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SOUNDTRACK: The Return Of The King - Howard Shore (2003)


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The Return Of The King - Howard Shore (2003)

 

The Original Album Release.

And the OST rediscovery journey ends with The Return Of The King... At the time of its release, this was easily my favourite of the three, and also probably my favourite OST in my collection, so I have to say that, when I joined JWFAN and saw that many people considered it the least interesting album program of the three, I was surprised, shocked even.. Outraged, too! But... Was it possible they were right, and I was blind regarding the merit (or lack thereof) of this soundtrack? Was I going to hate it after revisiting it? Well...

 

My first listen of the The Return Of The King OST was one of the finest moments of my film music fandom. I remember it as if it was yesterday: the first graceful notes of A Storm Is Coming starting playing (what a beautifully evocative track title, by the way), offering a beautiful ominous opening to the third act of the story (to this day, those precious few seconds remain one of my favourite (or possibly my favourite) openings of a score ever), followed by an unexpected (but welcome) bucolic melody that, in retrospect, is the most perfect way to start the score, as it makes for a great contrast with the giganticly epic story that is about to be told... Right from the start, I knew I was going to love that OST. Then, there was this gorgeous rendition of Gandalf The White’s theme in Hope And Memory (a new addition to the "great evocative track title" list for the LOTR soundtracks). And finally, here it was: the Gondor theme in all its glory in Minas Tirith. To say I was blown away by that track would be an understatement. This is one of those rare awe-inspiring musical moments, when you’re not just listening to music, but living a transcendent experience! And this was not over: here was The White Tree, with yet another grandiose rendition of the Gondor theme (if I have to be honest, though, I never liked that one as much as the one heard in Minas Tirith for some reason. It was only much later that I came to like it as much, if not more). The rest of the program just kept on rolling, and with each new track, Shore kept on surprising me and delighting me: the utterly terrifying Mordor material in Minas Morgul, the blood-pumping Rohan material in The Ride Of The Rohirrim, the achingly beautiful choral music in Twilight And Shadow, the thrilling string writing in Shelob’s Lair, the apocalyptic The Black Gate Opens and The End Of All Things, and of course the killer trio The Return Of The King, The Grey Havens and Into The West... There wasn’t a single track I didn’t like, unlike what happened with the The Two Towers OST. It was just one highlight after the other!

 

And that is the argument people here brought up when saying the OST program isn’t very good: that there isn’t much of a narrative, that it is just a bunch of highlights that are not really connected between each other in any way. After having relistened to that album program, I have no choice but to disagree with that statement (for the most part): I think it makes for an excellent listening experience. To me, there is a clear structure to the program. Once the prologue track is over, Hope And Memory gives us a sense that "the last act is about to begin, and we move torwards the location of the final battle". After that, the three following tracks make for a sweet Gondor material suite, giving us a clear musical depiction of the city where the final showdown will take place. The next tracks form a nice "preparation for war" segment (with the armies on the move in Minas Morgul and The Ride Of The Rohirrim), followed by the actual battle music (Shelob’s Lair, Ash And Smoke, The Fields Of The Pelennor) before we get to the climax of the whole trilogy (Hope Fails, with that great build-up taken from The Paths Of The Dead (inspired bit of editing there) which makes for a great lead-up to The Black Gate Opens and The End Of All Things) and of course, the epilogue. The selection of cues and the way there are arranged definitely makes sense to me!

 

I guess I can see where people criticizing the album program are coming from: the middle part (Twilight And Shadow, Cirith Ungol) may be a bit lacking, and the Gondor could have been featured more in that section of the program (apart from its brief appearance in The Fields Of The Pelennor, it is completely absent from the middle part of the album after The Steward Of Gondor and only returns in The Return Of The King, so most of its renditions are all gathered in those three tracks towards the beginning of the album), but frankly, I think they did an absolutely outstanding job condensing this massive 230 minutes long score (well, a bit less in the theatrical cut) into a 72 minutes program. And it’s not an easy task (as I’ve realized when trying to do my own edit of the score), because the thing is: ROTK is a score with very lengthy setpieces, each comprising long passages that cannot be edited down easily without compromising the integrity of the piece and the edits sounding jarring as a result. That’s why I think they did a great job, given the material they had to work with. Were there unreleased cues I desperately wanted? Of course, an awful lot: the road to Isengard music (with that superb Journey theme statement, segueing flawlessly into the Fellowship theme, followed by the Gondor theme for the title card and some Hobbit material for Merry and Pippin!), the Fellowship theme statement heard during Gandalf and Pippin’s ride to Minas Tirith, the Charge Of The Rohirrim cue, the awesomely badass Gondor theme statement for Aragorn kicking ass on the battlefield, as well as the insane cue for Legolas killing the Oliphaunt, the choral Fellowship theme statement for the charge at the Black Gate... But still, I loved everything that had been included on the OST, so that didn’t bother as much as it did with the TTT OST (where I thought some unreleased material was way better than what had been included on the album).

