Disc 1
Dynasties Opening Titles
Offspring/Come To His Side
Jumkin Gets The Message / His Rivals Close Ranks
Find The Strength
David Left For Dead
David Returns Lost and Found
Dissent in the Ranks-The Long Grass
David Shows Strength
Not Willing to Accept
Rains
A New Landscape
Emperor Penguins Extended
Away From The Storm
Keeping A Snowball Warm/Graceful Ritual
Long Brutal Winter
Under The Bright Moon/Casualties Are Revealed
The Ravine
First Sigh/ Penguins Finale
Lions Intro
The Marsh Pride/Sienna Rejoins Pride
Hippo Chase
A Week Later Part Two/A New Beginning
Alan Is Poisoned/Never See Him Again
Relentless
Pride Theme
Head of a Dynasty
The Lions Dynasty
Disc 2
Painted Wolves Intro
Tait Bides/Tait’s Theme
Blacktip’s Pack
Baboon Encounter
The Safest Place
Smash and Grab
Tait’s Daughter is Injured
Dry Season Becomes Drought/Grave Dangers
Far Beyond The Boundary
Death of Tait
Tigers Intro
Raj Bera Theme
She Vanishes
Becoming Older/Parental Duties
Between Feeds/Amorous Peacock
Invaded Again
The Drought
The Whole Family
Harder Times Long
Raj Bera Finale
She Follows/End Titles
Whether you’re a fan of the new cinematic style of depicting natural history in BBC’s Dynasties or not, there’s no denying the soundtrack accompanying this 5 episode TV show is outstanding. Composed by award winning Benji Merrison and Will Slater, Dynasties is a vast, audibly pleasing soundtrack that takes you on a musical journey through the trials and tribulations of the natural world.
The album opens with the Dynasties theme song, a rising orchestral track that builds ready for the rest of the CD. From here, the rest of the tracks follow a familiar format, selected in order of their appearance on the show. Beginning with David’s journey in the first episode, the first disk crams all the music from the first three episodes into a 27 track selection. While this may sound daunting, some of these are only around 90 seconds long and there’s a great blend of slower, tranquil tracks with fast-paced songs to keep things moving quickly.
From here, the second disk follows a pretty similar format, depicting the final 2 episodes of the show and bowing out with a triumphant end titles sequence, which is essentially just a more majestic version of the Dynasties theme. The entire album does a great job mixing things up though, with a slightly different tone with each animal depicted.
The first set of tracks are far more tranquil and majestic in power, matching that of David’s demeanour. The Penguin themes depict the danger and impossible circumstances these social animals endure every year. The Painted Wolves do stand out here though and a lot of this is thanks to the fast tempo tracks that accompany the far-reaching journeys of these endangered species.
I do a lot of review writing and soundtracks with minimal vocals and elements of classical music are right up my alley. Dynasties is not just a fantastic show, it’s a fantastic musical journey too and one that’s likely to be a mainstay for the foreseeable future as the soundtrack to my work. The intricate blend of tempos mixed with minor and major chords is something that’s pulled off incredibly well here. Much like Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II before it, Dynasties boasts a memorable, well written soundtrack that deserves an equal amount of plaudit as the critically acclaimed series itself.
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- 9/10
9/10