Lord of the Rings Soundtracks: Discuss

[Nimrothiel]

Just what the name says, state your opinion of the soundtracks, your favorite song(s), or how you feel they carry the mood of the scenes in the films. <BR>Personally, I like "Into the West," "Gollum's Song," and "The Steward of Gondor."

[Linnahiril Tinnufinwen]

My favorites are "The Steward of Gondor," "Twilight and Shadow," "The Return of the King," and "The Grey Havens." I really am a fan of Howard Shore's music, and I'm glad they picked him to do LOTR's.

[Angry Brandybuck]

I don't own (yet) any of the soundtrack CDs because i am a poor student who cannot afford the evilly high CD prices that are a product of the over commercial nature of the music industry.<P>Anyway, I particularly like the music that plays when we see Isenguard and all the underground tunnels and stuff around it. The way he composed it in 7/8 to give it an angular feel works really well.<P>I also love the polychoral, almost St Mark's Cathedral sound created by the elves of Lorien as they mourn Gandalf's death: Brilliant!

[Minyataurien]

I love "The White Tree", "Into The West", "Steward of Gondor", and "Gollum's Song". I sang Gollum's Song for my choir solo I like it so much. Very weird aren't I. But anyway I think Howard Shore has really gotten better. TTT soundtrack was a little to much like the FOTR one. In the ROTK he added a lot of new themes while still using the old ones. He has definately become a master!

[Lalaith]

For me, the soundtrack, which for the most part was both imaginative and appropriate, came some way to compensate for the screenplay, which often was neither of these things. <BR>I think my favourite was the Rohan theme.

[eldomeldo]

I do not have a particular track that is my favourite, as i like all of the music from the movies. What i like most about the soundtrack is the ability it has to transport you to the movies, even when you are not watching them.<BR>My hubby thought i was made, buying them when they first came out and were in the chart, 'cos if i had waited till now, i could of got, LOTR and TTT CD's for the price i paid for one, but i have no patience to wait, just like when the video's and EEE DVD'S come out, i can not wait till they have been out for a while so the price drops, i want them as soon as they are available. As Treebeard would say, I am hasty.

[Lathriel]

I love all the soundtracks and I could never choose my favourite out of all three because I change my mind all the time!<BR>Anyway, I like the flute solo on the Black Gate opens, I love the Gondor theme and I love the Rohan theme in battle mode. <BR>The only thing that I don't like too much is from the first soundtrack, that is the theme for the dark riders.<BR>Now I am just really curious about the Lord of the Rings symphony Howard Shore is writing.

[Ashton]

"Into the West" is my absolute favorite song.It definately deserved to win a Golden Globe, don't you think? Also I am a big fan of "The Grey Havens" It is a great pre-song to "Into the West" I find that I can't listen to "Into the West" without listening to "The Grey Havens" first. It just adds to the quality of the song.<P>I also love the song, "May it be" It is such a haunting melody. That is the first song I ever listened to from the FotR soundtrack. And since I was a late converter to the movies it was one of my first connections to the movies. I actually listened to FotR soundtrack before I saw the movie. <p>[ 12:19 PM February 06, 2004: Message edited by: Ashton ]

[Phervasaion]

Again, I tend to like all the music that is used in Lotr and, as someone else has said, it seems to take you to the film.<P>I particulary like 'Return of the King'with Viggo's solo and 'may it be' by Enya. I havnt actually heard 'Into the West' though, i'll have to hear it sometime soon.

[Essex]

Tracks 15, 16 and 17 work perfectly together.<P>How on earth did Howard Shore realise that a Penny Whistle could convey so much feeling when Frodo and Sam are crawling up Mount Doom? That bit still brings a tear to my eye when I'm in the mood. I mean, how did he do it? Maybe Sir James Galway is his mate and talked him into it.......<P>PS got tickets for the LPO's performance of LOTR conducted by Howard Shore in London for May. I can't wait. I wonder, you never know, Mr Galway might pop over from Ireland to have a little play.....

[Lhundulinwen]

The LOTR soundtracks are my favorite CDS ever possibly. I own a copy of the first one, and the third one. My absolutely favorite songs are "May it be", "Concerning Hobbits" "lothlorien""A Storm is Coming", "The Grey Havens" and "Into the West." They all flow so nicely from one CD to another. If I'm in the right mood, I'll cry over the CDs. Concerning Hobbits just reminds me of home. Its just so beautifully done. I love Howard Shore!!!

