If Middle-earth had a soundtrack album...

[Lindale]

A rather obvous choice, Elvenpath by Nightwish. Oh well. I heard it after the movies, though I'm sure it was released first. The song has a good deal of Finnish stuff and Beauty and the Beast mythos and other "fantasy" stuff, but there are real Tolkien-y parts. And Bilbo gets mentioned.

I'm not a real metal fan, but I like the song anyway. And I think NW has done a good deal of Tolkien-y songs.

As I return to my room
And as sleep takes me by my hand
Madrigals from the woods
Carry me to neverland
In this spellbound night
The world's an elvish sight

That bit has an almost Smith of Wooton Major feel.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Lindale

A rather obvous choice, Elvenpath by Nightwish. Oh well. I heard it after the movies, though I'm sure it was released first. The song has a good deal of Finnish stuff and Beauty and the Beast mythos and other "fantasy" stuff, but there are real Tolkien-y parts. And Bilbo gets mentioned.

I'm not a real metal fan, but I like the song anyway. And I think NW has done a good deal of Tolkien-y songs.

Interesting, having never heard of them previously, I checked them out on YouTube. They're rather like a more operatic (in both theme and aural tone) version of Evanescence.

But though they write about aspects of Middle-earth, do you think they actually invoke a feel of Tolkien's world? I mentioned Led Zeppelin and their allusions to Tolkien, and I do feel that The Battle of Evermore certainly has a 'Tolkien-y' effect, but a song like Ramble On (that invokes the names of Gollum and Mordor) does not have that same feel. In fact, the specific stanza...

"Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear.
How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air.
T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah."

makes little sense from a Middle-earth standpoint; although Robert Plant was never one for depth of lyrics (as a reading of Stairway to Heaven makes abundantly clear).

Perhaps rather than pointing out entire albums that have such flair, maybe a Middle-earth soundtrack would have songs from different bands that best exemplify specific events in Middle-earth history.

[Bêthberry]

Great reviews of Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention, Morthoron. Both very fitting, I'd say.

Nightwish covered a song by Gary Moore that is steeped in British military tradition, with versions going back over several centuries. Moore's and Nightwish's lyrics aren't exactly Tolkienish, based as they are on adultery and deceit (a sort of British 'Long Black Veil', without the capital punishment), but the haunting melody and drums evoke for me a sense of Middle-earth. Nightwish brings in Viking elements while Moore brings in Celtic.

Here's some YouTube versions and then a link to the traditional versions of the song.

Gary Moore's Over the hills and far away

Nightwish's Over the hills and far away

Over the hills and far away--traditional versions

[ninja91]

The Robin Hood themesong gets my fantasy fires burning. Its very adventurous, especially the version played by the Warner/Tamerlane version. It makes me think of the adventure and thrills that is present in The Lord of the Rings and so many other fantasy stories.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Great reviews of Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention, Morthoron. Both very fitting, I'd say.

Thank you very much. Tull and Fairport are two of my favorites. I've always appreciated musicians who go decidedly against the grain. Would that there were more bands with such independent spirit.

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Nightwish covered a song by Gary Moore that is steeped in British military tradition, with versions going back over several centuries. Moore's and Nightwish's lyrics aren't exactly Tolkienish, based as they are on adultery and deceipt (a sort of British 'Long Black Veil', without the capital punishment), but the haunting melody and drums evoke for me a sense of Middle-earth. Nightwish brings in Viking elements while Moore brings in Celtic.

Here's some YouTube version and then a link to the traditional versions of the song.

