Customer Reviews

Songs of Middle Earth: Inspired by The Lord of the Rings

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This CD purports to be a collection of songs inspired by The Lord of the Rings, but if one turns to the back cover, one may see that the music is made up of tracks previously released on Rick Wakeman's Heritage Suite and The Seven Wonders of the World. These songs, then, are obviously NOT inspired by Lord of the Rings but have simply been retitled (incorrectly in the case of Minas Tirith which has here been called Minas Truth) with names from Tolkien's triolgy. While it is interesting to listen to these old songs in their new conceptual connotations, this is still old material, and the musical styles of the original two albums don't always blend as nicely as one might hope. One would do far better to purchase both Seven Wonders and Heritage Suite and experience the songs in their proper form.

I was drawn to this cd as a fan of Rick Wakeman and the Lord of the Rings books. Anyone who is a fan of fine instrumentals and some fabulous piano playing should really check this one out. Many of the tracks have appeared on previous Wakeman collections, but they all seem to fit very, very well. Lothlorien, Rohan and the Grey Havens have some of Wakeman's best piano playing. The music is as relaxing as it is inspiring. It makes me want to start playing the piano again.

This album does not seem in any way related to Middle Earth. All of the tracks seem bland and very similar to each other, there is nothing to distinguish one track from another. Having read the books many times, the areas associated with each track are significantly different. I have liked some of Wakeman's other theme albums, particularly Six Wives of Henry VIII, where each track had a distinct character. This album is not up to that standard and the tracks seem to be a mish mash of bland compositions that was thrown together and had titles slapped on them to associate them with LOTR. Given the well developed character of each area in LOTR, I would have expected tracks with distinct character, much as Holst's Planets compositions each have very distinct characters that strongly evoke the character being portrayed. Not so the tracks on this album, they evoked only boredom in this listener.

music is always inspired by something. as a composer, I would like to respond to the "not inspired" review by pointing out that whether this composers music has appeared before or not has nothing to do with whether it was inspired by this movie. Johann DeMeij's "Lord of the Rings" came out YEARS before these movies were even dreamt of, and it was fully inspired by this story. This composers music was inspired in the same way. he simply retitled this composition to show where it came from so that interested listeners could see this. I think this CD is fantastic. I would suggest it to anyone who enjoys great music

I love this CD! It's been so long since I've heard this music and I'm enjoying it very much!

The music is not like lord of the rings style, is more like new age, if you search someting like lord of the rings don't buy it, the music is nice to relax in your house.

You can definitely get lost in the music on this CD. The composition of these songs definitely fits the theme of Middle Earth, and you can close your eyes and imagine being the scenes of the respective titles. Rick Wakeman masterfully has put together melodies and harmonies that blend so well with each other that makes the CD so inspirational.

There's no time when you talk about this album. And specially now, after the movie, it fits our minds with another soud track and another trip in the world of the lord of the rings.

I MUST ADMIT TO TWO THINGS RIGHT OFF THE BAT-ONE I DON'T CARE FOR PIANO MUSIC VERY MUCH, AND TWO, I AM CRAZY ABOUT DAVID ARKENSTONE'S MUSIC. THAT SAID I MUST SAY THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING INTERPERTATION OF THE MUSIC OF MIDDLE EARTH. I LIKED THIS "MODERN" VIEW OF THE MIDDLE EARTH MUSIC.

IN ALL FAIRNESS IF ONE WANTS MUSIC THEY FEEL IS RIGHT OUT OF MIDDLE EARTH ONE SHOULD HEAR DAVID ARKENSTONE'S MUSIC INSPIRED BY MIDDLE EARTH. IT IS MORE CELTIC WITH A NEW AGE HINT. BUT IT STICKS WITH WHAT YOU WOULD THINK MIDDLE EARTH MUSIC WOULD SOUND LIKE, EVEN THOUGH NONE OF US HAS EVER BEEN TO MIDDLE EARTH.

I FEEL JACKSON WOULD HAVE HAD MOVIES OF A RICHER AND MORE FULLFILLING NATURE HAD HE USED DAVID AND HIS GENIUS AT STORYTELLING WITH MUSIC.

BUT ALL SAID I STILL RECOMMEND THIS AS ONE OF MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF GOOD MUSIC. I THINK I HAVE ALL THE DIFFERENT SOURCES OF THE MIDDLE EARTH AND LORD OF THE RINGS MUSIC ON THE MARKET. SOME 15 DIFFERENT CDS. SOME GREAT SOME VERY POOR.