Interestingly the music is perhaps the single most disappointing element for me. I certainly don’t think Howard Shore did a bad job in and of itself, and obviously many people do love it. But I guess it is too contemporary sounding and perhaps keeps me removed an extra step from the alienness of the world in the same way some dialogue may for you.
Maybe it’s that it is too alien in a certain respect, contemporary in that it has a world music vibe, but I found myself yearning for a more direct Olde English quality. I know it’s too tall an order realistically but only something like Ralph Vaughan Williams’ best could do Tolkiens world justice in my mind.