[Kransha]

Hard to say, considering I only have the second two.

I have a soft spot for the minor key, so I'd go with "the Uruk-hai" as a nice little evil ditty to hum. I always though Howard Shore was great at characterizing the races and peoples into music. I thought that the classical beat with that oh-so-lovely metallic drumming in the background was just perfect for Isengard, and the celtic melancholiness of the fiddle great for Rohan.

Overall, I liked "The Uruk-hai", "The White Tree", "The Return of the King", and "Into the West"

By the way, to add a side note, the stunning Rohan theme is actually played by a single Norwegian Fiddle. I had the great luck to obtain the music (being a violinist myself) and am rather adept at it if I do say so myself. (shameless self-promotion).

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

My FotR soundtrack's favorite is absolutely Concerning Hobbits. It has such a feeling like nothing's wrong and life is sun shine all the way. Other great pieces in that cd are The Bridge of Khazad-dûm and both Enya's songs.

TTT's favorites are The King of the Golden Hall, The Leave Taking and Isengard Unleashed.

RotK favorites are...actually I love all of them, but if I had to name three, I would say The Black Gate Opens, Minas Tirith and Into the West.
One can really live all the events of the movies over and over again with the soundtracks. Just awesome!

[Lathriel]

Actually it was because of the soundtracks that I got into this whole craze. First I liked the music a lot. Then the extended DVD of the first movie came out and I was hooked.
Now my mom asks me if I got tired of LOTR. Of course the answer is NO!! Of Course not!
Really I am afraid I will carry this craze with me for the rest of my life.

[Ellwyn]

I always thought the Lothlorien theme was eerie (sp?). I particularly liked in the FOTR soundtrack the 'Theme of Aragorn and Arwen'. I love it. Yes I do, precious.

[Vanwatholiel]

I really like the Lament to Gandalf theme. In the first movie, after Gandalf said "fly you fools", and fell, then Frodo yells, I like that the song playing. Everybody just came out of Moria, and they are sitting the rocks outside the gate mourning for him. The music playing there is really beautiful. I rewinded and played that part on the soundtrack so many times, it is permanently tatooed on my brain cells. It is just so sad and mournful, and full of sorrow, I cry everytime I hear that part and song. Aragorn goes,"Frodo"! And then Frodo turns around, and you can see that lone tear coursing down his cheek. I have no more tears left.

I also like the Sam and Frodo Hobbit theme. I also like The Grey Havens, Gollum's Song, and Into the West, and May It Be.

I sort of go into a trance when I hear Lament to Gandalf on the slopes of Moria. I'm about to cry now. Gotta go.

May the Grace of the Valar be with you. Amen

[Vanwatholiel]

Okay, who here besides me likes the part in the Fellowship of the Ring, the music, After Gandalf fell, and then Frodo yells Noooo! The music to that part is so sad. I cry everytime I hear it. I listened to it so many times, it is tatooed on my brain cells. For those of you who have the soundtrack, It is the last part on the song the Bridge of Khazad Dum, number thirteen. The first movie. Tell me what you think, or am I the only one. Speak! Would Treebeard call me hasty?

[Knight of Gondor]

I like pretty much every piece of music that Shore wrote for the trilogy. I can't claim any special love for that selection, but I do enjoy some of the other, more action-oriented tracks, such as the beginning of track 13, the Dwarrowdelf theme of track 12, the fighting theme in track 16, and the resolution theme of track 17. But I suppose we could talk about the rest of the tracks in the soundtrack discussion thread.

