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Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King [Soundtrack]

Howard Shore Audio CD
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
Price: £13.95
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Frequently Bought Together

Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King + Lord of The Rings - The Two Towers - Original Soundtrack + The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
Price For All Three: £29.44

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Product details

  • Audio CD (24 Nov 2003)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Soundtrack
  • Label: Wea
  • ASIN: B0000W3YJ2
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 30,095 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. A Storm Is Coming
2. Hope And Memory
3. Minas Tirith-Feat. Ben Del Maestro
4. The White Tree
5. The Steward Of Gondor-Feat. Billy Boyd
6. Minas Morgul
7. The Ride Of The Rohirrim
8. Twilight And Shadow-Feat. Renee Fleming
9. Cirith Ungol
10. Anduril
11. Shelob's Lair
12. Ash And Smoke
13. The Fields Of The Pelennor
14. Hope Fails
15. The Black Gate Opens-Feat. Sir James Galway
16. The End Of All Things-Feat. Renee Fleming
17. The Return Of The King-Feat. Sir James Galway, Viggo Mortensen & Renee Fleming
18. The Grey Havens-Feat. Sir James Galway
19. Into The West-Performed By Annie Lennox

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

Elegant and eloquent, Howard Shore's score for The Return of the King shies away from excessive epic bombast. The composer weaves into the fabric familiar leitmotifs from the earlier two scores--such as the heroic "Fellowship" theme and the stirring "Rohan" theme--but now they are presented with a reflective sense of finality. Shore's distinctive orchestral palette for the trilogy has always featured voices--either solo or choral--as a key musical colouring, and here the professionals (including soprano Renee Fleming) are joined by Billy Boyd and Viggo Mortenson, who provide small but effective contributions.

There is martial music, naturally, while the Mordor sequences--such as "Minas Morgul" and "Shelob's Lair"--elicit some terrifying orchestral drama. But the score's overall tenor is more meditative than either of its predecessors, ultimately emphasising the poignancy of farewells more than exterior spectacle as it reaches a suitably and satisfyingly Wagnerian climax in "The Grey Havens". Only the obligatory song tie-in, "Into the West" (sung by Annie Lennox), is a middle-of-the-road disappointment after all that has gone before.

This single disc presents only selections from a much larger work. Hopefully, the complete scores for all three films will soon be released with the same sort of lavish attention paid to John Williams' comparable Star Wars cycle. Only then will the magnitude of Howard Shore's achievement be fully evident: at the very least, like Williams a generation earlier, Shore has given musically aware filmgoers a brief respite from wall-to-wall product-placed pop and thudding drum machines. --Mark Walker


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 39 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Return of the King - Enhanced CD 25 Nov 2003
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Howard Shore has done it again!
This is a superb soundtrack, with hautingly beautiful music and some incredible singing from Ben del Maestro, Renee Fleming and a stunning finale from Annie Lennox. It also contains some surprises. Billy Boyd and Viggo Mortensen feature as well, and some beautiful flute renditions from Sir James Galway.
I had expected this to be darker, almost depressing, knowing the way the book progresses, but this soundtrack has echoes of the past within it. Familiar themes from both The Fellowship and the Two Towers are interwoven here as well, to leave this listener at least, moved to tears in places. The track entitled 'The Return of the King' in particular weaves a powerful spell with words in Sindarin sung by Aragorn, now Elessar. In this track alone the album would be worth its cost.
Buy it, listen to it, absorb it, as the trilogy reaches its wonderful climax.
Truly, Howard Shore and Peter Jackson have woven a spell worthy of Tolkein.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling, engrossing, makes you tap your feet 2 May 2004
Format:Audio CD
I have found that all of the Lord of the Rings soundtracks have stood out from other films in every way. You can never grow bored of it and you find it stuck in your head after listening.
Return of the King is different from the other two soundtracks. There is more chanting and Celtic tunes on flutes. It's concluding song is by Annie Lennox, which I think to be the best of the three songs.
My favorite tracks are Minas Tirith and the Pelennor fields. Minas Tirith has the compelling music of Gondor and your mind becomes filled with your panoramic memories of the film, when the Fell Beast descends on Faramir's Gondorian knights as they gallop frantically from the fallen and ruined city of Osgiliath to Minas Tirith the City of Kings. The Pelennor fields leaves you imagining the vast hordes of Orcs faced by the 6000 Rohirrm. A chilling chanting echoes as the riders prepare to charge headlong into the fray.
If you are a fan of the Elven music, then the track Twilight and Shadow features with the Evenstar tune and if you want to remember the most emotionally gripping moment of the film then flick to the Return of the King track.
Great music, great composer, great trilogy!
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A pure masterpiece! 10 Nov 2003
By Lee S
Format:Audio CD
I've just heard some samples from the new Lord of The Rings - The Return of The King soundtrack, and it has just blew me away.