 

And now for a few words on the last end credits song... The first time I heard it, I wasn’t completely won over by it. I definitely liked it more than Gollum’s Song, but it wasn’t as satisfying a May It Be. The guitar felt a bit out of place to me and the sound of it all just bothered me in a way. But after a few more listens, it quickly became my favourite of the three tracks, and when I read somewhere the guitar was used as an instrument to represent the Fourth Age, its use suddenly made more sense to me and I appreciated more (whether or not it was Shore’s intention, I don’t remember, but I like that explanation nonetheless). The lyrics are easily the best of all three end credits song, too. On a sidenote: I always found it a bit weird Lennox’s name wasn’t use on the cover to promote the soundtrack like Enya had been used to promote the FOTR OST, especially since I think she is probably more well-known than Enya. Maybe by that time, the marketing guys realized Shore’s name was enough for the album to sell well?

 

In the end, my opinion has not changed (much) regarding that OST: it is a damn fine representation of that gigantic score. Could a better program have been assembled with the material at hand? Maybe. But I’m more than satisfied with it to really consider what could have been changed. I guess I can agree now with those that say The Fellowship Of The Ring ultimately has the best album program, but I still consider The Return Of The King to be my personal favourite. Long live the King!

 

Score: 9.5/10

Album Presentation: 9/10

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Definitely the best end credit song.

 

I find the OST has less narrative flow than the others, but the film does too; Both kind of jump around from scene to scene without much structure to it, and you kind of feel when watching the film that PJ kept changing it around the whole time anyway.  And I think that lead to a one difference in the music compared to the previous scores: The previous films had more of a narrative (FOTR had the entire main cast moving from location to location together; TTT split them up but each group had their own journey; ROTK is just all over the place).  So since Shore never knew which piece of music would be heard before or after the one he was writing, each piece of music feels more self-contained to me.  

 

What I mean is, when you listen to the FOTR score, each cue ends in such a way that it seemingly sets up the next one - even if it wasn't intentional, there's just such a perfect flow to everything.  With ROTK, you could rearrange a lot of the cues in a different order and end up with more or less the same listening experience.  That's how I feel, anyway...

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Like the film, I'd put this brilliant, epic score just behind FOTR and TTT.  This one works much better on film than it does in this OST presentation, which IMO is easily the weakest.

 

That said, it has by far the best end credits song of all six Middle-Earth films, which I will rank thusly and verily, now.

 

1. Into the West

2. May It Be

3. The Last Goodbye

4. Gollum's Song

5. Song of the Lonely Mountain

6. I See Fire

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On 4/19/2017 at 9:52 PM, Jay said:

I find the OST has less narrative flow than the others, but the film does too; Both kind of jump around from scene to scene without much structure to it, and you kind of feel when watching the film that PJ kept changing it around the whole time anyway.  And I think that lead to a one difference in the music compared to the previous scores: The previous films had more of a narrative (FOTR had the entire main cast moving from location to location together; TTT split them up but each group had their own journey; ROTK is just all over the place).  So since Shore never knew which piece of music would be heard before or after the one he was writing, each piece of music feels more self-contained to me.  

 

What I mean is, when you listen to the FOTR score, each cue ends in such a way that it seemingly sets up the next one - even if it wasn't intentional, there's just such a perfect flow to everything.  With ROTK, you could rearrange a lot of the cues in a different order and end up with more or less the same listening experience.  That's how I feel, anyway...

 

I guess you have point regarding the pieces each being self-contained, though I wouldn't go as far as saying you could move most of them around and end up with the same listening experience.

 

The thing is, there's an obvious reason why the narrative flow is perfect in The Fellowship Of The Ring: this is a journey movie, we're following the same group of characters from point A to point B throughout the whole movie. It's a pretty straightforward story, and straightforward score as a result. That's why the OST works so well (and that's why I believe Shore decided to keep the music in chronological order in the album program).

