5 comments about Music Inspired By J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

1. Although the music sounds really nice for about 30 seconds of each "song", suddenly it dissolves into a morass of cacophony. The gothic vocals are wonderful, transporting you to another realm, when suddenly you are thrust into the depths of musical hell with a horrendous screeching guitar line. On one song, the flute was so out of tune that my teeth began to ache. Although the thought was a good one, I think too much ... cocaine annihilated any possible future for this cd. Please avoid at all costs -- unless you want to use it as a coaster or to dress up for Halloween as the worst audio experience EVER.



2. A friend of mine actually gave this CD to me, thinking I would like it, since I am somewhat of an amateur musician. He mistakenly bought it, thinking it was the original mp soundtrack from "LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring", but boy was he wrong! Honestly, I'm not sure how to describe the "music" on the cd, but after about 2 minutes of listening to the first few tracks, I had to shut it off, fearing I was about to suffer a fatal brain hemorrhage. From the anti-melodius tunes, to the unbearably awful intonation of the group, everything that could go wrong, did. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT mistake this CD for Howard Shore's wonderful original score....



3. ...I know whether or not something is music or not; let me just say that the only songs I actually listen to are: 1- Sing Hey, 4- I Sang of Leaves of Gold, and 5- Ever on and on Goes the Road...Too much Modern-earth and not enough Middle-earth.



4. There are a couple tracks that I'm not too happy with, such as "May it Be" and "Aniron", which were simply done far better on the Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack by Enya, and "Fog on the Barrow-Downs", which has some good moments, but is completely ruined by the out of tune piccolo (At least, I pretty sure it's a piccolo, or else a flute or a recorder.)

   Nonetheless, I really like some of the tracks, such as "Sing Hey," "I Sang of Leaves of Gold," "Ever On and On Goes the Road," "Annon Edhellen" and "Bilbo's Song", which features a really nice saxophone solo. I also quite like the men's vocals in "Gandalf" and "Riders of Rohan," which are delightful, in my humble opinion. Those seem to be closer to the heart of Professor Tolkien's works, as they are done in the style of old Gregorian chants, which was the kind of music Tolkien imagined with many of his poems in the text.

   I like that they classify it as music INSPIRED by the Lord of the Rings, rather than as Middle Earth Music, where many of the songs simply wouldn't fit.

   Overall, some things a bit clumsy, but not a bad album. I got my copy at Wal-Mart for eight dollars, and I think it was worth it in some cases. But feel free to have your own opinion on it.




5. I know that nobody that wrote a review, liked. Well I love it. I will say this. It is not music for people who don't like fast, upbeat music, will not like it. It is very beautiful, even though they didn't stay strict to the poems. it is very beautiful. I am music, even though totally great,this music does not sond out of tune! My favorite is Fog on barrow-downs. But i also like them all. The coolest thing ever is that the sound of fireworks in Gandalf's fireworks sound like they are zooming over your head and the sound of horses hooves galloping sound so real in Riders of theoden. I love music. It may not be written by howard shore, but it's fantastic. The singers did a spectacular job and so did the flutest/flutests.

No comments about We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

5 comments about Holiday Collection (Phantom).

1. It is a great idea to put missing tracks from The Immaculate Collcetion onto one little disc! They put the full album version of Holiday on it, and then hits True Blue, Who's That Girl and Causin' A Commotion! What a wonderful idea! Kylie Minogue should do this for all the tracks that did not make her Ultimate Kylie album (10 tracks or so)



2. For Madonna fans who missed some songs from her first greatest hits compilation, this is a rare gem. It included the full version of "Holiday," and album versions of "True Blue" and "Who's That Girl." These are title tracks from her albums of 1986 and 1987. The bonus here is the single remix version of "Causing a Commotion" not available anyhwere. It arguably sounds better than the original single version.
   
   Madonna complemented her Immaculate Collection by releasing this compilation.
   
