Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring: The Complete Recordings

I was initially both apprehensive and excited when I found The Fellowship of the Rings: The Complete Recordings. I should start this by saying that I am a great lover of soundtracks. Soundtracks can make or break a movie or TV show. Recently the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean have been the most oft played in my CD player, with other standbys like Gettysburg and Glory, and the world's best workout music: Rocky IV. Loving these masterpieces as I do, and even more so, being a huge fan of the Extended Editions of the films, I always decried the lack of a soundtrack for all the extra music written for those added minutes. I'm sure many of you as well wish you could have easy access to the Houses of Healing song by Liv Tyler, or Eowyn's Lament for Theodred, or smaller scenes like Gandalf singing "The Road Goes Ever On." Well rest assured, these extended soundtracks have all of that, and perhaps more. The part that made me apprehensive was the price. This four disc set (3 CD's and 1 DVD) weighs in at a whopping $60, which is actually more expensive than the Extended Edition DVD and the regular soundtrack ($30 and $20 respectively) combined. Recently however a good friend of mine introduced me to the "Used" section on Amazon, and I realized there is a whole new world of things to buy out there, for a much better price. Personally I purchased this boxed set for $40, "used" (though really it was still in the factory issued packaging), including shipping.


First of all, this is a beautiful boxed set. The CD's themselves are nicely designed, ornately even. The case itself is very sturdy, and again the design of the case is in keeping with I would call Elven styling. They look very professional, and though case and CD design aren't usually the reason we buy CDs (generally I think that'd be for the music), I found them to be of a higher quality than your average CD, or even your average box set.


The other major addition to this set is the very informative and extensive booklet. Lord of the Rings features a style of music called "leitmotifs." You've heard them before, even if you can't identify them, in works such as Peter and the Wolf, and the more easily recognizable Star Wars. The idea is that individual music lines serve as a sort of theme or anthem for specific ideas, characters, and locations. If you remember the Imperial March from Star Wars you've heard one of the more famous (in recent times) examples of this style. The booklet gives a summary of the process Howard Shore used to come up with the style of music for Fellowship, his inspirations, what instruments he chose to represent which characters and cultures and why. He also includes a section where he specifically points out the leitmotifs of characters and cultures, even gives a bar of music to tell you what it looks like, where on the tracks you can find the music, and explains why this music was chosen. It's fascinating to get into the head of the composer, and even more I love hearing why he chose the Maori choirs and literally football players to represent the guttural chants of the Dwarves in Moria, or why he chose the more ethereal eastern sounds for mournful Elvish music.

But on to the music itself. Disc one opens as the movie does, with what Shore calls "The History of the Ring" theme. The end of this track is a short but delightful snippet from Ian McKellen singing "The Road Goes Ever On," and like so many songs in the movies, it takes the words directly from the novel. The music rises and falls, like the beginning of the movies does, until you get to track 10, "The Passing of the Elves," the music from an extended scene in the movie that shows elves leaving Middle Earth and heading to the Grey Havens for Arda. Samwise and Frodo spot them, and Sam comments "I don't know why, but it makes me sad." Hearing their song, one could only feel that way. It's one of the most haunting and beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard. The lyrics are Sindarin, one of Tolkien's languages created specifically for the novels, and are translated by David Salo from the actual poem written by Tolkien for the book. The track is amazing. One wonders when reading the book, "how would that really sound in real life?" Translated into Sindarin, you get a feel for Elven culture, for the sadness of their leaving but their yearning for home. I sit mesmerized listening to this track, and it's perhaps the most rewarding of the new music from the extended edition. This track is longer than the one even in that version. The final track on the CD, "The Nazgul" features Viggo Mortensen singing the "Lay of Luthien," whose words were written by Phillipa Boyens, but the tune was created and the song suggested by Viggo himself. It's a testament to his skill and dedication as an actor that he would get that much into character, and would care enough to even suggest such a thoughtful thing. It's short, but it's also some interesting insight into Aragorn's character, and the weight he carries on his shoulders. It's sung acapella, quietly, secretly, but with obvious emotion.

Disc two features much repetition of previous themes. Track 7, "The Council of Elrond" features a mixture of stirring, contrasting music that shows off the arguments taking place on scene. What's really interesting is to hear the different voices that portray The One Ring itself over the course of the film. It's voice changes for Aragorn, where is sounds sweet and inviting (and the same for Faramir in Two Towers). It sounds dark and brooding when it entices Boromir. But the sound is specific for each character who it tries to ensnare. One of the new tracks, from the extended scenes is track 9, "Gilraen's Memorial." This scene in the movie features Aragorn speaking with Elrond about Gilraen, Aragorn's mother. This is another haunting track, like many of the Elven tracks are in the first film. It's one to be sure to listen to. The last three tracks of the CD are the pounding sounds of taiko drums and Maori chanting. It's powerful and exciting music that on screen is the driving force of the scene.

Disc three finishes off the soundtrack. The second track, as in the original soundtrack, features Elizabeth Fraser singing the "Lament for Gandalf." Like all Elven styled music, it has an ethereal quality. The rest of the music reads much as the original soundtrack did, and it is all great music. The Uruk-Hai music especially I can't wait to hear on a high quality stereo, to get the full power out of the horns that Shore exhibits.

The fourth disc is a DVD that features all the music of the soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. I have yet to listen to this disc, as I don't have a stereo capable of playing it and doing it justice. But I imagine the pounding sounds of Moria, and the reverberations of Elven laments would sound amazing in such quality.

All in all this is an amazing set. I should add that I have one complaint about it though, and that is the color of the casing. Stylistically, I think it's meant to match what the cases look like for the LOTR Extended Editions, and it does. The problem is that the Fellowship of the Ring is green, and this is red. The Two Towers DVD case is red, and the soundtrack is blue, whereas the third movie is blue and the third soundtrack hasn't been released yet, but I bet a million dollars it is green. I'm just surprised that for all the work that went into these, they didn't bother to match that up. But I plan to purchase the soundtrack to Two Towers as soon as I am able, and look forward to hearing Eowyn singing her lament for Theodred. Return of the King's soundtrack is due to be released at the end of the summer.