Record Label: Reprise/ WEA
Genre: Film Score
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Composer Howard Shore, Peter Jackson and Reprise have been releasing the complete recordings for the Lord of the Rings trilogy over the last three years. The Return of the King is the last of the bunch, and the one I’ve been looking forward to the most! Instead of getting the standard size soundtrack to always listen to; you can pretty much listen to the entire score without having to see the movie. The Complete Recordings are spread out over four discs and will take up half your work day just listening to them straight through. I’ve actually only watched the extended cut DVD once but plan on watching the trilogy again this month. When I watched the ROTK extended cut, I was hoping to hear new music that wasn’t on the original soundtrack. Just extended cuts from the Rohan march, the lighting of the beacon, and when Gandalf is talking to Pippin about the Grey Havens. Now all those little tidbits of music can be heard over the span of the 4 disc set.

Disc 1 is from the start of the third movie to the “Lighting of the Beacon” scene. I love that song and it still gives me goosebumps to this day. It’s when Pippin and Gandalf sneak up and light the beacons, and calls for aid. But besides the grand motif in that song, I love when Rohan receives the call. You hear the Rohan theme in there and it’s just one of my favorite themes throughout the LOTR trilogy. Disc 2 starts with Osgilliath under attack and ends with Merry getting the courage to serve Rohan. This is probably my least favorite disc because there aren’t that many action cues. While there are a lot of memorable scenes during this portion, it’s not as interesting as the other 3 discs.

Two scenes in particular that always stood out in the movie to me was when Gandalf and Pippin charge out to protect the fleeing Gondor soldiers, and when Pippin sings to Denethor. For a hobbit, he has a decent voice! Other actors that perform on the Return of the King soundtrack include Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler and Dominic Monaghan. I really wanted to listen to the complete recording of ROTK because I wanted to hear a good quality version of the Liv Tyler song. I just heard DVD rips of it and it’s such a beautifully sung song by Liv Tyler. Only problem is it’s not too long. You can hear that track on Disc 3 and it’s called “Houses of the Healing.” Disc 3 is where all the action & battles are taking place. You got the Minas Tirith war leading all the way up to the start of the Mordor war. Disc 4 has the remaining stuff in Mordor and the million endings the movie has as well. There’s just so much music on these discs and I keep listening to them all. I believe there is a 5th disc but not entirely sure what’s on it. Probably some bonus videos and stuff like that.

If you have four hours to listen to music, why not listen to the Return of the King: The Complete Recordings! I think it’s the best Lord of the Rings score and I also think it’s one of the best scores by Howard Shore. Although, The Fellowship of the Ring score is excellent as well. If you ever called yourself a film score fan or a LOTR fan; be sure to get this 4 disc set. It’s worth it!

Bottom Line: I highly recommend getting this!
Notable Tracks: The Lighting of the Beacon, ‘A Far Green Country’, The Battle of the Pelennor Fields, The Houses of Healing, For Frodo, Days of the Ring
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