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On the Here They Come with percussion - maybe I'm just young, or have no taste, or haven't listened to any RCP scores so I can't be tired of it, but I like it. It adds a different texture to it, a different flavour that makes it a bit more fresh instead of another straight-up rehash (I loved it in Battle of Crait, but this is way too close to it in time). This is not Episode IX, people, this is just a spinoff. I've no problem with it moving away from the Williams sound a bit here and there. It still does it enough that it feels like the same universe.

This whole movie/score/album is a triumph. This is literally the best thing a JWFan could hope for in the continuation of the Maestro's musical legacy in the franchise. Powell veers a bit into RCP percussion, but I think it usually works for the vibe of the movie, and he brings the melodies so much more satisfyingly then Giacchino did in Rogue One (though, for the record, I still think Gia has a great Star Wars score in him if he gets more than three weeks to write it). And then there's JW's contribution, which grounds the movie in a perfect Star Wars sound while dovetailing nicely with Powell's themes. This is amazing. I just wish the could have made it onto the album. I'm still thinking I hallucinated that entire scene. What a great ride. If we could carry on this system of Williams supervision for as long as it can last, I'd be a happy camper. If not, just give Powell the keys.

Did anyone else catch the cameo of EpIV Imperial motif in "Train Heist"? Nice touch, imho: Also, nice cameos/lifts of two not-so obvious moments from ANH ("Blasting Off") and TESB ("Attack Position") in the cue "Reminscence Therapy": I also liked a lot the Holst-like harmonic texture in the strings in a couple of action moments, a nice throwback to Williams' Planets pastiche for the original film:

The thing I absolutely enjoy about this score is that it’s Powell’s voice through and through with no pretense to try and be a JW knock-off. And when that Golden Age sound comes into play during certain moments, it actually sounds authentic and organic and not pastiche. Ditto for the Star Wars quotes.

Oh god fucking help us.

I love how the one track filled to the rim with classic music is titled "Reminiscence Therapy". That must be the most meta track title in history.

It's like TFA all over again -- You lot are smoking God knows what and I'm just sitting over here enjoying the hell out of a new score.

I know, right? "What are those awful RCP drums doing in a period score?!! Has Williams lost his mind?" Fucking reactionary idiots.

I can't explain why but this score gives me a huge smile and I'm just on track 3

The Adventures of Han is not the demo recording Williams did at Sony last January. It's a concert suite arrangement JW made purposefully for the OST album and for concert performance that was recorded last April at Newman Fox Scoring Stage. As Powell said in at least a couple of interviews, it's an arrangement made of two of the thematic ideas JW wrote for the film, tailored and expanded in concert-like form. The fact it doesn't "sound" like a straightforward character theme presentation to many ears, I guess, is just because it's not a march, or a regular-meter piece with a clear ABA form, but it's definitely more rhapsodic in nature, with odd meters and quick episodes of development. The piece has however a very strong "concert-like" form, like an overture brillante in the spirit of Walton and Shostakovich (as someone else noticed previosuly, it almost reminds of the Walton-like "Esplanade Overture"). I think Powell explained the whole process with JW very clearly in this interview with Dan Schweiger: http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=18764

I have to say that Williams still has the knack for writing the catchiest of melodies. This Han tune has been playing in my head ever since I first heard it. Hummable, quite hummable I say.

Lmao the one person trashing the score still thinks it’s an improvement over Rogue One

L3 theme is one of the obvious one, in regards to Powell's materials. It's also connected with a plot point in the movue L3 theme variations First heard in its "warming up" mode in this track at 00:04-00:15 then transitioned into a introductory mode at 00:26 - 00:35 But i think both aforementioned statements are not the original note I think this is the original one, at 00:01 - 00:14 and then it changes into a full millitary style march in "Mine Mission", a fugue on its own, and yes it's connected to the plot. You get the sense of rebellion because that what it is, at 00:26 onward and then goes into its glory mode at 00:12 - 00:18 in "Break Out" and then in its "hurry" mode at 4:10 - 4:18 and then changes into its sad mode, and by this point, you get the idea of whats going on in the plot 4:54 - 5:12 and then later on, in Reminscence Theraphy, you get to hear it in its Searching mode at 5:23 - 5:45. I love tis quiet arrangement with the flute. And yes this is tightly connected with the plot at this point

I think what Williams was striving the most with this piece is to have fun with the orchestra players instead of the usual concert arrangement people expect from him. And also, considering he's 86, this piece has the energy of a 20-year old! It's amazing the sheer energy the whole thing has.

