SAGAN OM RINGEN [AKA: MUSIC INSPIRED BY LORD OF THE RINGS]

Bo Hansson gained some success with his previous band HANSSON & KARLSSON who are listed on the site here under Proto- Prog. In fact you could count Jimi Hendrix as a fan as he covered their 1967 track "Tax Free" plus he jammed with them and apparently there is over 4 hours of recorded material from those sessions. This is Bo's 1970 debut which of course is a tribute to The Lord Of The Rings novel. Organ and moog dominate the sound much of the time along with flute, sax and the usual instruments. The music is laid back and atmospheric bringing POPOL VUH to mind at times.

"Leaving The Shire" is a gorgeous opener with slowly played floating organ as moog, drums, percussion, guitar and more help out. There is a purpose in that rhythm. "The Old Forest & Tom Bombadil" reminds me of 60's FLOYD then it picks up. An amazing section. A calm before 3 minutes then it ends like it began. "Fog On The Barrow-Downs" has a haunting atmosphere as sounds play slowly over top. Impressive. "The Black Riders & Flight To The Ford" is again mellow but it does kick into a higher gear after 30 seconds to an uptempo rhythm. Lots of moog, bass, drums and floating organ.

"At The House Of Elrond & The Ring Goes South" slows it down again with organ and a beat. I like when the guitar joins in and plays slowly after 2 1/2 minutes then it picks back up again. "A Journey In The Dark" is dark surprisingly as sounds slowly come and go. "Lothlorien" is another track that I can't get enough of. That floating organ, moog and percussion in particular. "Shadowfax" is a short uptempo piece. "The Horns Of Roham & The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields" features sax and some tempo shifts. "Dreamy In The House Of Healing" is dreamy surprisingly with guitar over top. "Homeward Bound & The Scouring Of The Shire" opens with drums as other sounds join in. Percussion, organ and moog lead the way on the final track "The Grey Havens" and the sound of waves rolling in ends it.

I read somewhere that this music was dated but I have to disagree and would argue that the music here is as timeless as the book that inspired it.