Voyage Soundtrack, a little bit good, a little bit not
344461
The music is awesome!  The recording, however, is as good as it can be.  The producers had to work with tapes not kept in the best of condition.  The pitch wavers in spots.  You won't get a perfect recording, but you do get the music AND you DO get an extra take and a booklet loaded with information on Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter.  Listen to some samples and decide for yourself.  It IS a good product, just not a great one.
2397409
The music for the second installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean, "Dead Man's Chest", is similar in style and presentation to the first.  The key difference here is the loss of raw energy, sparkle, and surprise that the first film and its music had.  The result is something that fans of the film will adore, but those of us who weren't so impressed by the second film will see as just another part of a mediocre attempt to recreate the magic of the first.  Hans Zimmer isn't without great scores, though.  I would recommend the score of "King Arthur", a powerful score featuring a lot of choral underscore and great action music.  Much akin to Pirates in feel, with more originality and drive.
3213654
I love this music.  For some unfortunate reason, on certain soundtracks, Disney puts all the songs with vocals first, then all the orchestral pieces, so if you're wanting to listen to the whole thing, like in the car, it's not that good.  Why wouldn't they put it in order of what you hear in the movie so it's like you listen to the whole movie minus the dialogue and sound effects?

Also my CD case had a crack, but that has more to do with whoever shipped it/selected it from the warehouse.
1910737
I enjoy the music,on one hand, because it brings back pictures to me of that beautiful movie. But the music itself is stirring and ,of course, Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Pearlman are magnificent! The music is almost my favorite part,even though some is redundant. If you enjoyed the movie,I think you would enjoy this CD
203062
Although the movies could have been better, the soundtrack is pretty good. There are some random songs on it that are a bit out there, but most of the CD makes for good listening.
2161406
Some of the music for me took some warming up to, but after listening to most of the soundtrack a few times over, I found many of the songs to be very good. I think this soundtrack, arguably, rivals Howard Shore's previous soundtracks for The Lord of the Rings.
My favorite song on the soundtrack is actually "The Song of the Lonely Mountains" (which, after reading another review on Amazon and finding out Howard Shore had nothing to do with this track, I feel kind of guilty for, but still enjoy this song the most). However, most of the soundtrack was written by Howard Shore, and there are many other great, orchestral pieces on the soundtrak. Some of my favorites include "Axe or Sword?", "The Adventure Begins", "Dreaming of Bag End", and "Erebor". Its nice to hear songs from the book on here, namely, the songs "Blunt the Knives" and "Misty Mountains". Both of these songs are great, and "Misty Mountains" comes in as a close second as my favorite song. You can also hear themes from the origianl Lord of the Rings trilogy on here, too. The song "Hidden Valley" uses the Rivendell theme (as it no doubt is the song used for when the group comes to Rivendell), and at the end of "The Adventure Begins" there is a more upbeat version of the tune used in "The Breaking of the Fellowship" from "The Fellowship of the Ring" soundtrack.
I have not yet seen the movie (though plan to go this very afternoon (December 22, 2012)), and this soundtrack definitely makes me excited to go see the movie, and I recommend it to everyone interested in The Hobbit and who enjoys movie scores.
Finally, like I mentioned in the title, the ONLY reason this soundtrack gets 4 instead of 5 stars is because of the packaging of the special edition. The special edition is set up like a booklet, with some photos and lyrics in the middle, and the CDs are put in envelope-like slots on the inner side of the front and back. This makes it difficult to get the CDs out of and into the case. I would have much preferred if they had put plastic over the inner side, and made it so the CDs snapped into plastic holders like on most cases. I did burn the CDs onto my computer and will probably mostly listen to them on my computer, but I still think the packaging should have made it easier to get the CDs out and into the case. However, considering we do live in a digital age and most people won't be using the actualy physical soundtracks, this is a small issue and I still recommend The Hobbit soundtrack. Just be warned if you order the physical edition of the special edition to be careful getting the CDs out.

Update 02/17/2014: I added a star back on because, even though the packaging of the CDs in the envelope-like slots on the inside is still a poor way of packaging the CDs, it is now irrelevant! The Desolation of Smaug soundtrack also came similarly packaged, but it was no problem because in the last year Amazon came out with AutoRip, which is probably one of their best ideas ever. You get the MP3s automatically delivered to your device upon purchasing the albums (and you have them right in the morning on the release date if you pre-order the album), and you do not need to worry about getting at the CDs to download your music and possibly damaging the CDs in the process.
4929679
i agree with the first review. the soundtrack seems to be lacking a few important songs such as maybe the opening scene song??? ahem yeah that might be a little problem.
3641320
I enjoyed the music from the movie,but a good bit of it weren't on the c.d.
3046621
If you liked the movie, I'm sure you'll like this soundtrack CD. If you haven't seen the movie, then it will seem like a bit of an odd mix of music. But then why would you be buying this if you haven't seen the movie? And therein lies the problem - You want this CD to remind you of the movie, but it's only got about half the songs. Plus it's missing some of the most significant songs (Tumbling Tumbleweeds, the 2 CCR songs and Viva Las Vegas). So as much as I like the movie and as much as I like this CD because of the movie, it still only gets 3 stars because it's not complete. If you want the complete movie soundtrack then you need to also obtain:

