MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE LORD OF THE RINGS

This was an album I picked up mistakenly thinking it was somehow directly connected to one or more of the recent Tolkein-inspired films that took our theaters by storm over the past few years. It isn't, but I'll always be a sucker for Heather Findlay's voice and the very accessible sound of this band. This is a great album to have on in the background if you don't like the music tracks of whatever on-line game you might be playing, if you happen to be playing one. If it's a RPG, it was probably loosely based on something Tolkein wrote anyway (or by someone who was inspired by him).

There are certainly some downsides to this release. For one, there is no 'epic' song on it, which one would certainly expect from an album that is supposed to be inspired by one of the most pretentious and affected book series in recent history. The various films that have been made about these books are all overblown, particularly the latest round which broke both box-office and production cost records. The songs here are more like little vignettes, samplers of what the band could have explored but were in too much of a hurry to do so.

Also, some of the arrangements fall a bit flat, particularly "Goodbye Alone", which seems to drag on forever without any really point beyond trying to sound like Pink Floyd, and "Lothlorien", which doesn't fit the mood of the rest of the album at all.

On the other hand, "Out of the Inn" is a nice folksy tune in a modern tradition, combining flute with synthesizer to form a beguiling mood and a catchy rhythm, and "The Return of the King" where Findlay's voice evokes a feeling of other- worldliness that is quite appealing.

This is a pretty decent album musically, although not up to expectations of something that bears the Tolkein stamp. Mostly Autumn is an incredibly prolific band, producing an almost astonishing level of output, although most of it does not rise to the level of essential music. This album would have benefited by a lot more attention to big production sound interspersed with the very well-done folksy tracks. I think this is probably a 3.49 level effort, so three stars it is.

(And the 'enhanced' video track doesn't work on my PC, although some day I might take the time to go try it somewhere else, although I can't imagine it would be any more interesting than my V Shows DVD).

peace