 

Unlike you, I think The Two Towers doesn't work so well. The Three Hunters storyline is probably the one that follows the most the FOTR pattern (following our heroes from point A to point B), and in that regard, yes, there is a nice narrative flow to the music. But the Merry and Pippin storyline and the Frodo and Sam storyline don't have as good a narrative flow (The Dreams Of Trees, Ent-Draught, etc. feel pretty self-contained to me (same for the music for the cue(s) for each location Frodo and Sam go through)! The fact that Merry and Pippin basically stay in the same location throughout most of the film doesn't help, that's for sure). If anything, I'd say it is the one where you could rearrange a lot of cues in a different order and end up with more or less the same listening experience. And that's what Shore did: this time, on the OST, he didn't present the music in chronological order, he moved things all over the place (though that wasn't done successfully in my opinion...).

 

The Return Of The King is less of a journey movie and more of a war movie: it's basically just Gondor+Rohan vs Mordor, and this is reflected in the music. So yes, in a way, there isn't as much of a narrative flow, because the characters stay mostly in the same locations for a lot of time (Minas Tirith and Mordor) and just two factions fighting one another, but there's still a sense that there are various stages to that conflict: the calm before the storm, the preparations for war, the first big battle, the aftermath, preparations for the last battle, the last battle, and the epilogue. And I think this is well represented in the music (you'll also notice that, this time again, Shore kept the music mostly in chronological order on the OST, only moving around music from the same sequence, and keeping it within the same section of the album program (with a few exceptions). So for example, he moved around music from the siege of Minas Tirith and The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields, but he kept it within the two tracks dedicated to these sequences, Ash And Smoke and The Fields Of The Pelennor. He didn't move some of that music at the beginning of the album, for example).

Basically, I'd say each stage of the conflict (the calm before the storm, the preparations for war, the first big battle, etc...) is clearly musically represented, and as a whole has a nice narrative flow (feeling like a logical progression of what came before and like a logical lead-up to the next stage), but the cues that form each stage don't necessarily flow naturally from one to the next.

 

I'm not sure if what I just said is clear, but at least it's clear in my mind, and that's what matters to me!

 

 

On 4/19/2017 at 10:33 PM, Nick1066 said:

That said, it has by far the best end credits song of all six Middle-Earth films, which I will rank thusly and verily, now.

 

1. Into the West

2. May It Be

3. The Last Goodbye

4. Gollum's Song

5. Song of the Lonely Mountain

6. I See Fire

 

Excellent list, perfectly valid, though I would personally make a tiny few changes to it:

 

01. Into The West

02. The Last Goodbye

03. Gollum's Song

04. May It Be

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19 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

I guess you have point regarding the pieces each being self-contained, though I wouldn't go as far as saying you could move most of them around and end up with the same listening experience.

 

The thing is, there's an obvious reason why the narrative flow is perfect in The Fellowship Of The Ring: this is a journey movie, we're following the same group of characters from point A to point B throughout the whole movie. It's a pretty straightforward story, and straightforward score as a result. That's why the OST works so well (and that's why I believe Shore decided to keep the music in chronological order in the album program).

 

Unlike you, I think The Two Towers doesn't work so well. The Three Hunters storyline is probably the one that follows the most the FOTR pattern (following our heroes from point A to point B), and in that regard, yes, there is a nice narrative flow to the music. But the Merry and Pippin storyline and the Frodo and Sam storyline don't have as good a narrative flow (The Dreams Of Trees, Ent-Draught, etc. feel pretty self-contained to me (same for the music for the cue(s) for each location Frodo and Sam go through)! The fact that Merry and Pippin basically stay in the same location throughout most of the film doesn't help, that's for sure). If anything, I'd say it is the one where you could rearrange a lot of cues in a different order and end up with more or less the same listening experience. And that's what Shore did: this time, on the OST, he didn't present the music in chronological order, he moved things all over the place (though that wasn't done successfully in my opinion...).