   However, she could have included at least two or three more tracks to truly complete her IC and these songs may be "Keep It Together" "Burning Up" "Everybody" or "Dress You Up/Angel."
   
   Whatever the reason may be, your Madonna collection is not complete without "The Holiday Collection."
   
   long live the queen!



3. I didn't even know this EP existed until Amazon recommended it to me. I got it because I didn't have Who's that Girl or Causing a Commotion on CD and didn't want to buy the soundtracks to obtain these songs.
   The two remaining tracks are the full-length version of Holiday and True Blue which was left off The Immaculate Collection.
   A nice little package for the completists out there.



4. This collection by Madonna was conceived by the singer after the continuos request of her fan. Infact in this compilation there are all the songs that were not included in "The Immaculate Collection" (whose logo has been kept to remember the main collection but in different colour, just to distinguish them)



5. I'm a huge Madonna fan, and I just had to have this in my collection. It's meant to be the songs that "didn't fit" on "The Immaculate Collection", though it was only released in the UK.

1 comments about Christmas Classics: Jingle Bells and Twas the Night Before Christmas.

1. Not quite what I expected. I was hoping that it would be as good as the Rankin Bass Christmas programs.

3 comments about Enchanted Carols.

1. The recordings of mechanical instruments, featured on this disk, come from the collection of Roy Mickleburgh. The collection was sold off after Roy's death, but many fine recordings were produced before the instruments were dispersed.

   Instruments featured on 'Enchanted Carols' include: Victorian Music Boxes, Handbells, Barrel Organs, Street Pianos and Church Bells.

   During Christmas time, we are often bombarded by a variety of holiday music. Sadly, few recordings we are likely to hear while shopping, will capture the same inventive and whimsical spirit evoked in these works.

   Indeed, to maintain any sense of reverence for the holiday at all, in our rabid globally driven market economy, it may be wise to go beyond the well trodden paths and explore unorthodox musical territory.

   'Enchanted Carols' remains a first rate example of the possible fruits in choosing such an oblique strategy for the Holiday.




2. very nice sounds from seldom-heard instruments. All together, the results provide the sort of vague, whistful nostalgia for Christmas as you might get from a flickery silent movie.



3. just to note that there are also choirs and handbells on this disc, at least on my vinyl version, which I suspect is the same, so the disc is indeed more enchanted than might be inferred from descriptions of just mechanical instruments. Lovely and nostalgic indeed. It seems to capture the spirit, without the commerciaization.
   
   JK

1 comments about Christmas in July.

1. Track 1 features Harry Shearer. Track 3 features Julia Fordham. Live bonus tracks are a nice addition.

3 comments about Tydings Trew.

1. Lionheart once again delights with a splendid mixture of chants and hymns, this time centered on medieval Christmas fare. Their sense of ensemble and balance is magical - there are no individuals in this group - they sing as one luscious voice.



2. This is an excellent change of pace Christmas album. Lionheart here presents 22 hymns, carols, motets and antiphons popular in late medieval England. The selections offer a commendable mixture of Latin motets and hymns from the Divine Office on the one hand, and carols in Middle English on the other. If you own The New Oxford Book of Carols, you will find many of the best pre-1700 selections sung here to an exceptionally high standard. Lionheart's sound is fantastic. They are quite frankly as good as Chanticleer.
   
   Although the physical copy of this album is $1 more than the price of the downloaded album, the booklet with background information to individual musical pieces and all the lyrics (in their original language and in modern English translation) is worth far more than the price difference. Spend the extra $1 and get the CD.
   
   If Adeste Fidelis and Joy to the World are wearing thin, this is some truly Old School Christmas music to sweep you to a different era and to a tremendous level of solemnity.



3. Heard this in concert at the Cloisters in New York. It confirms our belief that Lionheart is the best male early music group we have heard.

No comments about Navidad Nortena.

No comments about Crooner's Christmas.

No comments about Christmas Carols on Flute.