The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (The Complete Recordings) | 
| Creator: Howard Shore
Label: Reprise / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $74.98
Buy New: $70.99
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Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 1769
Format: Soundtrack, Box Set, Collector's Edition
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 6 x 5.8 x 2
MPN: 162044
UPC: 093624996910
EAN: 0093624996910
ASIN: B000V6BE6M
Release Date: November 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| | Roots and Beginnings | | | Journey to the Cross-roads | | | The Road to Isengard | | | The Foot of Orthanc | | | Return to Edoras | | | The Chalice Passed | | | The Green Dragon Featuring Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan | | | Gollum s Villainy | | | Éowyn s Dream | | | The Palantír | | | Flight from Edoras | | | The Grace of Undómiel Featuring Renée Fleming | | | The Eyes of the White Tower | | | A Coronal of Silver and Gold | | | The Lighting of the Beacons |
Disc 2
| | Osgiliath Invaded Featuring Ben del Maestro | | | The Stairs of Cirith Ungol | | | Allegiance to Denethor | | | The Sacrifice of Faramir Featuring Billy Boyd performing The Edge of Night | | | The Parting of Sam and Frodo | | | Marshalling at Dunharrow | | | Andúril Flame of the West | | | The Passing of the Grey Company | | | Dwimorberg The Haunted Mountain | | | Master Meriadoc, Swordthain | | | The Paths of the Dead | | | The Siege of Gondor | | | Shelob s Lair | | | Merry s Simple Courage |
Disc 3
| | Grond The Hammer of the Underworld | | | Shelob the Great | | | The Tomb of the Stewards | | | The Battle of the Pelennor Fields | | | The Pyre of Denethor | | | The Mûmakil | | | Dernhelm in Battle | | | A Far Green Country | | | Shieldmaiden of Rohan | | | The Passing of Théoden | | | The Houses of Healing Featuring Liv Tyler | | | The Tower of Cirith Ungol | | | The Last Debate Featuring Sissel performing Asëa Aranion | | | The Land of Shadow | | | The Mouth of Sauron Featuring Sir James Galway | | | For Frodo Featuring Ben del Maestro |
Disc 4
| | Mount Doom Featuring Renée Fleming | | | The Crack of Doom | | | The Eagles Featuring Renée Fleming | | | The Fellowship Reunited Featuring Sir James Galway, Viggo Mortensen, and Renée Fleming | | | The Journey to the Grey Havens Featuring Sir James Galway | | | Elanor Featuring Sir James Galway | | | Days of the Ring Featuring Annie Lennox performing Into the West | | | Bilbo s Song |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
This five-disc set caps off the "complete recordings" series, which offers extensive versions of Howard Shore's score for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The main problem lays in its being the last installment: Most of the main characters, along with their themes, have been introduced in the previous two sets, creating a certain sense of familiarity. But there is still plenty to please fans here, and then some. Though it includes the climactic trek to Mount Doom, the overall mood is less dark than in The Two Towers. The London Philharmonic Orchestra handles the heavy lifting, with help from adult and children's choirs, and well-selected guest stars. Soprano Renée Fleming, for instance, lends a particularly eerie, otherworldly touch to disc 1's "The Grace of Undómiel," and disc 4's "Mount Doom" and "The Eagles." Meanwhile, flutist James Galway provides a quasi-spiritual counterbalance, a musical ray of hope on tracks such as disc 3's "The Mouth of Sauron." And of course, Annie Lennox's Academy Award-winning "Into the West" is here, incorporated in disc 4's "Days of the Ring." Finally, the fifth disc is a DVD-Audio that includes the score in super-duper surround sound. It may seem like overkill, but too much is never enough for LOTR fans--and besides, people buying this set are exactly the kind of people who own the type of equipment required to make disc 5 explode. Finally, the packaging includes new artwork and liner notes written by Doug Adams, an expert on the music from LOTR. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
Amazon.com
The final film in The Lord Of The Rings blockbuster trilogy features the climax of the epic journey that brought Tolkien's world before our very eyes. The Complete Recordings series featuring the soundtrack albums have been hits and award winners. Now with The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King featuring "Into The West" by Annie Lennox, this album from the series' composer Howard Shore is sure to score with movie fans. For fans of The Lord Of The Rings films, and those who purchased last year's The Fellowship Of The Ring—The Complete Recordings and The Two Towers—The Complete Recordings, this incredible package completes a now classic set of soundtracks. Lord of the Rings Photo More from The Lord of the Rings 
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| Customer Reviews: Read 55 more reviews...