 

The Return Of The King is less of a journey movie and more of a war movie: it's basically just Gondor+Rohan vs Mordor, and this is reflected in the music. So yes, in a way, there isn't as much of a narrative flow, because the characters stay mostly in the same locations for a lot of time (Minas Tirith and Mordor) and just two factions fighting one another, but there's still a sense that there are various stages to that conflict: the calm before the storm, the preparations for war, the first big battle, the aftermath, preparations for the last battle, the last battle, and the epilogue. And I think this is well represented in the music (you'll also notice that, this time again, Shore kept the music mostly in chronological order on the OST, only moving around music from the same sequence, and keeping it within the same section of the album program (with a few exceptions). So for example, he moved around music from the siege of Minas Tirith and The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields, but he kept it within the two tracks dedicated to these sequences, Ash And Smoke and The Fields Of The Pelennor. He didn't move some of that music at the beginning of the album, for example).

Basically, I'd say each stage of the conflict (the calm before the storm, the preparations for war, the first big battle, etc...) is clearly musically represented, and as a whole has a nice narrative flow (feeling like a logical progression of what came before and like a logical lead-up to the next stage), but the cues that form each stage don't necessarily flow naturally from one to the next.

 

I'm not sure if what I just said is clear, but at least it's clear in my mind, and that's what matters to me!

 

 

It makes sense!  It might just come down to personal preference.  I really feel with the FOTR score that every cue feels like a piece of a larger whole.  Each cue tells its own story, but also advances the theme and palette of the whole score.  It's one of the most cohesive and satisfying scores in that regard by any composer, I'd say.  With ROTK it just FEELS different to me.  I think that when writing, Shore not only didn't have confidence that such as such cue would be heard in the same spot as it was when he spotted the film, but also that entire scenes were being dropped out of the cut as he was going on, as well.  So I think it ended up that all the thematic development, the payoffs to many themes, all happen in big grandiose ways during big grandiose moments that he knew wouldn't be cut from the film.  In FOTR, and TTT as well, I feel like there's a more natural flow and buildup to the themes, a better progression of musical development.  

 

There's no denying that the post production process for FOTR was radically different from ROTK's, and I think it shows in the music, imo.  Now obviously Shore is an extremely talented composer and I'm not saying he wasn't good enough to write a cohesive score with all of PJ's changes, more that NOBODY could keep up with the amount of post production tinkering PJ did, and any resulting score wouldn't have the same feel as FOTR for me no matter how on top of his game he was at the time.  Dunno if that makes any sense, but I might have just a hard time expressing the feeling I get from the music in words.

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2 minutes ago, Jay said:

I think that when writing, Shore not only didn't have confidence that such as such cue would be heard in the same spot as it was when he spotted the film, but also that entire scenes were being dropped out of the cut as he was going on, as well.

 

My feeling is for ROTK Shore probably scored bits of the film as they were coming in rather than having a fully assembled cut of the film. So it has less of a through-line then FOTR. Which has the best narrative flow of the 3 scores, imo.

 

If i recall the ROTK EE documentaries correctly the scoring schedule became increasingly hectic and rushed.

1 minute ago, TheGreyPilgrim said:

You know, the lyrics to that song might be the only thing about those three scores that makes me cringe a little....

 

Yes, but I think that's the point. The lyrics, together with the voice, harsh yet melodic make the song incredibly uncompromising. The icy strings add to that.

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Some of the Pellenor battle music sounds like it was probably written in a bit of a hurry and feels less scene specific. But Shore compensated by simply enleashing an impressive battery of percussion, brass and woodwinds. Really pounding on the fury. It's incredibly effective if perhaps cruder that The Bridge Of Khazan Dum etc.

 

Remarkable achievement 

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On 4/19/2017 at 11:34 PM, Jay said:

It makes sense!  It might just come down to personal preference.  I really feel with the FOTR score that every cue feels like a piece of a larger whole.  Each cue tells its own story, but also advances the theme and palette of the whole score.  It's one of the most cohesive and satisfying scores in that regard by any composer, I'd say.  With ROTK it just FEELS different to me.  I think that when writing, Shore not only didn't have confidence that such as such cue would be heard in the same spot as it was when he spotted the film, but also that entire scenes were being dropped out of the cut as he was going on, as well.  So I think it ended up that all the thematic development, the payoffs to many themes, all happen in big grandiose ways during big grandiose moments that he knew wouldn't be cut from the film.  In FOTR, and TTT as well, I feel like there's a more natural flow and buildup to the themes, a better progression of musical development.  

