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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Howard Shore, Isabel Bayrakdarian (soprano)
Retail Price (not our price): $19.98
Release Date: 2002-12-10
Manufacturer: Reprise / Wea
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
Howard Shore's music for the massively successful first film chapter of Tolkien's Ring saga won him the Oscar® for Best Original Score, something of a surprise given the music's ambitious scale and determinedly dark overtones, factors that handily blurred the line between typical film fantasy music and accomplished concert work. Its sequel takes the same, often Wagnerian-scaled dramatic tack, following the film's story line into even more brooding and ominous dark corners. The previous film's Hobbit-inspired pastoralism is supplanted here by rich ethnic textures that expand the musical scope of Middle-earth and the World of Men; the Hardanger, a Norwegian fiddle, represents the Rohan and the North African rhaita colors the Mordor theme, while log drums, dilruba, wood xylophone, and cimbalon add intriguing textures elsewhere. The score's looming orchestral clouds are brightened by Shore's masterful choral writing, which infuses ancient liturgical influences with various solo turns by Isabel Bayrakdarian, indie-pop star Sheila Chandra, Ben Del Maestro, and Elizabeth Fraser. "Gollum's Song," the composer's concluding collaboration with lyricist Fran Walsh, is delivered with Björkish, postmodern angst by Emiliana Torrini, and helps punctuate the story's modern sense of allegory. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Gorgeous!   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I love how this soundtrack is different from the first film's, yet, you can definietely tell that they are part of the same film. It flows so well. The music ranges from soothing to dark and powerful. Its a wonderful CD to listen to. I love 'Gollum's Song'. Its so dark and spooky sounding. Its a great way to end the CD. If you love the movie, you must get the CD.

2) great series of soundtracks for the classical geek   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I personally loved the movies, and they job they did in compiling a soundtrack was surprisingly good. They edited the aspects of the tracks to make a 3 series soundtrack that you can enjoy from start to finish. thats right, just pop it in, hit play, and let it go. A+ for me

3) Movie CD Sountrack   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Movie Soundtrack to the first The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. If you like instrumental scores you will enjoy this CD.

4) Gollum's Song - Haunting and Brilliant   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Yes, this review is five years late, but there's so much depth to the Lord of the Rings movies, they remain a prime source of entertainment. I have always loved movie soundtracks, and recently acquired all three LOTR theatrical soundtrack CDs, which brings me to "Gollum's Song", the last track on the Two Towers CD.I never paid much attention to the movies ending credit music until I got the Two Towers CD, which allowed me to really hear Gollum's Song for the first time. What a unique and haunting piece of music. It perfectly bridges Gollum's tragic history and future, and is a sly metaphor for all who make terrible unreversable choices in their lives.Fran Walsh wrote the bleak yet Tolkienesque lyrics, which were then scored in another sublime Howard Shore LOTR theme. But no words can aptly describe Emiliana Torinni's vocals. Her fearless interpretation of Gollum's descent into despair blows away the other two LOTR movie-ending songs. If Emiliana never finds material this good again, she can always be proud of this one searing performance, and we can be grateful for the world-class talents that came together in its creation.

5) Amazing!   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
What can I say that hasn't already been said about Howard Shore's magnificent score for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy? A soundtrack can define the whole atmosphere of a film, and this fully orchestrated work certainly does that with sweep, splendor and wonder, alternately humanizing (hobbit-izing?) the characters, imbuing the landscape with magic and capturing the world-shaking impact of events of mythic proportions. And this was no easy task considering the iconoclastic status of the story and the superb quality of Peter Jackson's filmmaking. This is a truly a soundtrack for the ages--a fitting accompaniment to a film for the ages! Every aspect of life, from the extreme to the mundane, is captured in this music. Listening to it can make every remembered moment of the movie come alive again in your mind, from the most horrific battle to the smallest moment of humor or kindness. In "The Two Towers," all the familiar themes from the first sound track return, reinvented as need be to tie the films together while adapting to new developments in the action and the story. In this album, I particularly like the hardanger fiddle-infused theme for the Rohirrim, the Viking-like horse-riders of the steppes, and the ponderous, quirky music for Treebeard, the walking, talking tree. I would have enjoyed a bit more of these distinctive elements, which lend levity and diversity to a sometimes depressing and overwhelmingly intense body of work. Here, they make all-too-brief appearances, at least from a listener's point of view. But soundtracks are ultimately slaves to the script, and in conjunction with the film itself, the timing and phrasing of Shore's music is impeccable. Mysterious, menacing, folksy or heroic, the total effect is utterly convincing and utterly transporting. Peter Jackson chose well when he picked Shore as his score writer. Very, very well! Be sure to get the scores from the other two movies in the trilogy as well - "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Return of the King." They seem to be available in no end of different packagings, including ones with bonus DVDs about the creation of the score. Also, make sure to get the extended edition DVDs of the movie itself, with hours and hours of fascinating commentaries and behind-the-scenes documentaries about the making of the films. Truly a bargain at any price! And for a more comprehensive taste of hardanger fiddle music from Scandinavia, try the work of Annbjorg Lien or many of the varied releases from the NorthSide label.