Peaceful Easy Feeling, Eagles
Piacere Sequence, Teo Usuelli
Requiem In D Minor, Mozart (Slovak Philharmonic)
Pictures At An Exhibition, Modest Mussorgsky (Concertgebouw Orchestra)
Run Through The Jungle, Creedance Clearwater Revival
Tammy, Debbie Reynolds
Standing On The Corner, Dean Martin
Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Roy Rogers and the Sons Of The Pioneers
Viva Las Vegas, Shawn Colvin
Viva Las Vegas, ZZ Top
Behave Yourself, Booker T and the MGS
I Hate You, Monks
Looking Out My Back Door, Creedance Clearwater Revival
Mucha Muchacha, Esquivel
Oye Como Ya, Santana
We Venerate Thy Cross, Rustavi Choir
Branded Theme tune

Note that the movie credits state 'Big Johnson' performs Viva Las Vegas. Clearly that's a joke (with reference to the movie). It's actually ZZ Top. And I wouldn't bother with the Branded Theme tune (especially as it's the Dude who sings a bit of it whilst drunk in the Malibu cop car). But the others are all pretty good and will give you a much more complete & memorable movie soundtrack.

Update on 20-Mar-2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I believe jrai is correct - The version of Viva Las Vegas jokingly attributed to 'Big Johnson' (which you hear in the movie playing in Bunny's crashed Jaguar) is NOT the ZZ Top version. I've no idea who it is. I can't confirm if it's T Bone Burnett. The ZZ Top version is pretty close though and a good addition to this collection.
4306922
It's been a while since I was really excited for a James Newton Howard score, and he's one of my favorite composers so I always have expectations. My expectations were not met with The Green Lantern, but thankfully he returns to somewhat true form here with his score for The Hunger Games. Danny Elfman was reportedly supposed to score the film, but then had to dropout to do Tim Burton's Dark Shadows. James Newton Howard does a fine job painting a dreary picture of the dystopian future in the film. Moments of greatness do shine through, and he even created a decent theme. However, when you have a 46-minute running time to a 2.5 hour film then you know that the score wasn't used to its full effect, or maybe they were just cheap with licensing fees for this release (Pirates 4 anyone?). Either way the structure and approach show that score could have played a bigger storytelling role here. Something that is in no way James Newton Howard's fault since we know if he's given an open canvas then you can expect great things (King Kong, Michael Clayton, Signs, The Village).

The score starts off very intriguing and continues to build a grand opening act. What follows is a great journey even if it's rather predictable. If you were expecting a rousing score then you won't find it here. Instead of taking a more aggressive approach the music stays rather quiet. James Newton Howard does build some great ascending moments, and the wavy nature of the score is perfect for subtle moods. The two great tracks of the album come at the end, and they are indeed fantastic tracks. "Mutations" offers some interesting stylistic sounds that I wish were used more throughout. Then the final track is that great emotional James Newton Howard that I love. What falls in between the great opening and great ending is what bogs this score down. It bubbles down to a long stretch of mediocrity and predictability. The score lost me for a good chunk in the middle before those final two tracks hit.