[Beruthiel]

Oh the LOTR soundtracks are fantastic!! I could listen too all them and every single time I do I get a tear in my eye. In FOTR my faves are Concerning Hobbits, The Ring Goes South and The Breaking of the Fellowship. Breaking of the Fellowship ALWAYS makes me cry...
In TTT I love the Rohan themes (King of the Golden Hall) and the first song is great too (forgot what its called!)
I haven't actually got ROTK but I've managed to listen to bits of them on the net and I really like The Return of the King, Minas Tirith, Hope and Memory and The Black Gate Opens...BEAUTIFUL stuff...
But there's something thats been bugging me for ages. Is it just me, or is the music in the TTT trailer absolutely amazing or what!? I LOVE it and I can't understand why they haven't included it on any of the CDs!! I downloaded the trailer and now I just play it over and over just to listen to the music! So if I have to choose, my fave music from LOTR is the TTT Trailer score

[Leyrana Silumiel]

Sadly, I am a poor, broke college student, so I only have the third one (though I really, REALLY want the first one). But my favorites off ROTK's soundtrack are "The Steward of Gondor," "The Fields of the Pelennor," "The Black Gate Opens," "The End of All Things" (the opera-style singing just MAKES that song), "The Return of the King," and, of course, "Into the West." I don't listen to "The Grey Havens" too often because it makes me cry ^_^

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

Kind of off topic (sorry) but I thought that the music in the RotK trailer was just awesome and I waited to hear it on the soundtrack. Well, then I found out that the music in the trailer was form the soundtrack of Requiem for a Dream . That was a little disappointment. But still I think that the score of RotK is the best of the three.

[skadork]

While I have all 3, couldn't tell you which is my favorite, as of this moment in time, I think it's RotK.

They are nice on nights when I can't sleep, I let the soundtracks play me to sleep. ( For a while, I COULDN'T get to sleep without playing one................ addiction? )

[Oliphaunts_Rule]

Oddie, my sister, got to buy all three before I could, but their all reallllllyyyy cool.
my top five are (in order, mind-you)

Into the West
May it Be (I'm an Enya fan!!!!!!)
The Steward of Gondor
The Black Rider
Conserning Hobbits

I was crying by the end of RoTK, cause the song was sssssssooooo sad!


P.S. Its been to long since I last posted I'm ashamed to say!

[Oddwen]

Aww, Ollie, you were ssssssssssssoo sssssssssssad, Precious? >

Alright, if you care about my opinion at all, go ahead and read.


Fellowship of the Ring
General opinion: Time has made this the dearest volume, but I don't care for the too-overly choral pieces or most of the elvish stuff. The boy choirs & the 5/4 time of Saruman's orcs is very well done, and there are bits and notes in nearly every song that make it feel like I've listened to it forever.

The Prophecy (Wow, what can I say? This is like a sweeping overview of the ages when the trees of gold and silver were in bloom.)

The Ring Goes South (I love this little song. Especially the beginning few notes.)

The Great River (This is more Elvish than Lothlorien, or almost anything else.)

Amon Hen (This song goes together so perfectly, the beginning, the Saruman theme which is so cool, and the boy choir, specifically at 3:13.)

The Breaking of the Fellowship (I don't really care for "In Dreams," but this is a very good song. Very relieved to hear that it's Sam's theme. Also, the note at 3:17 is heartrending.)

May it Be (I like it a lot, very much.)


The Two Towers
I don't really care for this volume as much as the others. The Rohirric theme is rather annoying and sounds like it's trying too hard to make me feel pity for the poor wretches. Well, bah humbug!

The Passage of the Marshes (Very creepy, the voices extra so.)

Evenstar (The jewel of the album, extremely haunting. I wish they could have gotten Isobel Bayrakdarian for RotK as well.)

Treebeard (A very unusual song. I like it because of that, but it's too hasty to be Entish.)

Helm's Deep (It's an okay song, very heart stirring considering it's barely played at Helm's Deep at all, but it's the ending solo that makes me wake up.)

Isengard Unleashed (About the only thing I liked was the lament for Haldir. Creee-py.)

Gollum's Song (Definitely the strangest of the three Songs of the Albums. Unusual as well.)

The Return of the King
Wow. Howard Shore really outdid himself with this one. Billy Boyd's song is great.

Some standouts:


Shelob's Lair (Very creepy. I can almost place it in the book.)

The End of All Things (Very dramatic. Especially the part where Frodo is carried off by the eagles. Rene Fleming has a very good voice for that.)

The Grey Havens (The flute at the beginning, and between 4:40 and 5:60 just gets me)

Into the West (A fitting ending, if an ending indeed had to come. I love it beyond words.)


So, my favorite soundtracks in order:
#1RotK
#2FotR
#3TTT

And my favorite songs are:

Into the West
The Grey Havens
Evenstar

Thanks for reading, gotta go bye!