White shores are calling ... November 20, 2007
G. Kroener (Bamberg, Bavaria Germany)
90 out of 99 found this review helpful
Four years it has been now; four years since The Return Of The King graced our theatres, destined to become the second most successful film of all time, garning eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Peter Jackson. And, not least of all, two for Howard Shore and his never resting mind. Four years full of studying Tolkien, labouring over dozens of different cuts and scrutinising every thematic approach in each scene, making absolutely sure it relates correctly and pushes all the right buttons, Howard Shore's labour of love comes to a glorious, and well- deserved end.
The End? Not really. For three years now, Howard Shore himself supervised the production of these Complete Recordings, and it speaks for his character that he didn't give this project out of his hands.
So, here we are, holding The Return Of The King in our hands, and the question is today as relevant as it was four years ago - maybe even more, since we can now judge the full vision of Howard Shore: does it hold up? Did Shore do justice to his own brilliance, did he actually manage to bring the full spectrum of themes to a logical, conclusive, satisfying end?
If the last 20 years of film making have taught us anything, then it's certainly a strong reluctancy to set our hopes for sequels or prequels too high. How many times did we have the highest hopes for a single project, and it didn't only fail, but also had that uniquely ability to not only tarnish the film itself, but all previous entries as well?
That is the most important lesson, and it also reveals a very important aspect of creativity: dazzling the mind with a lot of flash is easy; illuminating the mind with structure demands far more from any artist. That today's movies fail to give us amazing eye candy can't be expected anymore, but amongst all the FX artists doing their magic and sound effect guys blasting the theatre's speakers, where's the story, the gravitas, the ingenuity?
So, am I trying to ease you into the message that Howard Shore actually didn't really deliver this time? No. I want to show you the vast deepness of the chasm on whose edge Howard Shore stood.
Obviously, Lord Of The Rings is not the first movie series with sequels that are better than the original. Motion picture history is littered with improved second parts. The difference, however, is that usually, when a composer delivers an improved sequel, it feels like revisiting the previous score. The composer develops themes by reconsidering the first installment. He might take the score from film one from A to B, and the second score from A to C.
In Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, Shore went from point A to B and B to C, respectively. Themes continued developments without a recap, drawing fresh connections while pushing the old in new directions; the palette widened, incorporating a grander sense of scope and advanced realisations of the styles.
Return of the King takes us triumphantly to point D, which logically expands the compass even further. Shore has built his emotional arc through nearly eight hours of music before reaching this score, and now, as we reach the destination, everything is touched with a sense of gravity. We've earned this voyage; we've come to its conclusion naturally, and the effects are nearly overwhelming.
Nowadays, it's an easy task to find film scores with beautifully soaring themes and powerful action. Nearly every film score today appears to see its task in creating music that is soaked with emotional highlights, moments of pathos and orchestral clashes of almost orgiastic proportions. But in 90 % of those cases, an essential element is lacking: the music and the film don't *earn* these moments, resulting in an atmosphere of fakeness and emotional pretentiousness.
This isn't the case with Lord of the Rings, and especially not with Return of the King. Two scores and six hours of music steadily, subtly and systematically build into this archetectural masterpiece.
Return Of The King has a different vibe from the very first bar. Orchestrations and compositions are a lot more diverse and intricate, and even the palette of soundscapes is more elaborate.
This is largely due to the fact that in Return of the King, Howard Shore combines and collides his themes to bring them down to a common denominator, to bring the stories to their logical climax. For instance, in "A Coronal Of Silver and Gold" or "The Land Of Shadow", the 5/4 beat of Isengard meets the Fourth Age Of Mordor theme, and the Orc theme of Isengard meets the Threat Of Mordor motif, indicating that Isengard's power and creatures have now been fully consumed by and integrated under the eye of Sauron.
From the very beginning, Return of the King builds on The Two Towers' maturity, and adds an amazing layer of thematic and textural developments. The bridging is absolutely seamless - the first 30 seconds of "Roots and Beginnings" sound like a direct continuation of Two Tower's end credits.
This score has a distinct touch of understated grandesse, which roots in Howard Shore's inherent subtlety, and which is perfect because the movie isn't about heroic, uplifting battles, it shows a world in decline and its hope of revival.