I was all for a new composer every time after Rogue One. But it then I heard someone could do a good job so I’d like to hear Powell do more, especially if Solo gets a sequel. JNH would be cool for a Kenobi film though. Powell back for Boba would be nice though.

Oh can you remember those dreaded Zimmer chords in the Tintin pirate battle sequence? Or the wailing women in MR and ROTS? Oh the horror! Karol

Good grief, what is all this about RCP percussion (which I assume means low but boosted surdos, taikos, big bass drums etc.)? Am I the only one who doesn't hear anything of the sort in this score? I hear...percussion. Are some people just allergic to anything with a beat now?

I knew this was going to be a problem around here and I myself was worried the Williams stuff was not going to gel, but now that I've listened to it I'm kinda baffled that people have any issues with that side of it. It's funny that people are saying "He doesn't go 5 seconds without the theme!" because I found surprisingly long stretches without it, or just a very brief reference. Powell indulges in his own material plenty. The Williams theme is not given any unique treatment other than there's just more of it, all the new themes get their big versions and token nods alike. It's really just used like any main theme of any score. A track like "Mine Mission" is fairly emblematic of my listening experience where you get 2 straight minutes of the new militaristic material, and then a sweeping version of Chewbacca's theme for 30 seconds, and then Han's theme shows up for 5 bloody seconds to function as a transition back into the military material and somehow the thinking is that John Williams is interrupting a perfectly nice track and Powell is insecure...

I think this is a weird and bifurcated way to look at it, like there's Powell's stuff and then any use of the Williams theme at all is just lip service and ass kissing. The whole point is that it's the theme for the main character. "The Good Guy" is a typical film score cue that passes through a handful of themes in a few minutes. The Williams is in there as fleetingly as any of the others. I don't see how that's so intrusive to you.

I agree, not really impressed. Reminiscence Therapy is a jarring listen and sounds like a greatest hits cue. The “Hear we come” section isn’t very good. It it jumps back and forth between Powell’s style and Williams. The Solo theme is ok but pales in comparison to Rey’s. Im in the Rogue One camp, much better score.

It sounds fine to me, and the voiceleading checks out. In Am: 6 V6/iv iv6 It6 Vsus (implied) V (implied) -> 6 iv VII6 i F A/C# Dm/F F7(no5) Esus (implied) E (octaves) -> F Dm G/B Am [Secondary Dominant] [Italian Sixth] [Deceptive Half-Cadence] [Subtonic Cadence] You've got a deceptive half-cadence that resolves to the submediant (or an elided deceptive cadence), and an octave unison on the dominant (although the string figuration and harp glissando sort of 'fill in' the missing harmony). Beyond that, there's nothing particularly radical here in its phrasal structure or harmonic syntax, and you can find considerably more daring in many of Williams' cadences (see Frank Lehman's genus of chromatically modulating cadential resolutions).

Horner didn't patent the usage of the Bulgarian Women's Choir and neither did Williams with overtone singing. All of these much more prevalent in contemporary film scoring than you seem to believe.

You ARE a douche, with or without 'R1' or 'Solo'.

The Adventures of Han feels to me like a collection of ideas associated with Han Solo, the A- and B-themes with different dramatic purposes and swashbuckling exciting sounding action music to characterize his often dangerous exploits. In a way a sort of thematic manual for Powell to use in his score in ways he saw fit. And as such a composite composition it feels akin to the Rebellion Is Reborn suite from the Last Jedi which combined Rose's Theme and Ahch-To/Luke in Exile Theme in a similar economic fashion.

Why do I find it so funny that this is also Jurassic Park and Jurassic World?

One of the things I love about Powell is how he can appeal to classic orchestral score enthusiasts without ever once being a “throwback.” He is just himself.

Yes. That's exactly what "reactionary" means. Bravo!

Papa John's is better than everything!

What the fuck is up with these reactions? Is this 2003 all over again? What the hell, people?

The Book Thief was masterful. Memoirs of a Geisha was masterful. The Horn Concerto was masterful. ROTS was masterful. Across the Stars was masterful Adventures of Han is masterful...... etc.....

What a wonderful score. Well done Mr. Powell. No sense arguing with fools, @TGP.

