WaterTower Music release Howard Shore's score for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The movie brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. The Dwarves of Erebor have reclaimed the vast wealth of their homeland, but now must face the consequences of having unleashed the terrifying Dragon, Smaug, upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town...

Howard Shore's first two Hobbit scores left me feeling a little disappointed, and while the final soundtrack in the trilogy does "borrow" a few themes from both the previous Hobbit scores and Lord of the Rings movies, Shore doesn't lean on them too much. What we have are musical references scattered throughout the album.

Once again WaterTower Music have released two versions of the score. Both come on two discs (if you're picking up the CD edition). For those purchasing the 'Special Edition' release you get two additional tracks, five extended tracks and additional information in the printed booklet.

It's a beautiful album, and one that fans of the movies will get a great deal of listening pleasure from.

Track listings:

Disc 1

01. Fire and Water
02. Shores of the Long Lake
03. Beyond Sorrow and Grief **
04. Guardians of the Three **
05. The Ruins of Dale
06. The Gathering of the Clouds **
07. Mithril
08. Bred for War
09. A Thief in the Night
10. The Clouds Burst
11. Battle for the Mountain

Disc 2

01. The Darkest Hour
02. Sons of Durin
03. The Fallen
04. Ravenhill
05. To the Death **
06. Courage and Wisdom
07. The Return Journey
08. There and Back Again
09. The Last Goodbye (performed by Billy Boyd)
10. Ironfoot **
11. Dragon-sickness *
12. Thrain from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition *

* Bonus track available on Special Edition Soundtrack only
** Extended Versions of these songs Available on Special Edition Soundtrack only

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Darren Rea