Thanks for the links. I've played 'Long Black Veil' in the different bands I've pub crawled with for years (the version by The Band is my favorite), as well as 'Matty Groves', a Fairport tune that is another of the cautionary tales regarding adultery that seemed to proliferate in 15th/16th century England. I could not find a Sandy Denny recording of 'Matty' on YouTube, but here is a reunion version of the song with various Fairport members old and new (Sandy Denny died several years ago, and I do not know this singer's name, but the great Richard Thompson is playing guitar). The quality of the video is iffy, but you'll get the general idea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6PMJ...elated&search=

Here is a Sandy Denny/Fairport version of Tam Lin, a 16th century tale of Faery abduction and enchantment which definitely captures the more fey aspects of Middle-earth...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJrLg...elated&search=

As far as Tull, here's something a Hobbit might be singing on a long journey...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rioYOoFqyAo

And a lusty air from 'Songs from the Woods' (Velvet Green)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NyvT...elated&search=

[MatthewM]

Mostly Autumn, a British band that captures a great Middle-earth spirit. They have a female singer and a ripping lead guitarist. They actually did an album dedicated to The Lord of the Rings. GREAT stuff.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by MatthewM

Mostly Autumn, a British band that captures a great Middle-earth spirit. They have a female singer and a ripping lead guitarist. They actually did an album dedicated to The Lord of the Rings. GREAT stuff.

I'm glad you posted that as I was trying to remember the name of this band for months! I was going to check them out on one of these new-fangled downloading whatsit sites (I won't utter the name of the sinister Apple site...) and completely forgot who they were! Interestingly, the singer is married to the former singer in Marillion - named after...?

On the subject of Led Zep, Plant asserts that he did not base any of his songs on Tolkien, that this was just one of many influences floating in the highly charged ether at the time, and I can believe that, what with the mercurial and enigmatic Jimmy Page and his interest in Aleister Crowley etc. Hammer Of The Gods is required reading for any Zep fan who wants to know more.

The other day davem shouted me to 'come and look at this video!' - he'd found a video (Nedgang) by Finntroll on YouTube. This is well worth looking up, as this Scandinavian metal is thoroughly Northern and Middle-earth appropriate to my mind. Also have a look for Tyr, a Faroese metal band who sing about Viking lore and life in English or their native language - I am rather fond of Hail To The Hammer...can imagine Rohirric warriors singing stuff like this. Love it! And many thanks are in order to Mr Eomer himself for recommending these bands!

On the opposite note - try some Vashti Bunyan for the most whimsical yet not at all sickly Hobbitish music around, songs about frogs and dragonflies and living in a gypsy caravan...and you might try Martin Carthy's Rackabello - a rather ace jaunty song about a man killing a Giant's little pig...and I've got but have yet to rip a new CD of ancient Yule songs/carols/wassails/hails to the Green Man by the Watersons & Martin & Eliza Carthy, as performed in Whitby last Christmas...but don't get me started on the area of folk music because I'll rattle on for hours and I shall have Mithalwen accusing me of being a beardy weirdy.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

...and you might try Martin Carthy's Rackabello - a rather ace jaunty song about a man killing a Giant's little pig...and I've got but have yet to rip a new CD of ancient Yule songs/carols/wassails/hails to the Green Man by the Watersons & Martin & Eliza Carthy, as performed in Whitby last Christmas...but don't get me started on the area of folk music because I'll rattle on for hours and I shall have Mithalwen accusing me of being a beardy weirdy.

Mr. Carthy is a brilliant guitarist and is one of those underappreciated masters who influenced an entire generation of folk musicians. I met him in the mid-90's during a Steeleye Span reunion tour (I am sure I was gushing like a little schoolgirl). And Lalwende, if you wish to rattle on for hours regarding folk music, please do so. This is the perfect thread for it.

The aformentioned Steeleye Span is another band who could add to the Middle-earth soundtrack. There are a few songs from The Waterboys you could throw in there as well, particularly on the 'Room to Roam' album (which has one of the best renditions of 'Raggle Taggle Gypsy'), like 'Song From The End Of The World'....

Here is the smell
of seafood pie
a broken tower
on the open sky
a chain of islands
rolling West
in sight of the house
where we are guests

A rambling old river
twist through the fields
ancient names
imprinted on shields
gifts arrive
for a baby girl
born a queen
at the end of the world

Furious music
from an open door
the sound of feet
beating on a stone floor
always the wind
always the form
of an elder God
hooved and horned

The head of the mountain
lost in a cloud
a country woman
soft and proud
into the bay
the horses swirl
for we come to the sea
at the end of the world