Everything builds into this, and the true meanings of all themes are revealed. Right in the opening sequence, "Roots And Beginnings", the essential meaning of the Ring's Seduction theme is presented. Or the ringwraiths; listen to Fellowship's "The Nazgul", Two Towers' "Wraiths On Wings", and then "Shieldmaiden Of Rohan", and you will not only see, you will understand. That's also a feelings very few scores can create.
When Aragorn bows to the four hobbits during the coronation scene, you hear the exact same short piece that plays when Frodo says "I will take the ring" during the Council Of Elrond; these are the moments that reveal a true genius of musical storytelling.
And amongst all these intricacies, Howard Shore never loses the focus on the heart of the tale. That is why the emotional climaxes reaches their full blossoming in the listener's mind, and each one stabs right into your heart, unfolding a deep satisfaction.
As you know by now, this gem includes four CDs, one DVD with the score in Surround Sound, and a more than intriguing booklet by Doug Adams, who guides us through the soundscapes of Middle-Earth.
Also, like Two Towers, this release includes countless additions that didn't make it into the film. These additions are sometimes of bigger, often of shorter nature, but they all glue together some score parts that appeared incoherent in the film. In the best sense of the word, they give the score even more time to breathe and to shine.
I don't think there has ever been a film score that lived and breathed quite like The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and The Return Of The King especially. Every piece of music has its meaning, talks to you, and leaves you deeply satisfied.
Unlike the Ring films themselves, their scores, or more precisely their themes, may never become part of popular culture, and in times where this is considered the knighting for any film score, Lord Of The Rings doesn't need to, since it has an entirely different goal, and works on an entirely different level.
If you wanted to place "The Return Of The King" in film music history, you will have to go back to the glory days of film music in the 50s and the 60s, when there was no difference between classically trained composers and film composers, when those great musicians didn't need to worry about sales or becoming part of pop culture, but instead created music through which their films lived, breathed and acquired true greatness. Spartacus, El Cid, North By Northwest, Ben Hur, Jason and the Argonauts, that is the royal company in which The Lord Of The Rings does not need to feel ashamed.
You could even say that The Return Of The King goes back to 18th/19th century opera in terms of how dozens and dozens of meticulously interwoven motifs not only shape the actors' performance, but also tell the story on their own. In this light, Shore's Ring trilogy has even an advantage over scores like Ben Hur or King Of Kings.
Howard Shore's masterpiece combines genuine opera with a glimpse of Golden Age, and this is an achievement for the ages.
Fantabulous! November 24, 2007
Robert Shepard Jr. (USA)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I have been greatly looking forward to a complete "Return of the King" soundtrack ever since the movie came out, and I realized how wonderful Howard Shore's music was. What sheer delight, being able to sit in my living room for two hours last night, and again this afternoon, with two cats vying for space in my lap, the sound of knitting needles softly clacking nearby, during lulls in the music, while listing to the heavenly strains of melody wafting from the speakers. The only thing missing was the fireplace and a couple of burning logs.
I would argue for this being the greatest score ever written for a film sequel, except that technically it isn't. Peter Jackson set out to produce a single, gigantic epic, which he then broke into three parts for convenience. In much the same way, J. R. R. Tolkien wrote the original novel half a century ago but split it into the familiar trio. Thus, when Howard Shore was asked to create the music, he had the luxury of thinking in terms of the whole trilogy, and began to lay the groundwork in "The Fellowship of the Ring" right from the beginning. This gave him a tremendous advantage over, say, John Williams, who was at the mercy of George Lucas coming up with a new Star Wars script every few years. He had to make up the music as he went along.
According to the "making of the music" video in the extended DVD version of "Fellowship", Shore knew from the outset that he wanted to create an opera. If you read the excellent notes which come with the music boxed sets for all three movies, you'll know that he heavily employed a 19th century technique called "leitmotif", wherein every character of note, and every place, gets its own theme, and all of these melodies are skillfully woven together. By "The Return of the King", all the pieces were in place for the grand climax of the epic.
The beauty of this composing technique is that I could sit there with my eyes closed, and follow the progression of the movie. Certain visions and bits of dialog would pop into my mind. I could see Deagol plunge into the water and lose hold of his fishing pole, only to find the Ring embedded in the mire instead -- to his undoing. Or how about when the treasonous Saruman is standing atop Orthanc, up to his old tricks, trying to sow dissent among the ranks of his opponents? Or that wonderful extended scene where Sam and Frodo see the sun shining for one last, forlorn moment upon a floral crown atop the fallen head of a Gondorian statue at the Cross-Roads?
