Bo Hansson - Lord Of The Rings (1972) [FLAC]

Bo Hansson - Lord of the Rings (Sagan Om Ringen)





This is the extended version of Lord Of The Rings and has excerpts from both Magician's Hat and Attic Thoughts.



CD-art is from the swedish version.







Bo HANSSON is famous for his 1972 concept album "Lord of the Rings" which came out decades before Hollywood ever made any noise about Tolkien's trilogy. The music was taped on a remote island off Stockholm, on an 8-track recorder, in a summer house studio with the help of a few friends and musicians. It received Gold Record awards in England and Australia. Licenced by Tony Stratton-Smith's Charisma label in England and America, it was also the subject of an extensive TV ad campaign that turned it into a hit in progressive rock circles at the time.



"Lord of the Rings" is a beautiful, timeless album of instrumental psychedelia worth hearing, even if it does sound rather 70ish production-wise. It doesn't feature any "fantasy/medieval" themes à la AYREON but captures the otherworldly, pastoral feel of Tolkien's work, like a Nordic album should. HANSSON later pursued with the more jazzy album "Magician's Hat" in '73 and, then with a second winner in '75 entitled "Attic Thoughts", whi...Bo HANSSON is famous for his 1972 concept album "Lord of the Rings" which came out decades before Hollywood ever made any noise about Tolkien's trilogy. The music was taped on a remote island off Stockholm, on an 8-track recorder, in a summer house studio with the help of a few friends and musicians. It received Gold Record awards in England and Australia. Licenced by Tony Stratton-Smith's Charisma label in England and America, it was also the subject of an extensive TV ad campaign that turned it into a hit in progressive rock circles at the time.



"Lord of the Rings" is a beautiful, timeless album of instrumental psychedelia worth hearing, even if it does sound rather 70ish production-wise. It doesn't feature any "fantasy/medieval" themes à la AYREON but captures the otherworldly, pastoral feel of Tolkien's work, like a Nordic album should. HANSSON later pursued with the more jazzy album "Magician's Hat" in '73 and, then with a second winner in '75 entitled "Attic Thoughts", which features a much better sound than the "Lord" album. This time, violin and acoustic guitars are added to the mix while organs and synths swell in impressive solos. "Music Inspired by Watership Down" (1977), however, was quite a disappointment and signalled HANSSON's decline. He finally released "Mitt I Livet" in 1985 but the flame had already died long ago. Having turned 60 in April 2003, he is now rumoured to be incapacitated by illness and has ceased recording.



Both "Lord of the Rings" and "Attic Thoughts" are a must for any collector of early Swedish prog, even if you still can't tell Gandalf from Frodo.



Review (original version)

No amount of Lord Of The Rings soundtracks or versions will depict the very nature of Middle earth more accurately than Bo Hansson's version. This album oozes themes around Elves, Hobbits, Black Riders, The Grey Havens, Lothlorien and so on. The simplistic organ and guitar sounds together with basic percussion make this concept album an aural delight. Looking back I can see why the Charisma label snapped this Swedish artist up. He is no doubt the most underrated artist of the progressive rock genre.If one had never read the book, Hansson would have reached some place inside you with the feel of this album. As a whole the complete work is essential listening but to highlight certain tracks listen to ' Flight To The Ford', ' The Ring Goes South' and ' The Old Forest' How could Hansson depict a world so completely and so accurately? Listen and you will begin to understand the genius at work.





Track listing

1. Leaving Shire

2. The Old Forest & Tom Bombadil

3. Fog On The Barrow-Downs

4. The Black Riders & Flight To The Ford

5. At The House Of Elrond & The Ring Goes South

6. A Journey In The Dark

7. Lothlorien

8. Shadowfax

9. The Horns Of Rohan & The Battle Of Pelennor Fields

10. Dreams In The House Of Healing

11. Homeward Bound & The Scouring Of The Shire

12. The Gray Havens



13. Findhorn's Song

14. Before The Rain

15. Fylke

16. Playing Downhill Into The Downs

17. Wandering Song

18. Excursion With Complications (Part One)



19. Rabbit Music - Intro

20. Attic Thoughts - Repose

21. Attic Thoughts - Wandering

22. Rabbit Music - Fiver

23. A Happy Prank



Line-up

Track 1-12:

- Bo Hansson / organs, guitar, moog, bass

- Rune Carlsson / drums, congas

- Gunnar Bergsten / saxophone

- Sten Bergman / flute



Track 13-18:

- Bo Hansson / Hammond organ, guitar, syntheziser, slide bass

- Rune Carlsson / drums, conga, cowbell

- Kenny Håkansson / guitars

- Gunnar Bergsten / saxophone, flute

- Sten Bergman / flute



Track 19-23:

- Bo Hansson / organs, guitars, bass, syntheziser, mellotrone & special effects

- Rune Carlsson / drums

- Kenny Håkansson / electric guitar

- Jöran Lagerberg / bass & acoustic guitar

- Gunnar Bergsten / saxophone

- Rolf Scherrer / acoustic guitar

- Thomas Netzler / bass

- Mats Glenngård / violin