Track Listing

Disc 1:

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

Disc 2:

1. Limited Edition DVD includes: "Howard Shore: An Introspective," a behind-the-scenes potrait of Howard Shore's weeks in London creating the music for ROTK, a Supertrailer for the LOTR Trilogy and the bonus track "Use Well The Days" Performed by Annie Lennox

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142308 in Music
• Released on: 2003-12-15
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: CD+DVD, Soundtrack, Limited Edition

Customer Reviews

very stiring stuff
I am a Lord of the Rings fan and a big reason is in no small part to the soundtracks.
Howard Shore deserved his oscar for this excellant soundtack as the music realy brought out my favorite moments of the films.
Particuler highlghts of ROTK were definantly the lighting of the beacons of Minus Tirith which summed up for me the splendour of the trilogy,the build up of tension before the 'Charge of the Rohirrim' and the track "mount doom" a mixture of struggle, power and emotion all in one great piece, and of course the end song 'into the west' by Annie lennox which realy caused a lump in my throat when I first heard it.
What makes this soundtrack so great is that it is one part of three!!! giving over 3 hours of enjoyment (much like the extended cuts of the film make that well over 10 hours of pure joy!!
I am a collector of soundtracks,usually the epic film kind and this is the pride and joy of my collection, I will listen to this probaly three times as much as any of the others in my collection with the possible exception of Fellowship, which include greats like Gladiator, Last of the Mohicans and a particule favorite King Arthur and it is great for studying!!!
I believe this is definantly on par with Fellowship of the Ring which features my favorite piece in the trilogy (the Breaking of the fellowship) and better than the Two Towers although the latter is still a great listen.
I particulerly like how Mr Shore has created a perfectly distinctive theme for each differant race of middle earth so you know instantly if it is an emotional scene with Hobbits (pipes) an attack by Uruk-hai(horns) or a massing of the Rohirrim.
This cd has it all, emotion, tension, exhileration and pure excitement and I would unreservedly recomend this to anyone!!

An excellent and moving musical experience
Listening to the soundtrack for the first time after seeing the Return Of The King just after its release brought all the scenes flashing back. Listening to Billy Boyd in the "Steward of Gondor" brought back the image of Dethenor biting into the fruit and seeing the red juice dribble down his chin with the fruitless attack on Osgiliath in progress was especially powerful.

The “Return of the King” made my skin prickle, after so much sorrow hope and the future is in sight, However towards the end of the piece, themes from “Concerning Hobbits” in “The Fellowship of the Ring” give a glimpse of the parting of friends and sorrow yet to come.

The combination of “The Grey Havens” and “Into the west” somehow brought the sacrifice made by the Ring Bearer closer to home; the pathos exhibited by Frodo which can be so annoying at times, becomes understandable and easier to empathize with.

All in all a spine tingling experience that takes one throughout a full range of emotions.

Quite good but...........
I had expected something much better especially it being the final film in the trilogy. In my humble opinion The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers soundtracks were much more superior and intense. However I still enjoyed listening to the ROTK soundtrack especially the following tracks:
* A storm is coming
* Minas Tirith
* Twilight and Shadow
* The Black gate opens
However I think the tracks were too short on this CD.
Personally I would have brought in Enya again for the final song. She would have given it more justice than Annie Lennox even though she has a good voice. Enya's is more delicate and majestic.
The enclosed DVD was a welcome bonus but the video diary of Howard Shore was ever so short. I would love to see someday the FULL video diary of Howard Shore from when he started working on the Fellowship till the Return of the King !!!!