My favorite track of all is "The Lighting of the Beacons". I've seen that scene probably three times more often than the rest of the movie in its entirety, and the music plays a huge part of that. Another good one is "Osgilliath Invaded", which features boy soprano Ben del Maestro's ethereal voice soaring above Pelennor Fields, figuratively speaking, as Gandalf rides forth from Minas Tirith, light streaming from his staff, to dispel the Nazgul on their fell beasts and thus rescue Faramir's band.
And, of course, there is the whole sequence of Sam and Frodo on the side of Mount Doom: "Then let's be rid of it, once and for all. I can't carry it for you, but I can carry YOU!"
If you've watched the "making of" videos for the extended "Return of the King" DVD, you may recall that Annie Lennox was working on a second recording, called, I think, "Live for the Day", but this never made it into the movie. I was kind of hoping maybe they'd slip it into the boxed set, alongside "Into the West", but no dice. They did, however, include something just as nice: "Bilbo's Song". I listened to it twice, feeling utterly haunted by the melody. What a great way to finish the journey.
As with the other two boxed sets, the packaging is very attractive. I have a minor complaint about the CD pegs being a hair too tight, but no matter. Be aware, too, that the DVD is two-sided, which means there is no label side to absorb grease from one's hand inadvertently brushing across it. It's happened to me a couple of times already. That also means being extra careful when you twist the DVD off its rubbery peg, lest you get fingerprints on the surface.
The notes for all three movies keep referring to a book called "The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films". I hope this becomes available sooner rather than later. There are very nice PDF booklets available for download giving a track-by-track discussion of the music in all three films -- but this would mean listening to the music in front of my computer. And that isn't always practical. Perhaps it's time to invest in a nice color printer.
But why spend any more time reading this, when you could be listening to the music instead? It was well worth the price for me. Go for it!
A Cinematic Score Masterpiece! November 21, 2007
Michael Longstreet (Sacramento, CA USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Howard Shore's Academy Award winning score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of King was released in 2003. That was a typical standard release, only containing a fraction of the film's actual music. Finally, the film's score takes its rightful place in cinematic music history with this 4-disc masterpiece recently released from Reprise Records.
Shore's brilliant blending of themes occurs in this final chapter of the film trilogy, more so than either of the two previous releases. The Fellowship theme, after forming and then breaking, must draw itself to a new level of focus as they reach Mount Doom. The Elves' theme bestows its final gifts to Middle-Earth, receding into the West. Isengard's theme must meet its fateful demise, but not before incorporating those themes into Sauron's theme near the end of the story.
The themes of men, Rohan and Gondor, each given isolated themes in the previous releases, now join forces assuming lead roles in the preparation for war with Sauron's forces. The theme for the Ring itself is also brought to its climax as its fate is decided on Mount Doom. The three main Ring themes now interact with each other, creating a musical fusion that beautifully haunting.
As Middle-Earth survives the War of the Ring and enters its Fourth Age, Shore grants the surviving culture's themes peace and prosperity and maintains the aesthetics of each society. Men are granted respite; the Elves, peace; Hobbits, wisdom; and Ring to its fate, destruction.
Released in a beautiful boxed set, Shore's score is recorded on four discs. Disc five is a DVD audio disc that contains the entire score in Dolby Digital Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo Sound, Advanced Resolution Surround Sound (24-bit), and Advanced Resolution Stereo Sound (24-bit). The set also comes with a detailed 45-page booklet about the score for the third film, along with Shore's inspirations for some tracks, new instruments used during the scoring process, a list of performers, and much more.
It's really difficult to say which tracks are standouts over others because the entire score is fantastic. Disc four's "Days of the Ring" (which is actually the film's end credits) features Annie Lennox's Academy Award winning song "Into the West."
This is truly a fantastic piece, I've been waiting for its release ever since the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Complete Recordings came out two years ago. It's hard to express just truly how moving this music really is. If you're a fan of Lord of the Rings, or even just a fan of score music like me, then you'll definitely want to pick up this set.
