John Sangster - The Lord of the Rings, Volume 1

Originally released in 1975

"If you want a musical autobiography, it's all there in the Lord of the Rings albums. A crazed montage of all the jazz (and other) idioms I've been involved with during my life. All the musics I love are in there; some plainly stated, some distorted and disguised a little bit the way memories sometimes go."
(John Sangster, 'Seeing the Rafters')

Not to be confused with Howard Shore's music to the award-winning films, this trilogy is wholly Australian and was released on three double-LP sets by EMI in the late 1970s and have been unavailable for many years. Sangster's complete Lord of the Rings trilogy, together with an equally rare fourth double-LP set, Landscapes of Middle Earth, have been carefully restored.

“Long overdue is the reissue of the seminal 1974 recording from the free-thinking hellraiser of Australian jazz. The scope and production values in this reworking of Tolkien's epic are nothing less than ambitious ... [a] stellar line-up ... It bristles with humour and gorgeously layered orchestrations. Breathtaking solos, too.” ★★★★

— Leon Gettler, The Age - Green Guide

“Hats off to Move Records for giving us John Sangster's 1974 classic ... It is a tribute to the man as a composer, player, bandleader and conceptualist that he could pull off such an ambitious project ... Rambunctious trad, skating post-bop, innovative percussion, string quartets and even experimental studio remixes all happily cohabit Middle Earth. What brings them together is the warm heart of Sangster, and a strong sense of joy in the making of the music ... Enchanting.”

— John Shand, ABC 24 Hours