 

There's no denying that the post production process for FOTR was radically different from ROTK's, and I think it shows in the music, imo.  Now obviously Shore is an extremely talented composer and I'm not saying he wasn't good enough to write a cohesive score with all of PJ's changes, more that NOBODY could keep up with the amount of post production tinkering PJ did, and any resulting score wouldn't have the same feel as FOTR for me no matter how on top of his game he was at the time.  Dunno if that makes any sense, but I might have just a hard time expressing the feeling I get from the music in words.

 

It makes sense! In any case, surely you'll agree that from the moment the character leave Minas Tirith to go to the Black Gate, narratively everything works beautifully! ;)

 

I agree that in terms of structure and narrative progression, FOTR is the superior score (that definitely has to do with the fact that the scoring process was most likely way easier for Shore, PJ simply not having the possibility to move many scenes around, since we follow the same group of characters throughout the whole film), though when it comes to TTT, I'd say it's about as "messy" as ROTK.

And yeah, that Shore probably scored ROTK the way you described it (as we know for a fact, based on the EE documentaries and the CRs, that many scenes were moved around in the first third/half of the movie), but to me, the score and its narrative were not affected too much by that, and I love it as it is!

 

On 4/19/2017 at 11:48 PM, Stefancos said:

Some of the Pellenor battle music sounds like it was probably written in a bit of a hurry and feels less scene specific.

 

That I can agree with.

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14 hours ago, Jay said:

 

 

It makes sense!  It might just come down to personal preference.  I really feel with the FOTR score that every cue feels like a piece of a larger whole.  Each cue tells its own story, but also advances the theme and palette of the whole score.  It's one of the most cohesive and satisfying scores in that regard by any composer, I'd say.  With ROTK it just FEELS different to me.  I think that when writing, Shore not only didn't have confidence that such as such cue would be heard in the same spot as it was when he spotted the film, but also that entire scenes were being dropped out of the cut as he was going on, as well.  So I think it ended up that all the thematic development, the payoffs to many themes, all happen in big grandiose ways during big grandiose moments that he knew wouldn't be cut from the film.  In FOTR, and TTT as well, I feel like there's a more natural flow and buildup to the themes, a better progression of musical development.  

 

There's no denying that the post production process for FOTR was radically different from ROTK's, and I think it shows in the music, imo.  Now obviously Shore is an extremely talented composer and I'm not saying he wasn't good enough to write a cohesive score with all of PJ's changes, more that NOBODY could keep up with the amount of post production tinkering PJ did, and any resulting score wouldn't have the same feel as FOTR for me no matter how on top of his game he was at the time.  Dunno if that makes any sense, but I might have just a hard time expressing the feeling I get from the music in words.

 

Interesting, because I felt much the same. I remember when I first listened to the ROTK OST, it just "felt" different to me vs. the other two. At the time I wasn't sure if it was the production, or the arrangement, or that Shore didn't produce as superior a score, but it just seemed off.  It may simply have been that I listened to the other two scores so much that ROTK lacked familiarity for me. And admittedly I haven't listened to the OST since the CR was released. 

 

All that said, while I still prefer FOTR and TTT, it doesn't feel "off" to me anymore, and I regard it as one of the greatest score accomplishments of all time...both as a stand alone and part of Shore's achievement w/LOTR. The only thing that comes close Shore's masterpiece is Williams with the OT scores...and on some days I think Shore may have bettered the maestro in this instance.

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I have a very distinct memory of listening to the samples from the ROTK soundtrack weeks before the film came out, and barely being able to contain my excitement listening to the 30 second clip of "Shelob's Lair."  I bet I listened to that one sample 50 times.

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3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

You guys thinking the TTT OST was fine but that there's something wrong with the ROTK OST are all weird!

 

Maybe it's the new material each score introduced....speaking for myself, thematically I prefer Rohan to Gondor.

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Just now, Disco Stu said:

I have a very distinct memory of listening to the samples from the ROTK soundtrack weeks before the film came out, and barely being able to contain my excitement listening to the 30 second clip of "Shelob's Lair."  I bet I listened to that one sample 50 times.

 

Took me a long time to really love that one. At first, I thought it was OK, but I wasn't completely taken by it. But ultimately, I saw the greatness in it, and as a result I also immediately loved its equivalent in The Hobbit, Flies And Spiders, which is one of the few musical sequences from that trilogy that I consider to be on par with anything from LOTR (I think I may even prefer it to Shelob's Lair).

