This may be a long shot- but I have long been dismayed by the re edit done to the track "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields" on the The Return of the King soundtrack.

In the movie, it is the culmination of so many wonderful things at the same time that made the scene so great to me. Just when the armies of Minus Tirith were in the most despair- the men of Rohan appear over the hill bringing with them a golden sky of hope and all that is good- beating back the dark clouds of evil. The slow build up of the music that made me feel the courage stirring in the hearts of the men (and woman and Hobbit) as they got their first glimpse of what they were up against.

Then Theoden rallies his men, they blow the horns- and they ride into battle! I absolutely loved the music that accompanied this scene! And yet I was in shock when I bought the soundtrack and listened to the butchering of what I thought was a masterpiece.

Okay okay I've gone on about this long enough- you know how I feel. Does anyone know if this track is available in its original version according to the film?

Are you referring to the regular soundtrack or the complete recordings? The one on the regular soundtrack is a big letdown, but I really enjoy the one from the complete recordings.

Arwyniel has it right.

You'll have to get the Complete recording of music form ROTK, a 4 disc set.
It's well worth it.
And you may as well look into the Complete recording(s) of the music from FOTR (3 discs) and TT (4 discs).
The abbreviated versions of these can't hold a candle to each fully complete soundtrack in its entirety.

I'll echo the above. The complete recordings of the LOTR soundtracks, like the Extended Editions of the movies, are the ones to own. There is a lot more repetition, but you get the score as it was recorded for the movies, and more.

Interesting! I guess I never heard there was another release of the soundtrack!

There was a lot of re editing that was done to the regular release of the soundtrack- most of them irk me but none of them as much as The Battle of Pelennor Fields. I could never take that remix.

Looks like I am going to do a search for the extended editions! Are there any tracks in particular that you guys enjoy more than the regular release?

I might add that the battle horns of the Rohirrim, as you hear them in the movie, are not included on any of the soundtracks. That to me was the biggest letdown.

Ah man- that is a let down!!!

jnicktem wrote:Interesting! I guess I never heard there was another release of the soundtrack!

There was a lot of re editing that was done to the regular release of the soundtrack- most of them irk me but none of them as much as The Battle of Pelennor Fields. I could never take that remix.

Looks like I am going to do a search for the extended editions! Are there any tracks in particular that you guys enjoy more than the regular release?

Since I don't have the extremely shortened versions of any of them, I can't say what I like that is not on the short version.

However, I can tell you what I really like regardless, and I'm guessing that if it is on the short version, there's not much of it there:
Prologue
Concerning Hobbits
At the Bridge of Khazad-dum,
All the music associated with Caras Galadhon,
The sequence when the boats approach and pass the Argonath.
all the music associated with the 3 hunters traversing Rohan including the meeting with Eomer and Rohirrim (can't recall the specific title of that sequence)
The music associated with Gandalf bearing away Pippin on Shadowfax to Minas Tirith (to separate Pip from the Palantir), which is very sweeping and beautiful.
The Lighting of the Beacons (more sweeping music).
The explosive music when Minas Morgul sends up the shaft of light and the Witch king ascends to the top of it on the fell beast.
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields (as you well know ) even without the horns , it is still epic music.
Frodo's and Sam's final ascent of Mount doom, and then standing at the Cracks of Doom (again I can't recall the titles).
The Battle at the Morannan and the Fall of Barad-Dur (lots of crescendos there )
The Journey to the Grey Havens and the departure of the ship

(My gosh...it would probably be easier for me to say what pieces I don't like in the complete versions...not many! )

Shore's LOTR score is often selected as the best film score of all time.

http://halloffame.classicfm.com/movie-s ... /list-all/

So I have found that the complete recordings for The Return of the King is on iTunes. However I do not see the other two on there.

I did a search on eBay and holy smokes look at those prices!!! Do these really command a few hundred dollars each??

jnicktem wrote:So I have found that the complete recordings for The Return of the King is on iTunes. However I do not see the other two on there.

I did a search on eBay and holy smokes look at those prices!!! Do these really command a few hundred dollars each??

Yep...they can.
I bought new TT and ROTK at different times and paid between $50 and $65 for each set.
It was some time ago and I can't really remember the details.

When I went to hunt down the FOTR, prices for all of them had jumped into the high hundreds and even $200+ ranges.
I found a "used, like new" FOTR on the Alibris book site for about $45.

Then maybe a year or two later I saw all of them new and retailing for less than $100.
So I don't know if production had stopped for a while, thus driving up prices, and then production resumed, and the prices came down, or what.

You'll just have to keep checking Amazon (including the "used" marketplace) , ebay and also the used/second hand books sites that also carry music.

