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Until I listened to this album, I hadn’t realized how gorgeous the musical score of The Lord of the Rings movie really is.
True, a lot of the emotion in this “Fellowship of the Ring” album is ominous (and this is not pleasant to experience). Drums and choruses (of war angels?) march inexorably onward. But the treacherous drums give way alternatingly to triumphant horns and “bright” choruses that create breakthrough feelings of grand, open freedom. (And the listener may recall the wondrous Australian landscapes in the movie.) The musical adversity is basically between evil and good: between a force that wants to dominate and crush, versus a force that is determined to liberate or die trying. The longing-filled, lilting, piping nostalgia of the “shire” theme-music comes in occasionally, carrying sweet/sad memories of the comforts of home. Just before the sad-but-Hopefilled closing song (sung by Enya), there is a particularly exquisite brief orchestral passage where mingly drums sound as if they've become tamed and disarmed. I suppose this little passage wouldn’t be so moving and mysteriously powerful if all the awful, scary drumming had not come before.
The music is affecting both physically and emotionally. It seems to me that the drums punch powerfully at gut level and the horns, pipes, and ethereal choruses soothe or flare out emotions of joy somewhere in the upper reaches of the brain—(although scientifically speaking, I guess this may not be what’s really happening).
In the closing song by Enya, which she herself composed, the repeated lines “Darkness has come” are sung in the Elven language that Tolkien created for his story. The words of that entire song and other songs and choruses on this album are provided in the cover pamphlet. Some words from that final song entitled “May it Be” are: “May it be an evening star/ Shines down upon you./ May it be when darkness falls/ Your heart will be true./ You walk a lonely road./ Oh, how far you are from home./....Darkness has come./ Believe and you will find your way./ A promise lives within you.”
What is the promise referred to in the song? It think it’s “the return of the King,” and requited love, and peaceful home and family life restored again in all realms of Middle Earth.
This is GREAT, good, good, TERRIFIC music! Highly recommended. Listening to any of the three LOTR albums is a separate-from-the-movie wonderful aspect of The Lord of the Rings experience which you can enjoy whenever you are longing for a return to the movie but haven’t got time to sit through it. I can also recommend “The Return of the King” album among the three Howard Shore LOTR albums. It also ends with a moving final song, “Into the West,” sung by Annie Lennox. (“What can you see/ On the horizon?/ Why do the white gulls call?/....The ships have come/ To carry you home./....Don’t say/ We have come now to the end./ White shores are calling/ You and I will meet again...” I do like that album, but all through it I wait to hear particularly that song, and I like the way it sounds as sung by Annie Lennox.) I haven’t listened to “The Two Towers” album yet so cannot say anything about it.
(You can find some bargain prices among the used albums, like $.01 plus shipping of $3.99. I ordered a used album and it has been of excellent quality and performance.)
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This is a rare beauty, I know some other buyers didn't like the fact that the only difference between this and the regular jewel case edition is just the presentation, but that's their fault for not reading the "small print" before buying lol. I'm the sort of guy who loves deluxe boxes and packaging, so I have no complaints whatsoever. However!!! I do hate the fact that this Cd (unlike the subsequent editions of Two Towers and Return) didn't come with it's "respective" red picture-strip that reads The Fellowship of the Ring. So... The good news is that I made one of my ow in Photoshop, it looks awesome and I'm whiling to share it with you guys, Cause I'm a nerd with a good hart ;-) just leave a comment here with your mail, I'll send a jpg file. One last thing, if you get the ultimate Complete recordings edition of this ( The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring (The Complete Recordings) ) Don't throw this away, there are some major differences in some tracks that still makes this a must have. Cheers.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2013
Top reviews from other countries
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- Diane JReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2002
Superb Music ,booklet disappointing
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Oberschwabe in BerlinReviewed in Germany on January 16, 2016
Leider wurde nicht das geschickt, was ich bestellt habe …
