I own both radio dramatizations (Minds Eye and BBC). On the whole I prefer the Minds Eye one. Both have their pros and cons, but as a fan of the book this one was more accurate to the story and conveyed a better sense of emotion than that of the BBC story. The BBC has a way better sound affects, overall better production value, and a more evened out (and higher priced) cast. Still, though, overall the Minds Eye produced better voices for Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Eomer, and Faramir than the BBC production did, and Frodo was well done also (just not as good as Ian Holm). However, the top factor for me was that the Minds Eye is just far more accurate to the book itself, for my money, than the BBC version. Others opinions obviously very. Know what you're looking for in whichever set you buy.

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

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.

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.

While this is a very sincere effort at reducing LOTR into digestible audio episodes, it simply cannot compete with the BBC's version. It might be slightly more appropriate for younger listeners, and features more direct quoting from the novel's descriptive passages, but essentially every voice actor is inferior to the BBC counterpart, and the breaks every half hour (at least on the cassette version) leave the story feeling choppy. Look into this if you're a completist, but if you only want one, go with the BBC.