One of the strongest female voices in pop music these days has to be Annie Lennox.
The soloist (and occasional lead singer for the Eurythmics) has a distinctive voice that can dive into the depths of guttural soul or soar like an eagle. Just listen to "Missionary Man" or "No More I Love Yous" and you'll see what I mean. Or, more accurately, you'll hear what I mean.
When I found Lennox was going to sing the closing theme to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," I felt as giddy as Samwise Gamgee when he first set eyes on Rosie the Barkeep. "This is going to be good," I said to my wife, who is also a Lennox fan. "No matter what she does, it will be wonderful."
And it is wonderful.
Lennox sings "Into the West," which is the final track on the "Return of the King" soundtrack album. And it's a dazzling wrap-up to an extravagant soundtrack trilogy, composed and conducted by Howard Shore.
"Into the West" was written by Lennox, Shore and "ROTK" co-screenwriter Fran Walsh. And like the songs on the other two "LOTR" soundtracks, it takes on a certain character's point of view.
In the "Fellowship of the Ring," there are two songs — "May It Be," performed by Enya, and "In Dreams," sung by boy tenor Edward Ross. "May It Be" takes elf-princess Arwen's point of view. "In Dreams" comes through Frodo's eyes.
"The Two Towers" tune is called "Gollum's Song," with a raspy lament from Emiliana Torrini.
For "Return of the King," "Into the West" is elf-queen Galadriel's soothing lullaby to Frodo, who, along with Gandalf, Celeborn and Galadriel herself, is riding one of the last ships to the Grey Havens, the elvin afterlife.
Who else could take on that noble, motherly, ethereal tone. Annie Lennox is the perfect choice.
Lennox's voice isn't the only one providing vocals for this newest soundtrack album: The scene where Pippin sings his lament for the mad Denethor, Steward of Gondor, is sung by Pippin (Billy Boyd), and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) sings of his character's coronation.
There's also another voice that captivates on this disc. Two-time Grammy Award-winning soprano Renee Fleming is featured throughout the album. Her velvet voice caresses the tracks "Twilight and Shadow," "The End of All Things" and the soundtrack's title cut.
The vocals are complemented by Shore's original score, which — like John Williams' music for "Star Wars" in 1977 — has breathed new life into the concept of symphonic music for movie soundtracks.
Kudos to composer Shore who, in collaboration with "LOTR" director Peter Jackson, has created an inspired and passionate musical environment for a place called Middle Earth.
The only sad note is that there won't be another "LOTR" soundtrack next year.
E-mail: scott@desnews.com