And you may want to keep an eye on Craigslist, too.
A lot of people put stuff up for sale this time of year to generate funds for Christmas shopping.
(Or just to get rid of stuff to make room for new stuff)
I've noticed a waning of interest in the general public of LOTR related stuff.
You could get lucky.

There is also this book and accompanying cd:
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Lord-Rings- ... +the+rings

Includes abandoned melodies and such. Very interesting!

The Complete Recordings boxed sets have been out of print for a long time now. Odd that only ROTK is on itunes.

If you just want to hear them, there is this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JLNn5-zXMg

Wow- almost 10 hours! Makes sense considering the length of the movies.

Right now what I have is an iTunes playlist with my favorite tracks from the soundtracks that I do own. I love listening to the LOTR soundtrack while at work- basically whenever I have a lot of computer work to do and I don't want to be bothered).

I'm going to try keeping an eye on FOTR and TTT complete recordings- but I really don't want to pay over $100 for one!

Did you get the complete ROTK from itunes?

I bought the track "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields" just to test it out. I will get the rest of the album but I think I'm just going to tell my wife to get it for me for Christmas. She always gets mad at me for buying myself small things like this when the holidays are so close.

OK, since you bought the track, would you like the version with the Rohirrim horns? The reason those are not on the soundtrack is because that was a sound effect, not part of the original scoring, but I have a version that is pretty much identical, except it has the horns. If so, PM me.

Here is another piece I'd recommend. If you've never seen the symphony performed in a concert hall, you simply must go if the opportunity arises again. I've been to Cleveland to see Howard Shore himself conduct it the first time, and locally it was performed in my hometown the second time by another conductor (Dunedain87 from the LOTRG). It was an amazing experience. There is a cd available of that performance. I love to listen to it whenever I fly. It helps me forget I'm a sardine crammed in a tin can.
http://www.amazon.com/Rings-Symphony-Ce ... s+symphony

I have heard about and seen some of the live concerts with the movie playing in the background- if they ever come by me I am going!!!!

I haven't been to one of those, but I bet they would be awesome too! The concerts I've attended have had the drawings of Howe and Lee scrolling on a big display above the players.

Arwyniel wrote:I haven't been to one of those, but I bet they would be awesome too! The concerts I've attended have had the drawings of Howe and Lee scrolling on a big display above the players.

Saw that a few years ago performed by the St. Louis Symphony… Wonderful!

It's starting to look like that if I want either the FOTR or TTT complete recordings I am going to have to pay $200-$300 each.

Looks like my best bet is to pay it, download the tracks, and hopefully sell them again to make up my cost.

So I decided to go ahead and treat myself. I found a decent deal for all 3 LOTR complete recordings and have been listening to them while at work for the past few days.

For the most part- I absolutely love these! It's like I'm listening to these songs for the first time!

The only drawback I have noticed with the discs I purchased is that for Fellowship- the last or last 2 tracks on each disc have a lot of pops and hisses. For the life of me I can't get rid of them. Return of the King is in excellent condition thankfully. And most unfortunately- The Two Towers is pretty much unplayable. There are just too many pops and hisses that listening to Howard Shore's beautiful score does a disservice to them! Also unfortunately it looks like I am just out the money for those discs since I can't return them and I wouldn't feel right selling something with so many issues.

Maybe one day...

It sounds like you got a bootleg copy, especially if you got them cheaply. My sets have no sound problems.

They don't look like bootleg copies- and really I paid more for these than I have ever paid for CD's in my life. The discs look a little scratched so that might be where the pops and hisses are coming from.

The reason I suggested bootleg is because you're saying "pops and hiss." CDs are a digital medium. They either play or they don't play. If they do play, they reflect the sound of the source. If you're hearing pops and hiss, that makes these discs sound like a "needle drop": sourced from vinyl! (Yes, it happens.) If CDs don't play right, you get skipping, which is unmistakable, or nothing.

Forgive me if I've waxed too pedantic here , but I'm just trying to make sense out of how these could have pops and hisses, whereas mine were perfect.

Ah- completely understood! I guess I am too use to describing quality issues in song tracks as "pops and hisses." It seems like it wasn't too long ago when I was converting records in cassettes. All of the pops and hisses transferred as well. Then even later I transferred those cassettes to CD's. I have quite a few tracks on my iTunes that were originally on a record, then a cassette, and then a CD. Quite a journey when you think about it.

But yes, I would suppose that the problems I am having now would be described as "skips." I first noticed an issue on the track "Balin's Tomb." It's an 8 and a half minute track- and the first time I tried to upload it it was only around 5 minutes. I changed my import settings so it would fix issues along the way- and I ended up getting the entire length of the track uploaded- but it still had jumps here and there.