The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King: The first soundtrack review of Howard Shore's score for the final chapter in The Lord Of The Rings saga is now online over at Soundtrack.net along with audio samples from selected tracks!

Looking at the 72 minute disc's track titles, a good many of them seem intentionally designed to thwart spoilers (unlike that other, older "Return" movie, whose original soundtrack had one memorable whopper called "The Emperor's Death"). It's a good thing, though, since the CD is set to hit store shelves three weeks ahead of the film.

On the whole, Shore's work on Return of the King (at least that which can be judged on this CD, away from the film) seems to alternately flesh out and pay off musical ideas built throughout the course of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's wonderful to see the composer making the most of such a broad canvas, using its interconnectivity to enhance the score as a whole. For its part, Return of the King is a satisfying, powerful, and emotional conclusion to a story that has touched the hearts of moviegoers everywhere.

CLICK HERE to read the review!

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER THE SOUNDTRACK!