[Essex]

Any one know if they're going to release Into the West as a single? I mean it won an Oscar for pete's sake!

I'm hoping they will, as maybe as a 'b' side they will have the 'Keep well the days' (or whatever it was called) song that Annie also recorded that's only on a special (expensive) internet only CD soundtrack. Anyone heard this song yet?

[Sirithheruwen]

Like someone said, I also think the TTT trailer is absolutely beautiful!! Many a time have I tried to hum it, with little to show for my labors. I listen to it over and over on the TTT DVD so that now it is tatooed onto my brain (thanks to all of the other BDers who gave me this wonderful phrase! Love it!)

Here are the soundtracks, in my opinion, with the amount of stars they deserve (on a scale of 1 to 5)

FOTR: **** (Really very good, IMO. Nazgul theme is cool. Especially love May it Be. Very haunting. Very fitting.)

TTT: ****1/2 (Better than FOTR, but only by a hair. Loved the Rohan theme especially. Very moving. Very haunting. I'm very repetative, I know.)

ROTK: ****** (And, yes, I know I gave it 6 stars. I think this soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal! Very moving. (Argghh! here I go again!) I especially loved The White Tree, The Steward of Gondor, and Into the West. Painfully beautiful and fitting for the end of the trilogy.)

Well, that's my opinion! Toodles!

[Gorwingel]

I love the Soundtracks! and I love basically all of the songs, except for some of the very loud "evil" songs. My favorites have to be on average the three last tracks on each of the soundtracks. I love the songs from Lorien, and the songs from Rohan, and I especially love the Gondor theme from the ROTK soundtrack. My absolute favorite song (after many listens) has to be "Return of the King" from the last one. I love the length of it, and how the music basically tells the entire story. From the celebration to the coming home. I also absoutely love the "Breaking of the Fellowship" from the first disk. It is a wonderful and heartwrenching piece.

Some of the best movie music ever And I think many of you would agree

[Vanwatholiel]

I have one more thing to add. In the first soundtrack, The breaking of the Fellowship ALWAYS makes me cry vedy, vedy hard. That song was my first love, and age has made it even more sacred to me. That song is so beautiful. I am about to cry just thinking about it. In Dreams is one of the main reasons why I listen to it. Edward Ross outdoes himself in this song. I even sing along too! Opera sounding voice and everything. I love Enya! This soundtrack was the reason I had even heard of her. May it Be was really gorgeous. And Aniron. And I like Evenstar too, in TTT. It is very haunting. But most of the time, I cry whenever I hear any of the quiet songs, and Sam's theme. That is my absolute favorite. The soft, low, sensuous melodies, and even the soft, low, choir themes make me cry. I have a lot of tears to spare. I wonder, would Treebeard call me hasty? All in all, ALL the soundtracks are really lovely, and will become classics. I LOVE HOWARD SHORE!!! AND ENYA! I love music, and I am totally obsessed with the LOTR soundtracks!

[mark12_30]

Use well the days and look here.

[Oddwen]

I have been waiting for these RotK lyrics!


The Argument featured in The Black Gate_ [?]

Sindarin

Caedo, losto. Ú-erin davo.
Amman harthach? Anim únad.
Le tûg nach. O hon ú-wannathon.
Ú-moe le anno nad. Ónen a hon beth nín.
Gurth han ristatha. Ta han narcho Gurth.
Gar vethed e-chúnen, go hon bedithon na meth.

English

Lie down, sleep. / I cannot yield.
Why do you still hope? / I have nothing else.
You are a fool. / I will not leave him.
You owe him nothing / I gave him my word.
Death will break it. / Then let death break it.
He has the last of my heart. / I will go with him to the end.


Not Once, Not Ever_ featured in The End of All Things_ [?]

Sindarin

Dannen le
A ú-erin le regi
Rang ail le iestannen
Lû ail le tegin na hen.
Gwannach o innen ului
Ú lû erui, ului.

English

You have fallen.
And I cannot reach you.
Ever step I willed you on,
Every moment I lead you to this.
You never left my mind,
Not once, not ever.

My lovely, lovely Angel Sam.

[Essex]

Thanks as well Mark!

After listening (umpteen times) Use well the days, in my opinion, is even better than Into the West. The lyrics are brilliant, mostly taken from Frodo's last song and the title taken from Celeborn's last words to Aragorn.

