Star Wars Soundtracks (Spoilers)

[BeatleJWOL]

Interesting LA Times interview with John Williams:

Williams made a conscious decision to liven the film with almost completely new thematic ideas. Out of the 102 minutes of score, he counts only seven minutes of “obligatory” references to classic themes.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...music-score-john-williams-20151217-story.html

 

[Joel_Kirk]

The soundtrack definitely has a bit more 'life' to it than the prequel music. With that said, "The March of the Resistance" has a little bit of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" to it (e.g. the scene when Indy and his father are escaping Nazi's in the motorcycle) but it was still an awesome score for an awesome sequence. "I Can Fly Anything" has some similar sounds to "Superman: The Movie."

I love "Rey's Theme" which sounds very 'Disney-esque' interestingly. Another I like is the "Farewell and the Trip," which is an emotional track).

I haven't listened to the entire soundtrack, but I do feel I will soon. This is something I haven't done with the prequel soundtracks...which were, as aforementioned, lifeless save for a few tracks I don't mind listening to (e.g. "Duel of the Fates"...the Anakin/Padme song, which name escapes me....and "Battle of Heroes" if I remember that name correctly).

The best soundtracks take you on a journey. For example, James Horner's "Legends of the Fall" which is AWESOME and I never saw the film. The score is just so emotional (and nice if you're brainstorming stories set in the Old West).

My favorite SW soundtracks are:

*ANH, which sounds like an experimental track. It's alien sounding at points, due to the fact that it's set in a galaxy far, far away and has that nostalgia of 1970s sci-fi in the score as well.

*ESB is just hard-hitting, especially with the "Hoth Theme" (my favorite sequence in the film) and "Asteroid Field." Some other themes like "Cloud City" and the themes of Boba Fett transporting Solo to his ship give me goosebumps.

*TFA is a close third. Like Michael Giacchino's score for Star Trek, there are minimal 'quiet' pieces. Much of the score is action-based for the New Age of the franchise. Albeit, I think John Williams' score is more solid than the Trek score, since there are some tracks in that Trek soundtrack I can do without. (Not saying it's bad, the Trek score by Giacchino, just some tracks that don't 'wow' me as much).

*ROTJ has "Battle for Endor" as my favorite and only track I've found myself liking; I don't really see myself going to any other track for that film.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The Empire Strikes Back is Williams best score, and not just Star Wars-- The Imperial March, The Asteroid Field, the Hoth Battle, Han and Leia's theme, Yoda's theme, just incredible.

Duel of the Fates from TPM is an incredible piece of music.

 

[Set Harth]

The only thing the Phantom Menace end had going for it was the touches of Vader's Theme inside Anakin's Theme and in the theater, the breathing at the very end.

Not just in the theater!

 

[Kor]

...the Anakin/Padme song, which name escapes me....

Across the Stars.

Kor

 

[DonIago]

Seen the film twice and found the music underwhelming. The parts I most enjoyed were all reuses of previous themes, which is a bit unfortunate.

That said, Filmtracks, a site I respect, thinks quite highly of it, so perhaps I'll give further consideration to purchasing the soundtrack.

In the meantime I'll go back to listening to "Cloud Atlas", which I never get tired of.

 

[Mach5]

One thing to remember is that the Force theme is basically the Skywalker theme.

Originally, I believe the main title was meant to represent Luke's theme;

EDIT:

Apologies, you're referring to the Main Title ... which is different from the Force Theme.

Speaking of which, The Main Title doesn't sound as grandiose in TFA, as it did in past six movies.

To quote the review from TheForce.Net:

The Main Title is basically the same as we know it, though I can hear some parts of it more clearly in this version than before. However, the opening notes lack that bombastic feel that we are used to, even when hearing it played in a theater. I’m not sure if this is a mixing issue or maybe something else like some sections simply not playing loud enough, but the impact that the first few bars of the main theme usually provide is nearly nonexistent.

I noticed the exact same thing in my first view.

 

[Kor]

The main theme has been slightly different in all six movies.

The Force theme may have been Ben's, but it keeps being used with the Skywalkers. The first time I think we hear it is the Binary Sunset which is clearly about Luke. We've not even encountered Old Ben in the story yet. In fact the last time we heard it prior to The Force Awakens in film was the repeat of the Binary Sunset scene with Owen and Baru holding Luke in that some spot...as not so Old Ben slips out to await for A New Hope.

I think the first time the "Force theme" plays is on the Tantive IV when Leia is putting that data disk into R2.

Kor

 

[Mach5]

The main theme has been slightly different in all six movies.

Of course it was different, it was performed, recorded and mixed anew every single time. But the differences between the versions weren't this noticeable.

 

[RandyS]

I got this soundtrack for Christmas and enjoy it so much that I've listened to it straight though six times since then. Track six "Rey's Theme" is my favorite of the new music.

That said, as much as I like it, it doesn't hold a candle to the original films music (older will always be better with me), but I like it enough that if an expanded, 2 disk complete score is released, I'll be sure to get it. I'm still waiting on the expanded scores for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (both also fine albums), but I've more or less given up hope that they'll ever happen. I hope Disney changes that though.

 

[Kor]

Somewhere somebody compared Snoke's theme to the Emperor's theme from ROTJ.
I don't really pick up any similarity, other than the deep vocal chorus.

Kor

 

[Praetorian]

Somewhere somebody compared Snoke's theme to the Emperor's theme from ROTJ.
I don't really pick up any similarity, other than the deep vocal chorus.

Kor

Actually the music that plays when Palpatine is telling Anakin about Plagueis is the one that sounds alot like Snoke's theme...

Compare:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSQ3BJVMfAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhtbrNOSk7M&list=PL9FADA03BBF79499D&index=3

Which has all sorts of implications...

 

[Kor]

Ah, I got a little confused then.

That makes more sense.

Kor

 

[ATimson]

The main theme has been slightly different in all six movies.

Of course it was different, it was performed, recorded and mixed anew every single time.

For five of the six, yes. But I thought that Revenge of the Sith reused an earlier recording?

 

[Joel_Kirk]

...the Anakin/Padme song, which name escapes me....

Across the Stars.

Kor

Yes.

******​

I have to ask: Did (or do) any of you, either when you were actual kids or even when you're 'big kids,' find yourself 'conducting' certain tracks?

My favorite was 'Battle of Yavin' and 'Battle of Hoth,' and I would 'conduct' the music while listening on my record player, my Winnie the Pooh record player. I tend to do a little conducting while listening to certain tracks - Star Wars and non-Star Wars related - on Youtube, enjoying the little nuances the author puts in.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

I really like Rey's theme and March of the Resistance.

 

[Tulin]

Joel - yup - I sure did!

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I really like Rey's theme and March of the Resistance.

Joel - yup - I sure did!