Rhythm of the Pride Lands
I am generally surprised at how little people know about this album, even here on MLK it is not as well known. How many times have I seen on here something along the lines of "He Lives in You was the best song created for TLK II!.."
Well, actually... Okay, and no, I did not create this topic because I suddenly felt like raging against those who really ought to know better.
I personally discovered the album in the second half of 2010 or so, and have been listening to it on and off since then. Almost non-stop early on, then for the past couple of years ago almost non at all, then about half a year or so I started to listen to it a lot more often again. But not really obsessing over it like I did when I first found it - out of habit, it became my go-to playlist when I want to relax (translation: indulge in some unashamed nostalgia) for 10 minutes or so and boot up some Halo multiplayer(Halo 1 that is, fellow kids. Yeah, I know). Yeah... Halo and The Lion King. Don't really go together, but for me they are very closely associated by now because of my history with the two in the 2011-2012 timeframe.
And it's not like the two don't exactly go together. As I like to explain to my friends, the Circle of Life could just as easily apply to the much faster spawn-kill-die-repeat cycle of online mayhem. But what I found I really liked was to play the 'race' gametype, and when the faster beat of the drums with It's Time kick it in, with Warthogs driving past each other, at least for me, it really works.
Actually, speaking of It's Time. While it's not my favorite song on the album, it's only because most of the album is just that good, and not because I don't like it. Just today, I unintentionally had it playing on single repeat for a good four hours or so while I CADed away on some grad school work.
So I felt like I really wanted to create a topic about Rhythm of the Pride Lands. Like often with these longer topics that I create, I like to leave them with a couple of questions for you guys to hopefully stir up a conversation:
What is your opinion on Rhythm of the Pride Lands? Do you prefer it's versions of songs compared to later official remakes, such as Lala turning into Endless Night, or even more famously, Lea Halalela being rewritten into Shadowland? I also always make sure to reorder the album so that Lea Halalela comes second, right after He Lives in You, and leaving the rest as is. Does that count as making the album worse or better in terms of song arrangement? Obviously, I just told you guys my opinion on this by simply asking the question.
Or a question that I got curious about the other day. Take a look at the cover again. While not canon to the original movie (remember that RotPL was made just after the first movie came out), if there was a scene where Simba is simply running alone across the savanna, where would it fit into the movie? I always feel like it goes well with the 'Busa' scene when Simba returns home, which also is a song in the album, but that's also kind of a 'trivial solution' and an obvious link. Or, perhaps, more directly tied with the album itself, which song would best fit the scene of the cover? I personally think Lala fits the bill the best, considering it also is a remake of the original soundtracks' Under the Stars, which plays during the scene when Simba runs alone to chase after Rafiki in the night. (Across the wooden log right before Mufasa's ghost scene). But then again, this might be a tilted perspective due to watching the 'making of' video for this album, which can be found here on MLK.
So yes, quite the ramble topic. But I am genuinely curious about your guy's thoughts and opinions on this album.
Spoiler: show