This soundtrack just builds of the previous two scores. Howard Shore has created a masterpiece of work for the Lord of The Rings. This score will go down in history as one of the best movie scores ever produced.

The tracks that stand out on The Return of The King are: "Minas Tirith" - part of which you can hear in the trailer for the film; "The Fields Of The Pelennor"; "The Black Gate Opens" - which has the same theme as "Into The West" and "The Grey Havens" which has the same musical feel as "The Breaking of The Fellowship" and "Samwise The Brave" from the previous two scores, and will no doubt leave a few people in tears when the film ends - me included!

When I first heard that Annie Lennox was had been asked to sing / produce the final song, I thought it was a bad move, but after hearing some of the song "Into The West", it just fits perfectly.

If you haven't bought any of The Lord of The Rings soundtracks, you are missing out on something very special.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Good!!!
I bought all Lord of the Rings soundtracks and the Fellowship of the Ring its the best off all.
But this soundtrack is very good, like the movies :)
I recommend! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Raphael Pieri Garcia
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelent Soundtrack!
This is one of the best soundtracks ever made! Howard Shore is one of the best composers of the contemporary music history.
Published 5 months ago by Roddy Stokes
5.0 out of 5 stars Return of the King Soundtrack by Howard Shore
Excellent musical score, no wonder it has been so highly praised. The music theme from the first film of the trilogy, Fellowship of the Ring, was allowed room to breath when it... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Major Quay
5.0 out of 5 stars moving..awe inspiring
justifiably winning its oscar for best soundtrack this album is the pinnacle of Howard Shores score for the L.O.T.R trilogy. Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2010 by Shawn Hosmer
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
There are already plenty of reviews on here, so all I will say is that this is a superb soundtrack!
Published on 18 Jan 2010 by Mr Ledger
5.0 out of 5 stars TO THE GATE........
A fantastic OST - easily up there with the likes of Gladiator, Revenge Of The Sith and Conan The Barbarian! Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2008 by Adam Jackson
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly memorable
After producing two stunning soundtracks for the previous two Lord Of The Rings albums, Howard Shore proves that there is still some musical fuel left in his composing tank. Read more
Published on 20 Nov 2006 by Will Stent
5.0 out of 5 stars Lord of the rings,the final and best chapter.
Being a Tolkien/Peter Jackson and Howard Shore fan,i love all three Books/Films and Soundtracks. But this is by far the best soundtrack,it is both haunting and as dramatic as you... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2005 by V. Gooderham
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful...
I absolutely love this album. When I first listened to it all the way through, it kept me enthralled, and still keeps me interested, despite it being the nth time of... Read more
Published on 28 May 2005 by "spoonguard"
5.0 out of 5 stars Magic Music for a Magic Film
Although most commentators (and me) admire the Lord of the Rings for its visual effects, this CD, and the companion CDs for the earlier films, show just how important the aural... Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2004 by JA Fairhurst
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