I'm even later on this reporting than I was on The Two Towers thread, but:

---

Howard Shore's complete Oscar®-winning score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, from the epic film trilogy "The Lord of the Rings," will be available for the first time in a deluxe five-disc edition from Reprise/WMG Soundtracks on November 6, 2007.

This historic release contains 3 hours and 50 minutes of music on four CDs, comprising the full score of the 2003 film. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings" marks the third and final edition of the three complete recording releases of the film trilogy whose score has been honored with three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. This deluxe set includes exclusive new artwork, packaging, liner notes written by Doug Adams, author of the forthcoming book "The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films," and features Annie Lennox performing the Oscar®-winning song "Into the West."

Composed for symphony orchestra, adult and children's choir, and soloists, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings" was performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Voices, The London Oratory School Schola featuring vocal performances by Annie Lennox, Renée Fleming, Sissel, Ben Del Maestro and cast members Billy Boyd, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, and Dominic Monaghan. The score also features solos performed by renowned flautist Sir James Galway.

The fifth disc is a DVD-Audio presenting the entire "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings" in Advanced Resolution Surround Sound, Advanced Resolution Stereo Sound, Dolby Digital Surround Sound, and Dolby Digital Stereo Sound.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=37304

---

Retail is yet again set at the hefty sum of $74.99 USD, though places like Amazon and CDUniverse are taking preorders at $59.99 and $57.80 respectively.

Amazon's also got the cover up; as I figured, the coloring will indeed be green.  Tracklisting to follow as soon as I find one.

Let me help you with that.

Disc 1:
1.      Roots and Beginnings     6:31
2.      Journey to the Crossroads     2:17
3.      The Road to Isengard     2:18
4.      The Foot of Orthanc     4:45
5.      Return to Edoras     1:51
6.      The Chalice Passed     1:51
7.      The Green Dragon (feat. Billy Boyd & Dominic Monaghan)     0:35
8.      Gollum's Villainy     2:10
9.      Éowyn's Dream     1:24
10.      The Palantir     3:10
11.      Flight from Edoras     2:18
12.      The Grace of Undómiel (feat. Renée Fleming)     6:21
13.      The Eyes of the White Tower     4:34
14.      A Coronet of Silver     8:27
15.      The Lighting of the Beacon     9:03
      Disc Time:     57:35

Disc 2:
1.      Osgilliath Invaded (feat. Ben Del Maestro)     8:47
2.      The Stairs of Cirith Ungol     2:41
3.      Allegiance to Denethor     3:20
4.      The Sacrifice of Faramir (feat. Billy Boyd)     4:08
5.      The Parting of Sam and Frodo     4:04
6.      Marshalling at Dunharrow     4:57
7.      Andúril - Flame of the West     3:28
8.      The Passing of the Grey Company     4:12
9.      Dwimorberg - The Haunted Mountain     2:26
10.      Master Meriadoc, Swordthain     1:40
11.      The Paths of the Dead     6:22
12.      The Siege of Gondor     9:01
13.      Shelob's Lair     8:53
14.      Merry's Simple Courage     2:09
      Disc Time:     66:08

Disc 3:
1.      Grond - The Hammer of the Underworld     1:33
2.      Shelob the Great     5:13
3.      The Tomb of the Stewards     3:58
4.      The Battle of the Pelennor Fields     4:10
5.      The Pyre of Denethor     2:59
6.      The Mûmakil     0:57
7.      Dernhelm in Battle     2:06
8.      "A Far Green Country"     1:28
9.      Shieldmaiden of Rohan     5:07
10.      The Passing of Théoden     2:16
11.      The Houses of Healing (feat. Liv Tyler)     2:58
12.      The Tower of Cirith Ungol     4:41
13.      The Last Debate (feat. Sissel)     4:21
14.      The Land of Shadow     6:30
15.      The Mouth of Sauron     8:15
16.      "For Frodo"     3:17
      Disc Time:     59:49

Disc 4:
1.      Mount Doom (feat. Renée Fleming)     4:09
2.      The Crack of Doom     4:02
3.      The Eagles (feat. Renée Fleming)     2:24
4.      The Fellowship Reunited (feat. Sir James Galway & Viggo Mortensen)     12:18
5.      The Journey to the Grey Havens (feat. Sir James Galway)     7:35
6.      Elanor (feat. Sir James Galway)     1:28
7.      Days of the Ring (feat. Annie Lennox)     11:10
8.      Bilbo's Song     2:57
      Disc Time:     46:03
      Total Album Time:     229:35

I totally have this sucker pre-ordered. I was driving to work the other day with the FoTR soundtrack going and just when I got on the highway, the Nazgul music filled the car. The scariest drive EVER.

For the record, cheapest place I know is Tower, which is $57.64 and free shipping.

-Joshua

Ah, the tracklisting.... most excellent, thanks!

I put my preorder in at CDUniverse, and I'm already giddy at the prospect of finally being able to experience the gloriously-complete and uninterrupted ten hour listen.  Which sounds best to you?

1) Curl up on the sofa, with a bottle of fine wine -- with the coziness and the accompanying waves of music and alcohol likely to drift me in and out of consciousness every now and again.

2) A nice, long road trip.  I'll be good and alert, what with Nazgul and Uruk-Hai blasting through my stereo on the I-95.

3) Bombard my family on Thanksgiving Day when I come for an all-day visit.  Figure we'll be popping the turkey out of the oven when Shelob comes about. ;)

Huh.  The release was delayed?  I just realized that it's quite a bit past the 6th at this point, and that most sites now have the date set for the 20th.

Supposedly, the fires in San Diego caused delays at the pressing plant.

Also supposedly, it ended up coming out a week early ANYWAY, acording to the webmaster of Moviemusic.com

Now if B&N.com has one for me...

-Joshua

Soundtrack.net has their "First Look" feature up for the score, with shots of the inner packaging:

http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=246

Hope this badboy of a masterpiece gets here before T-Day; yes, I am opting for option 3 after all.  ^_^

Damn, why has this soundtrack become so ridiculously hard to find?  I've had my preorder with CDUniverse since early October, but they apparently never got a shipment -- it's been backordered ever since and now they just canceled my order outright.  Places like Amazon and Tower now state that the item is "currently unavailable" and that it's "no longer for sale."  And B&N just contacted me to state that my "usually ships in 24 hours" order fell into a 5-10 day delay.

Anyone know what's going on with this release?  Could the San Diego incident really have caused this much of a shipping/availability delay?

Huzzah, my B&N order arrived today!  There is a Christmas after all. :)

Wow, wasn't expecting the casing to be so large; larger than the previous two sets, anyway.  And best of all, no crease in the spine!

You're lucky you got it at all. The thing is sold out across the country, it seems.

It's a pretty hefty listen. FotR is the only one I've been able to get through in one setting. I usually end up leaving a lot of the quieter (and drawn out) stuff out. RotK has plenty of highlights though.