This is a great James Newton Howard score, but it's nowhere near the level I know he's capable of. The score has a good opening and then it becomes rather boring and predictable. The strong ending picks it back up to finish on a high note, but overall it left a rather bland taste in my mouth. I'll probably return back to it for a few select tracks that I enjoyed, but as a whole score it suffers from a lack of narrative power. Oh and just a quick easter egg. Composer Michael Wandmacher is actually responsible for the "Mockingjay Call".
35746
There is some good music on here. There are also some soundj-bites from the movie HEAD. The music part is good, the sound-bites are questionable and get old in a hurry. This album was much better than I expected it to be.
2980393
A surprising mix of cool stuff on this intriguing soundtrack.
1312563
Well,to begin this review I have to say that this was the first
SW soundtrack I'd ever bought,and I immidiatley thought it was excellent. But when I later compared it with the scores for the three first SW films,I realized it was not that great.
For the first,the music comes in non-chronological order,which is rather annoying (although it would have been quite chaothic if it did,because the music was so splitted up in the movie). And for the second,the themes are not as memorable and great as the old themes - the new theme for the Trade Federation only appears one time,and Darth Maul is not given a real motif,although he`s the main villain of the film. May be that`s because I was a little disappointed on the movie itself (it felt too much like a children`s movie). The score on itself is a splendid treasure of film music,and in fact, I think that this music should be enjoyed on it`s own,not as a part of the film,if you didn`t liked the film. My favorite tracks are "Duel of the Fates","Captain Panaka & The Queen`s Protectors","The Droid Invasion & Appearance of Darth Maul","He is the Chosen One","Qui-Gon`s Funeral",and "Passage Through the Planet's Core". They are the best ones,featuring what sounds pretty new to Star Wars Episode I. For example,the use of choir is much bigger than in the old films - take the well-known "Duel of the Fates",which is actually the final battle music,as the best example. And the track "Qui-Gon`s Funeral" also sounds better than the sad music from the first films - the use of a deep choir and strings sometimes makes me feel I want to cry!"He is the Chosen One" features Anakin's theme,which,if you listen carefully,is actually an early and light version of what is going to be the Imperial March. This track is both happy and serious at the same time. "Passage Through the Planet's Core" is a mysterious choral track,which ends up quite dramatic as the giant sea monsters appears. The baddest tracks come at the middle of the score,so listen to the first three tracks,then jump to track 10,and you won`t be disappointed.
Over all,this score is quite good on its own,but I think that Williams could have done it even better than he did. Anyway,now when the second movie is just behind the hill,we could always hope that Williams will make a better score for that one. Even the master doesn`t hit the marks all the time!
4470485
As a soundtrack, this is brilliant work.  However, as a pure source of listening, the the music just doesn't flow very gracefully without the very clever plot of the movie.  The elements that made such a fascinating story,  the journey of the violin through time and around the world, make for a  listening experience that lacks cohesion and appears disjointed.  This is  in spite of unbelievable execution and artistry.  My recommendation is that  you go for the whole experience and buy the movie instead.  If you have  seen it, another movie soundtrack with these characteristics is 'music from  siesta' by miles davis.
386213
This is the almost complete original soundtrack of the movie - the PIL song is not the same as in the movie and Lebanon song wasn't included. Since I'm talking about the french edition, be aware that if you aren't fluent in french AND have a powerfull loupe, you won't read nothing on the booklet. But, let's go straight to the point: This is a collection of themes and fragments - most around 1 - 2 minutes long - of the soundtrack music used on the homonimous movie. Most of them are very climatic, coherently somber and darker. They evoke the atmosphere and the feelings brought by the movie. As for the audio quality in itself, they are mostly so-so, with one or other track above average. Acceptable but far from demonstration level. As for the music in itself, if you like progressive and minimalism, you'll certainly enjoy this one. IMHO a very good sample of the composers (Max Richter) potential.
3930504
The scores for the saga have been hit and miss ("New Moon" was great where "Eclipse" was lazy and repetitive), and now we have Carter Burwell finishing off the series he started. His themes are great and memorable, rare things in the world of film music nowadays, but his action cues aren't his strong suit. He does an impressive job overall, no doubt about it, but the mixing of the orchestra makes me think I'm listening to the music for a low-budget Syfy Original Movie. I don't blame Burwell but the music engineers.

I know it sounds like I'm rating the score based on the sound quality rather than the music itself, but I'm not. It's good music, but the action cues and quieter moments feel like they're from different movies altogether. They don't feel like they inhabit the same world. I'm not sure whether to blame the filmmakers or the composer for this.

And if there was a great argument for an album NOT arranging the tracks in film order, it's this one (and "Super 8"). Almost all of the action is located at the end of the album, with quieter moments making up the majority. And would it have killed the composer to edit most of the relevant tracks together rather than have SO MANY short cues? He must think his target audience has a short attention span.
2195643
At its best, a film soundtrack both supports the film and stands on its own; one can listen, for example, to Tara's Theme from GONE WITH THE WIND and immediately envision the film--but even if one was completely unfamilar with the film one could still enjoy the music purely as music.  The same is true of the famous scores for such films as EXODUS, PSYCHO, and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, to name but a few.  But with very few exceptions, James Horner's score for the 1997 film Titanic is essentially background music.
In general, the score sounds a bit like Vangelis by way of Enya: it is very "new agey" with an Irish edge.  Although they are not particularly memorable, the first few selections are enjoyable enough: "Never an Absolution" and "Distant Memories" have a likably wistful tone.  Perhaps the single most enjoyable selection is the third cut, "Southampton," which balances an Irish wistfulness against a fair degree of engery.  But after the first three selections the music becomes extremely repetitive, and the selections drawn from the film's sinking scenes are merely pulsing, rythmical, and not in the least stirring.
The centerpiece of the collection, of course, is "My Heart Will Go On."  We hear echos of this song throughout various selections, most notably in "Rose," and the Celine Dion vocal occurs near the end of the CD.  Although it has been incredibly over-exposed, it is really quite good: the lyrics are memorable, and the melody plays to the sort of emotional creshendo at which Dion is so expert, and I find this particular version more enjoyable than the radio version that has been played to death.
Many people adore the Dion recording; just as many despise it.  But love it or hate it, it is really the only memorable thing on the entire soundtrack.  And the cost of the CD is a lot to pay for one memorable song.  Although it is well produced and recorded, I would not recommend this recording to any but the most die-hard fans of either film or Dion; all others are likely to find it dismissable.