Rating: 
Summary: Fine adaptation...but
Review: ...I've had this version since before 1987, when it was on cassette tape. I loved the story, music and actors portrayals of the characters. My only quam was when it was transferred to CD. The sounds were 100% better, I heard things I never heard on the tapes, however, quite a bit of dialog was cut out when it was transfered to CD, and some parts of the narration sounded rushed, due to cutting and pasting excerpts together to make it fit. I stil enjoy the story and listen over and over, but I still miss the parts that were removed, and I have to add them back in my mind. I'd give it all five stars if it wasn't cut down. Still worth the money.
Rating: 
Summary: Not wort your time.
Review: As I fan of Lord of the Rings (the books and the movies) I was quite excited to recieve this for CHristmas. My excitement died within minutes of placing it in my CD player. The voices, aside from the narrator, do not seem to fit the characters. Espoecially disturbing were when the high elfs had voices that sounded like Alvin, Theodore and Simon, rather than the noble creatures they should sound like, and Tom Bombadil sounding like a tripped out leprechaun. It also bothers me that almost every actor seems to be reading, so much so that you can hear the pause as they come to the end of a line or page, even if it is mid-sentance. And perhaps the worst thing is the way they mispronounce names and places. Tolkien gives a pronunciation guide in the books, they should have used it.
Rating:
Summary: Not wort your time.
Review: As I fan of Lord of the Rings (the books and the movies) I was quite excited to recieve this for CHristmas. My excitement died within minutes of placing it in my CD player. The voices, aside from the narrator, do not seem to fit the characters. Espoecially disturbing were when the high elfs had voices that sounded like Alvin, Theodore and Simon, rather than the noble creatures they should sound like, and Tom Bombadil sounding like a tripped out leprechaun. It also bothers me that almost every actor seems to be reading, so much so that you can hear the pause as they come to the end of a line or page, even if it is mid-sentance. And perhaps the worst thing is the way they mispronounce names and places. Tolkien gives a pronunciation guide in the books, they should have used it.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful memories - nice to have on CD
Review: Back in the late 1970's, in an era when radio drama was disappearing from public radio, the American prodcution of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" were created with a full cast of voice actors along with music and sound effects. Reminiscent of the radio dramas of the 1940's and 50's, these productions were usually aired on Sunday afternoons, when a family could listen and enjoy the week's story. Released on Jabberwocky Audio on cassette tapes, I remember the Christmas when I received the entire collection of Jabberwocky's stories on tape. From "The Hobbit" to "Alice in Wonderland" to "The Red Badge of Courage," all were classic tales. They even re-released on cassette some of the original radio productions, such as "War of the Worlds" and "The Gift of the Magi." These stories were designed to get the listener interested and promote reading the books the productions were based on. They were not designed for an adult audience, but rather for children and families to share. Wonderfully edited and masterfully performed, many modern audiences find these old productions a little silly or even perhaps dated, but play it for a child, and they will listen in rapture, just as I did 25 years ago when they were new. Of all my collection of the Jabberwocky tapes, "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are the only ones that I have trouble playing today, because they have been played so many times over the years that they are worn out. We would play them in the car on road trips, I would play them in my room while putting together a puzzle, and I played them for my friends, who enjoyed them as much as I did. I am delighted to have it on CD to listen to over and over again. At seven years of age, I had not yet read the books when I first listened to the tapes. But the tapes were perfect for a small girl just getting interested in reading. If only all the rest of the old radio dramas were also on CD! I would buy them all. It was unfortunate to come to this website and see the poor reviews written by people who have no understanding of the history of the production or what demographic it was originally intended for. I look forward to the day when I can play these CD's for my own children and see the wonder and delight in their faces when they hear the same stories that I grew up with.
Rating: 
Summary: Lousy rendition.
Review: Despite the fact that this is shown as being published in 2001, the copyright dates first from 1954. There is a reason that other versions have come out since this one: this one isn't good. There are different readers for different characters, and some of the voices are really jarring. Frodo, to my ear, is completely wrong. In addition, it is poorly abridged. One of the most remarkable things about Middle Earth is how wonderfully imagined it is; all of the details are described so lovingly. Not in this version. Here, almost everything is dialog, so you are given little idea of what anything looks like. Some of the most cherished quotations (for me, at least) are mangled. In all, very disappointing. I remember hearing the BBC's dramatization years ago on radio and thinking it was wonderful job on very difficult material. I certainly wouldn't say that of this version.
Rating: 
Summary: Lord of the Rings - ok
Review: For original 1954 recording, it's pretty darn good. Read the book!
Rating:
Summary: DON'T DO THAT TO MY PRECIOUS!!!!!
Review: I have been a long time fan of the LOTR. Since the movies were released some of my friends wanted to know more about the books, so I checked this set out of the Library thinking it was a good place to start. Sadly I was mistaken from the very begining this recording is a disappointment. The Actors voices are flat and devoid of expression. As a result, the listener gets the impression that the characters treat their task with the same respect that they would place on a Disney movie.
After one disc of waiting for things to get better, I decided to try listening to the battle Of Helms Deep. Here too I found nothing but an endless monotone backed by poor sound effects.
If you are a true Tolkien fan or someone who wants to get the full magic of The Lord of the Rings I recommend the BBC production starring Ian Holm.
Rating:
Summary: A terrible abridged version of a great book
Review: I have just listened to part of this in my friend's car and I am disgusted. Not only is it the worst written abridged book I have ever heard, they have terrible sound effects in the background. It is also very irresponsible of them to let the actors pronounce at least 80 percent of the names wrong, they said Sauron as if it were spelled Suron. They said Gimli son of Glo-in instead of Gloin and the list goes on forever. Annoying voices were given to all of the hobbits, especially Sam. I recommend the BBC version or the unabridged version to listen to...Reading the books works too.
Rating:
Summary: Despite being panned; this is a great rendition
Review: I think it is worth buying. Your personal preference will affect how you like this version as opposed to the newer one done by the BBC. This is the first rendition I ever heard of the Lord of the Rings. I own both copies and I don't regret owning either one because each Version is good for different reasons.
The voices are different in this version. BBC sounded more like grown men. The voices sounded more elfish in this version. I think that it reminded me of the Ralph Bashki version of the Hobbit. I did feel that this was more concise and less was edited out. Gollum seemed less psycho and scary in this version. There was less music in this version and less of a romantic sideline. I liked that it didn't edit out the part of Tom Bombadil; as BBC's version did. I felt like more was cut out on the BBC version even though it was four cds longer. It was disappointing.
I know that one person found this edition hard to follow. I find all the audio I listen to has to be listened to repeatedly to understand the plot. I will admit that this is the kind of story that one has to listen to to understand all that was going on. With repeated listenings; one hears new things or notices new things. I actually found the narration and actors voices sounded clearer in this version than the later one.
Rating:
Summary: okay
Review: I'm a HUGE Tolkein fan. This CD way OKAY, here's why.
Up's,
-differnt voices so you know who's talking
-labeld CD's so you don't have to go looking for a part you want to listen to
-a little bit of music so it keeps you awake
Down's,
-voices don't seem to fit characters, it would be better if one person did all the voices such as Jim Dale
-it's abridged
-the manner in which they abridge it makes the battle of Minus Tirith seem minor
-some words like Minus Tirith pronounced as ni-nus Tirith istead of Me-nus tirith
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