 

Just now, Nick1066 said:

Maybe it's the new thematic material each score introduced....speaking for myself, thematically I prefer Rohan to Gondor.

 

Ah, so that explains it. You're mad!

 

Gondor all the way! The White Tree! Minas Tirith! The White Tower of Ecthelion, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, its banners caught high in the morning breeze!

 

The Rohirrim are just a bunch of peasants walking in horseshit, with Meduseld being nothing more than a giant stable!

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I prefer Gondor to Rohan.

 

The ROTK ost...year there's something not quite right about it. But it's definitely an improvement over TTT.

 

But I'm sure it's impossible to create a 100% satisfying 1 disc OST that does justice to a score that's 3 or 3,5 hours long.

 

3 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

The Rohirrim are just a bunch of peasants walking in horseshit, with Meduseld being nothing more than a giant stable!

 

To horse! Shields will be shattered! A red day! Ride out! Forth Eorlingas!

 

DEEEAAATTHHHHH!

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8 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Took me a long time to really love that one. At first, I thought it was OK, but I wasn't completely taken by it. But ultimately, I saw the greatness in it, and as a result I also immediately loved its equivalent in The Hobbit, Flies And Spiders, which is one of the few musical sequences from that trilogy that I consider to be on par with anything from LOTR (I think I may even prefer it to Shelob's Lair).

 

 

At the time (16 years old) I was super into Hitchcock in general and Psycho specifically (film and score).  The sample on whatever website it was included the incredible Herrmann-esque strings at 1:28 of the OST track.  It was so different from anything else heard in the trilogy and so specifically linked to my current interests, I was really into it.  At the time, I was unfamiliar with Shore's work in the horror genre (I corrected that later) so I didn't know it was actually kind of a throwback for him.

 

"Flies and Spiders" is definitely the highlight of the DOS soundtrack but it doesn't come close to the excitement I still get from "Shelob's Lair," and yes undoubtedly that's because of my teenage obsession with it.

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Inside Information is the highlight of the DOS OST!  I also prefer The Forest River to Flies and Spiders... its all good stuff all around, though!

Anyways, I think the key to ROTK is that it probably really is quite impossible to boil the score down to 75 minutes in any configuration.  The OST does a pretty good job but some scores just need time to state what they have to state, you know?

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I mean... both are amazing of course.  Not just the central motifs, but the musical language he developed for both cultures.  But if I had to pick one that I respond to more than the other, yeah it's Rohan.

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1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Ah, so that explains it. You're mad!

 

Gondor all the way! The White Tree! Minas Tirith! The White Tower of Ecthelion, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, its banners caught high in the morning breeze!

 

The Rohirrim are just a bunch of peasants walking in horseshit, with Meduseld being nothing more than a giant stable!

 

I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!

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Gondor, both as a country and a musical idea, easily trumps Rohan.

 

 

 

What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn, where their brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among the dogs!

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28 minutes ago, JohnSolo said:

Gondor, both as a country and a musical idea, easily trumps Rohan.

 

 

 

What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn, where their brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among the dogs!

 

Who saved Gondor? It was not Denathor, or Faramir or the precious Boromir or any of the other "Lords of Gondor" that saved the White City, but Theoden King and his drinking Brigands, along with an army of puke green undead summoned by a guy who thought so little of the city he avoided it by living in the wild for years and had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the throne after being bullied by the father of his girlfriend.

 

The "warriors of Gondor" tried to flee at the first sign of battle, and had to be cajoled by an old man with a stick. And the place was so old and decrepit a bunch of stones made the walls all fall down. Gondor's "Lord of the Citadel" was an imp wearing a child's livery.

 

Rohan supporters of JWfan unite! Make safe the forum!!!!!

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Madness.  AUJ is the score of the 3 that would be most positive affected by releasing all the music recorded!

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Anyone know if iTunes has plans on releasing the complete recordings for FOTR and TT anytime soon? They currently only have the CR for ROTK available, which I've already purchased.

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Its been a hot topic for years; Doug repeatedly says the sets are not technically out of print, just out of stock, but more stock never comes.  Then a few years back, he worked on actual reissues (we don't know if the content is different, or just the packaging, or whatever), but they never came out.  We have a whole thread about it here:

 

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/20455-lotr-complete-recordings-out-of-print-being-reissued

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