Brilliant, and a great tune to boot as well. Take a listen if you can, the web site is pointed to above by Mark

[Silent Sam]

Hey, they changed the format since last time I was here

Anyway, my favorite ROTK tracks were:

-The Steward Of Gondor; Billy Boyd was hauntingly amazing in his solo

-Shelob's Lair; it portrayed the mood of that whole scene

-The Ride Of The Rohirrim; I love the Rohan theme in it

-The Return Of The King; again, Aragorn's solo was very haunting, and it was my favorite part of the whole movie: "My friends, You bow to no one!"

-The Grey Havens; I can't really say why, it's just very mood capturing, mabye my most favorite on the CD

[starkat]

My favorite has to be Return of the King soundtrack. Minas Tirith, The White Tree, Anduril, The End of All Things, The Return of the King, The Grey Havens, and Into the West have to be my favorite pieces off of there. I also like Concerning Hobbits off of FotR.

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

Oh thank you, thank you mark12_30! Use well the days is so beautiful! This is amazing: last week I wondered, where I could hear that song and when I came back here, there the link was

[Elanor the Fair]

Mt most favorite is Samwise the Brave, but I also enjoy: Into the West, the Return of the King, Concerning Hobbits, Many Meetings, The Breaking of the Fellowship, May it Be, and Gollum's Song. So all in all, I like most of the songs, except for the Dead Marshes. (there really wasn't much to that song)

This is kinda off the topic, bit did anyone else notice that like almost all the song titles were names of the chapters in the books? It's pretty cool! I guess that they were trying to be a bit creative there!

[Carlas]

I have always loved the Lord of the Rings music since the very first time I saw the Fellowship. It is so beautiful, and perfectly portrays the emotions and moods of each scene. I enjoy all of the tracks on the ROTK soundtrack, but the two that stand out for me are The Steward of Gondor, and Shelob's Lair.

The Steward of Gondor is so beautiful and strong, but the thing that really makes this track what it is, is Billy Boyd's solo. It worked so perfectly in the movie as Faramir and his men charged, and is equally as moving when just being listened to.

Shelob's Lair though is by far my favourite, it gives me goosebumps everytime I listen to it. You can just feel frodo's emotions as he finally realizes what has happened.

[Cibbwin]

Favourites include the song sung by the elves who passed by Frodo and Sam, Eowyn's dirge, The Flight to the Ford, Lothlorien, The Breaking of the Fellowship, The Riders of Rohan, The music playing behind the "Daughter of Kings" scene, The beautiful "Last march of the ents" bit, the tranquil, creepy, calm music played when the Three hunters are in Fangorn, when Faramir and Frodo are at Henneth Annun, The Steward of Gondor, Anduril, and The Return of the King. Oh, and Aniron!

[Lhundulinwen]

Just wondering if anyone else does this-

I got a MP3 player for Christmas (Its great! Two hours of songs AND still able to fit in my little purses!) and I have three or four LOTR songs on it- Concerning Hobbits, Into the West, and May it Be. (I try to rotate the other songs I like into it too.) And when I am having a bad day, or just really stressed, I HAVE to listen to one or more of these songs in order to go to sleep. Does anyone else do that? Or freak out and turn around if your on a trip and you've forgotten your LOTR CD's? I have done that before!

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

And when I am having a bad day, or just really stressed, I HAVE to listen to one or more of these songs in order to go to sleep.

I do that all the time. My official stress remover songs are Into the West and Use Well the Days. I'm now having a quite tough exam period at school and those songs are playing in my cd player almost evey time I listen to any music.

[Sirithheruwen]

Originally Posted by Lhundulinwen

Just wondering if anyone else does this-

I got a MP3 player for Christmas (Its great! Two hours of songs AND still able to fit in my little purses!) and I have three or four LOTR songs on it- Concerning Hobbits, Into the West, and May it Be. (I try to rotate the other songs I like into it too.) And when I am having a bad day, or just really stressed, I HAVE to listen to one or more of these songs in order to go to sleep. Does anyone else do that?

*gasp* I got an MP3 player for Christmas too! Talk about spooky! I fall asleep with it playing every night and whenever I go out to Walk to Rivendell, it's really handy!