Best known for the iconic soundtracks to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Howard Shore has had a long career of great film scores. He’s certainly deserving of a career achievement award, such as the one being bestowed upon him by the Chicago International Film Festival this fall. The announcement came today, and I’m thrilled for the composer most people know as “the Hobbit guy.”

He started off doing much smaller films with interesting young directors like David Cronenberg, Tim Burton, and Martin Scorsese. He did independent films before his work brought him into the big Hollywood epics that have launched him into the same tier as Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, James Horner and the rest of the not-quite-John Williams crew.

Below find my top 10 scores Shore has composed over the years. I think all his work is worth listening to, but these are the ones that stand out above the rest in my opinion:

10. The Fly

9. The Aviator

8. Doubt 

7. M. Butterfly

6. Ed Wood 

5. A Dangerous Method

4. The Game

3. The Lord Of The Rings trilogy

2. Eastern Promises 

1. Naked Lunch