The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies [Special Edition]

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Howard Shore

2014: Water Tower Music WTM39601

Disc 1
1. Fire and Water
2. Shores of the Long Lake
3. Beyond Sorrow and Grief [Extended Version]
4. Guardians of the Three
5. The Ruins of Dale
6. The Gathering of the Clouds [Extended Version]
7. Mithril
8. Bred for War
9. A Thief in the Night
10. The Clouds Burst
11. Battle for the Mountain

Disc 2
1. The Darkest Hour
2. Sons of Durin
3. The Fallen
4. Ravenhill
5. To the Death [Extended Version]
6. Courage and Wisdom
7. The Return Journey
8. There and Back Again
9. The Last Goodbye performed by Billy Boyd
10. Ironfoot [Extended Version]
     
    Exclusive Bonus Tracks
11. Dragon-sickness
12. Thrain from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition

When time permits I’ll have to force myself to play this pair of CDs through starting at Track 2 of Disc 1, omitting “Fire and Water,” so that I can get a better appreciation for the whole of the composition…because “Fire and Water” is just so FAN-FUCKING-TAS-TIC that I tend to be still reeling from it for several more tracks and usually give in to the urge to go back and play it again. The scene of Smaug’s attack on Lake Town was magnificent onscreen—superbly done, in all respects—but to hear the soundtrack without having the thrilling visuals is a revelation. Howard Shore seems to have pulled out all the stops for Smaug’s big scene, especially when it comes to percussion, and the result seems to me to be the biggest sonic firepower utilized in all six of the Tolkien films…as is appropriate for the largest of all the creatures of Middle-earth to appear in them. Finally he cuts loose with cymbals crashing left and right instead of just using them for effect here and there…. Damned tasty stuff.

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Comments © 2013 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.