At the time of the film's release, you only needed to look around places like Twitter and Facebook to see how the RT was manipulated. Heck, I've actually encountered people on social media who claim they are partly responsible for the movie's low audience score. Even if you think there's no way that could've been the case, there was definitely a campaign to lower the score, which largely succeeded. Also take into account the fact that hardcore fans are much more likely to rate the movie on RT than the casual fans/audiences who vastly outnumber them. Audience polling surveys like Cinemascore, comScore, and SurveyMonkey are much more reliable when it comes to the percentage of people who liked/disliked the film. In all honesty, the way many fans reacted after The Last Jedi was frankly embarrassing. Not liking a movie is one thing, and that's perfectly fine, but what happened goes far beyond that. The movie isn't perfect, not by a long shot, and there are some legitimate arguments for the problems with it. But the utter vitriol that was spewed by the anti-TLJ crowd toward the film and its creators, especially Johnson and Kennedy, is reprehensible and inexcusable. Remember when Rick and Morty fans started riots at McDonald's because they couldn't get a packet of sauce? Yeah, the Star Wars fan base is getting close to that level of juvenility.

Solo: A Star Wars Story. It's a Star Wars score by John Powell. And in fact it's what it is. Pretty much exactly. Yeah. Karol

"somehow" lol There are many, many people in the "enormous fan base" who love that movie too. And many who don't, sure. The lack of self-awareness is so funny. Once upon a time it was considered conventional wisdom that the fan base hated the prequels too, that they had tarnished Star Wars forever. Polarizing Star Wars movies are practically a tradition

The main lesson I learned in recent years in regards to critic/audience scores is not to give a shit about what anybody else thinks. Karol

I wouldn't say it's rhapsodic at all (which suggests an improvisation in form). It follows more or less the form of a classical rondo: A B C A B A coda

Reminiscence Therapy actually tho! My life is complete! Awesome Rebel Fanfare (but with the amount of use of it in Solo I think my thought of it also being for the Falcon makes a lot of sense), awesome Here They Come variation, the Asteroid Field , Chewie's theme, then The Adventures of Han usage. Then the use of that awesome Battle of Crait hurried strings, more Rebel Fanfare, even the SW Main Theme a little. I mean THIS REALLY IS Reminiscence Therapy!!! Ohmigosh, Ohmigosh, Ohmigosh!!!!

Chicken in the Pot is the best track on the album .

Exactly. There are some members here that think Williams is closed minded and hates percussion grooves and anything modern. No. It might not be his own personal style, but I have a strong feeling that Williams is much happier hearing a skilled and musical composer being true to his own compositional voice over one who’s just trying to ape him.

I really really like Reminiscence Therapy.

Great score, I love the new theme! Cleary, "Here they come!" have become the official action cue of the Millenium Falcon... ok, I will get used to that! One another thing is clear... Rey's the daughter of Han... ...or both have the same composer... it's one or the other!

Oooo ouch! The way Williams' theme goes from his orchestration in track 1, to Powell's orchestration in track 2 is painful. It sounds like there was an explosion at the RCP factory and shrapnel from 2.5 million percussionists was embedded into Williams' theme.

First impressions Plus side: better than 'Rogue One', minus side, too many simple ostinatos from the RCP toolkit. Powell is a great writer for orchestra and you hear that shining through, especially in some of the more virtuoso brass parts, but somehow too much of it, especially the action music, tends to sound a bit generic, a bit too busy for its own good without doing much, musically. It gets interesting whenever he is allowed to get idiomatically out of the box (Mine Mission!) or it all slows down to, you know, actual 'character-building' music. The Williams theme isn't the maestro's most shining hour, either, though he manages to snuggle in one of his tense conspirator riffs (at 00:38) which is always good. The Williams shish kebab in 'Reminiscence Therapy' would be more fun if TLJ didn't do exactly the same thing 5 months before. 'How to Train Your Dragon', especially part 2, this unfortunately ain't.

Williams' number 1 die hard fan vs. Powell's Number 1 diehard fan: the battle of the ages!

On my first listen. Adventures of Han is good JW material, maybe a little directionless but still very good. Holy fuck is John Powell frenetic. I love some of his orchestrations but I HATE the generic percussion loops that are all over the score. The rythym in the second track is ripped directly from Horner's Avatar score, which worked because of the tribal imagery, but here it makes the score feel very generic because it's so overused to create tension nowadays. Want a good example of how to use percussion to create tension? Duel of the Fates. There's almost zero percussion in it except at really poignant moments, because it relies almost solely on real tones to create the tension. Aside from that, I really like how the score sounds like a classic hollywood score at times. Some of the softer moments are quite nice (when Powell slows the fuck down for a second) The throwbacks are a nice welcome, but when you place them toe to toe with the new music it makes the new music sound VERY generic. Powell for the love of god get your hand out of the percussionist's panties please. I give the score a solid B-

I love how Courage plays the March of the Villains and the Nuclear Man theme on top of each other in Ear Ache/Confrontation

We dyslexics need love too.

A Hew Nope?

Fixed.

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI?