Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Last week I was reading online that Return of the King: The Complete Recordings was no longer available. At first, I'm usually skeptical at blog entries like that, but upon further investigating, ie: searching Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. and other online soundtrack outlets, I couldn't find it anywhere. Crap!!!! I wasn't fast enough... (ever had that happen?) I found it offered on Ebay for $300.00.. (no way) and ITunes (no book or DVD.. no thanks) so I resigned myself to awaiting a possible re-issue someday or the possibility that I just missed out on buying one of the greatest film scores of this or the last century. Or so I thought...

In my misery, I decided to stop by the local Best Buy store here in the South Bay region of L.A. to look around at Blu Ray players, movies or something else to blow cash on. As I passed the soundtrack section I decided to detour through to express my distaste for what is usually a paltry offering of soundtracks. No sooner had I thought that than I proceeded to eat my words..... what I saw on the rack in the Lord of the Rings section blew my mind.... The Return Of The King: The Complete Recordings! It was the only disc they had in stock, on sale for $51.00 which I believe is much lower than the original MSRP. I grabbed that sucker faster than you can say "FOR FRODO" and headed for the door.....

Lesson learned: don't give up! lol Anyway, that got me thinking... what experiences have the rest of you had while searching for that elusive holy grail????

The whole situation with the availability/distribution of the ROTK:CR is fairly bizzare. I remember back when it was first released, Best Buy said they wouldn't even be carrying it!

For those who haven't been able to find it yet, Doug Adams has given assurances that the set will not be allowed to disappear anytime soon. Even if Reprise Records mysteriously vanished off the face of the earth tomorrow, Howard Shore personally retains the rights to all the materials. So patience is the best virtue right now...

Doug's author's blog is a great source of info on all things LOTR music, BTW ( themusicofthelordoftheringsfilms.blogspot.com ). Lots of juicy tidbits there about the upcoming book and Rarities Archive (we're talking hours upon hours of demos, alternates, and never-before-heard extended and unused compositions -- tremendously exciting stuff).

My most serendipitous soundtrack find was at a classical music store that had a small used CD shelf. Someone had brought in mint copies of Accidental Tourist, Witches of Eastwick (before it was back in print) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (before the expanded release). They were $7 each. I was fairly happy that day.

I guess my best find remains my copy of Man On Fire by John Scott.

Found it in a bin at a Used CD shop some years back. Still one of my favorite John Scott scores.

Tai

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For me it would be John Scott`s Lionheart.

Ok, since I live in Sweden and before I had Internet it would have been impossible for me to get this soundtrack I thought so after I had been searching (most specifially when I was traveling internationally) with no luck so after approximately 10 years of searching without finding it (and I don`t trust E-Bay, so therefore) I decided to buy the DVD instead since that would be the next best thing.

A couple of months after I got the DVD I found out that Mr. Scott had his own site so I e-mailed them to ask if they knew where this soundtrack could be at sale?

I knew that this was a Intrada release (and not a JOS Records release) so when JOS Records site`s webbmaster told me in a e-mail that they actually had (as far as I understand it) a copy that they would send to me. I was surprised but did I get happy or what?

So yes, you should never give up, not even after 10 years of searching.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in Birmingham (UK) way back in the last century: completely unexpected (and hugely overpriced) so I snapped it up on the spot!

In a similar situation I once passed on a copy of Conan the Destroyer and have been kicking myself ever since.

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Picked up a copy of Georges Delerue's LE COMPLOT (To Kill a Priest) in Bourges last fall, for 3 euros only. How's that for a real steal ?

A nice score, with a nice vocal version sung by Joan Baez.

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Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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"Now I don't wanna kill you and you don't wanna be dead!"