Time has to be my favorite. The music during Vakama's vision when forging the mask during their voyage had left a great impression on me even back when I watched the movie for the first time more than a decade ago. It's so utterly surreal - in a good way, mind you - that this soundtrack got released so long after the fact. But yeah, that tune manages to stand out from an entire album populated solely by masterpieces. 

 

Furst is one skilled Toa of sonics, if I do say so myself. 

 

:kakama:

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:kakama: Stone rocks :kakama:

Model Designer at The LEGO Group. Former contributor at New Elementary. My MOCs can be found on Flickr and Instagram

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