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From the gentlest ranges of The Shire to the highest point of Mount Doom, Peter Jackson’s epic three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings books is the kind of one-in-a-million success that you couldn’t dare to imagine. Nearly 20 years after the inaugural film in the series, The Fellowship of The Ring, was released to theaters, Rhino Records is bringing back a crucial archival portion of LoTR lore on April 6: a generously expanded edition of Howard Shore’s acclaimed, Oscar-winning soundtrack, out of print for more than a decade.

The film series’ director, Peter Jackson, selected Shore off the strength of some of the composer’s previous scores that he was using as temp tracks. In the great tradition of John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith (or, going back even further, Richard Wagner), Shore’s work was bombastic and operatic, telling the story of Bilbo Baggins, Aragorn, Gandalf The Grey, Legolas and countless other memorable characters through a stunning amount distinct leitmotifs and musical ideas, utilizing nontraditional instrumentation (thanks to the efforts of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the London Voices and London Oratory School Schola choirs) and even lyrics derived from the book’s invented language, Elvish. Add a pinch of song material (notably Enya’s Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy-nominated original “May It Be”) and you’ve got a soundtrack for the ages.

The four-disc The Fellowship of The Ring box set released in 2005 featured a greatly expanded, composer-supervised (not technically complete but certainly definitive) presentation to match the extended edition of the film, with three CDs of music also available in high-resolution stereo and surround sound on one DVD. Now, that box is coming back to print in two new packages: a repress of the original set, with a Blu-ray Disc replacing the DVD, and – for the first time ever, a 5LP box set, pressed on red vinyl and limited to 5000 copies. Packaging sticks close to the original release, featuring deluxe packaging (including a “leather-style” book-like spine) as well as the superior liner notes by LoTR music authority Doug Adams. Rhino also committed in their announcement to the eventual reissue of the expanded sets of 2002’s The Two Towers and 2003’s Return of The King, both also long out-of-print.

The adventure continues April 6 – hit the jump for a full track list as well as Amazon links!

The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring – The Complete Recordings (previously released as Reprise 45494-2, 2005, reissued 2018 – original film and soundtrack released as Reprise 48110, 2001)

3CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)

Disc 1

1. Prologue: One Ring to Rule Them All
2. The Shire
3. Bag End
4. Very Old Friends
5. Flaming Red Hair
6. Farewell, Dear Bilbo
7. Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe
8. A Conspiracy Unmasked
9. Three is Company
10. The Passing of The Elves
11. Saruman The White
12. A Shortcut to Mushrooms
13. Strider
14. The Nazgûl

Disc 2

1. Weathertop
2. The Caverns of Isengard
3. Give Up the Halfling
4. Orthanc
5. Rivendell
6. The Sword That Was Broken
7. The Council of Elrond Assembles (feat. “Aníron (Theme for Aragorn and Arwen)” – composed and performed by Enya)
8. The Great Eye
9. Gilraen’s Memorial
10. The Pass of Cadrahas
11. The Doors of Durin
12. Moria
13. Gollum
14. Balin’s Tomb

Disc 3

1. Khazad-dûm
2. Caras Galadhon (feat. “Lament for Gandalf” performed by Elisabeth Fraser)
3. The Mirror of Galadriel
4. The Fighting Uruk-hai
5. Parth Galen
6. Departure of Boromir
7. The Road Goes Ever On (Part 1)
8. May It Be – Enya
9. The Road Goes Ever On (Part 2) – Edward Ross

Blu-ray: Full score in Dolby Stereo and 5.1 Surround