Howard Shore's Ring Cycle December 24, 2007
Bill Mayer (Berkeley, CA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Over the past few years, as a so-called 'Classical Music' fan, I've become more and more interested in film scores. The classic composers, Korngold, Steiner, Herrmann, Rozsa, Goldsmith, Tiomkin, and many others, all have written music that not only worked wonderfully with the films, but worked on its own terms. Now, with the release of the final complete score for The Return of the King, we can see the entire piece, almost 10 hours of it, as a single work. It is rich in thematic content, with innumerable melodies that will stick in you head, lyricism, and drama. It is filled with interesting instruments and sounds, both tonal and atonal, and utilizes a vast pallet of color. It is a remarkable achievement. Wonderful choral work (in invented languages, no less!) is mixed with delicate solo work from performers well-known in clasical circles, such as Renee Fleming and James Galway. What is amazing to me is how well it stands on its own. There are very few 'dead spots', especially given that this is the complete score, on 4 cds.
It is natural to think of that other 'Ring', Wagner's, when considering this work. And I would not wish to suggest that they are comparable, though Shore himself spoke of this score as his 'opera'. Yet it is a vast and wonderful work, quite moving, often exciting, and almost always interesting. He was given an unusual amount of time to write it, and the result is a score of astonishing complexity.
A few details. The packaging, as for the previous two, is quite elegant. The notes are good (and on line you can download a more detailed analysis on some 50 pages or so). Also, it comes with a single dvd on which the entire score (2 sides) can be played. Sound is good to very good - on my system, I notice no particular difference in quality between the cds and the dvd.
Criticisms are minor. If you have little interest in the movie, this may not be for you. If your taste in music veers away from the Classical or folk-like, this might not be your cup of tea either. There is a fair amount of repitition (but so is there in Wagner) and you might not be overly fond of some of the solo singing (Liv Tyler's song is a bit weak, and some may not like Annie Lenox, though I do, very much). You probably should be a fairly serious fan of the movies in order to appreciate the score to its fullest (that however, would also be true of Wagner, or of any opera or vocal work). There is a sweet nod of the head to Wagner at the end. It is also a real investment. And finally, you can buy single cd versions of the score of each of the movies, which might be enough. But I have to say - not for me. I like the whole architecture of the work. I'm just amazed that they went to the trouble of releasing this, as well as the other two. It suggests a labor of love.
A Completed Magnum Opus, Shore's Complete Recording of the Score to "The Return of the King" November 25, 2007
G M. Stathis (cedar city, utah USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
A circle, or ring if you prefer, has almost come to a final closing with the release of Howard Shore's Complete Recording of the score to "The Return of the King." We now speculate as to the future of "The Hobbit," whether it will be filmed by Peter Jackson and whether maestro Shore will compose the score. Even so, there is partial closure with the complete rendering of the music for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Comment has been made that J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" may have been the most notable literary achievement of the twentieth century, and that Jackson's film trilogy may be among the greatest cinematic creations of that same century. Likewise, similar consideration must be given to Howard Shore. Max Steiner's score for "King Kong" will always be recognized as the beginning of the modern classical orchestral film score, and perhaps the most influential single score of all time. John Barry will always be known for his considerable work with (and influence upon) the James Bond series. And John Williams' mammoth work with the "Star War" series staggers and illuminates the musical imagination. But Howard Shore stands alone with his contribution to the "Lord of the Rings." It is not the number and endearing quality of themes, motifs, leitmotifs, crescendos, and codas over three films that amazes us (this is not the place to single out particular favorites, though there are many), or the sheer volume of music (as evidenced by the now completed recordings of the three full scores), that leaves us shaking our heads in wonder; overall, it is how intricately Shore tied all his myriad pieces together from beginning to end into one vast and enjoyable, and yes "epic," musical tapestry. Shore has been favorably compared to Wagner and his "Ring" cycle, but Shore's music is more cohesive than that, and therein is the ultimate beauty of his score. Much as Tolkien's three books actually formed one epic work, Shore's music is actually one score that exists on a level that is not likely to be equaled or surpassed in this new century. The final part of this musical trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the Complete Recordings," like the previous parts, is an unprecedented musical achievement, and now that we have all three in finished form we can marvel at them, and more importantly how they exist as a singular musical whole. It is a magnum opus in film music like nothing else we have ever experienced. Howard Shore's full score, like the novel and the films that preceded it, is pure genius. There is but one thing left to say: bravo! As with the earlier "complete recordings," brilliant production values and packaging by Warner/Reprise and New Line Records.
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