Lord of the Rings Music

[Adonai Dragonwagon]

I made a near identical thread in the Star Wars forum, and decided to make one about LOTR as well, since I'm a crazy musician like that.
Basically, I want to know

Which is your favorite soundtrack?
Do you have any favorite themes/techniques?
Anything you don't like?
What do you think of the credits songs? (The ones with words that play during the credits)
Any other random thing you'd like to say?

For me:
Which is your favorite soundtrack? I love them all, but I have to say the Return of the King.
Do you have any favorite themes/techniques? Again, I love all of the music, but I have to say that the part in the third movie where Gandalf rides over the plain with the light shining from his staff, and the lady is singing, gives me shivers every time. I also like the use of spicatto, and the tremelo really imparts a sense of urgency throughout the movies.
Anything you don't like? Falling asleep on the bus at 5 am, and being abruptly woken by the Mordor theme blasting my eardrums away. Actually, I don't like that the music makes it seem like Sam doesn't want to give the ring back to Frodo; if you push mute during that part, Sam looks afraid of Frodo like he's supposed to be, not covetous of the ring.
What do you think of the credits songs? (The ones with words that play during the credits) I don't really care one way or the other about them, but I do like Into the West, though I'm not sure why.
Any other random thing you'd like to say?
The man I take private lessons from played in The Fellowship of the Ring. They didn't have a set orchestra, and he's Bulgarian, (they have much better musicians than America does) so they asked him if he wanted to play. He agreed, and was very surprised when he went and saw the movie; he didn't realize that he was playing for such a famous movie.