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Gordy Haab's Star Wars: Battlefront (2015)


Jay

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6 hours ago, Chewy said:

And seems like he listened to other Williams' scores as well. Hope I'm not the only one hearing a real similarity between:

Nice find!

 

Also this example seems pretty similar if we are onto "War of the Worlds":

 

 

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call me crazy but I prefer Giacchino. he at least molds his own style with Williams rather than aping him completely (I find it amusing when people call his new Imperial theme a parody when you have something like Scariff Loading B which is incredibly similar to the March on the Jedi Temple). that being said it does sound nicer at times and is more technically proficient, but when it comes to enjoyment I prefer Rogue One. however, this could be an unfair comparison since I have a strong attachment to the source material and this wasn't scored to accompany a specific scene so it's less 'gripping' by nature I guess.

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36 minutes ago, DarthDementous said:

call me crazy but I prefer Giacchino. he at least molds his own style with Williams rather than aping him completely (I find it amusing when people call his new Imperial theme a parody when you have something like Scariff Loading B which is incredibly similar to the March on the Jedi Temple). that being said it does sound nicer at times and is more technically proficient, but when it comes to enjoyment I prefer Rogue One. however, this could be an unfair comparison since I have a strong attachment to the source material and this wasn't scored to accompany a specific scene so it's less 'gripping' by nature I guess.

I don't think anyone is saying this music would be better suited for Rogue One. We can't really compare the 2 scores equally anyways. The demands on and expectations for the music are totally different. Gordy Haab just does a good JW SW imitation is all and it works well for Battle Front. 

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12 minutes ago, artguy360 said:

I don't think anyone is saying this music would be better suited for Rogue One. We can't really compare the 2 scores equally anyways. The demands on and expectations for the music are totally different. Gordy Haab just does a good JW SW imitation is all and it works well for Battle Front. 

exactly, gotta look at what each composer was trying to do in order to judge them on it.

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It's all well and good saying it's pastiche, which of course it is, but if we were on the YouTube comments section now, under some John Williams Star Wars music or some such, we'd of course see the same accusations of pastiche and unoriginality levelled at Williams' own music, and it's similarity to Holst. There's no way on good earth Haab is as good Williams, but I still think there's the usual double standard going on here in regards to the sound of their music tbh. The usual chain of boring elitism (of which Williams and his film music don't sit at the top of that pyramid to begin with). End of the day, Williams is as guilty of pastiche as anyone. 

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Thats not completely fair. We Talk about pastiche when Someone composes music consciously based on Williams material. To date, Williams has never done a franchise where he is not the 1st composer, in other words he has never had to pastiche from a previous film score... 

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We probably have different definition of pastiche. For me it is when one composer has to use the themes of other composer because its the same franchise.

 

Tomorrowland, Jupiter ascendind, John Carter, etc... = no pastiche

Rogue one, MI:III, M:I Ghost protocol, Speed Racer, Jurassic World = pastiche

 

Superman II-> The gold standard of pastiche.

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19 minutes ago, Jay said:

Yea, Quint is right and Luke is using the wrong definition of pastiche if he thinks those scores represent it

 

Ok, my mistake. I suppose Mcneely's Indiana Jones and the phantom train of doom qualifies. (And JPIII to a degree. Definately Superman II, right? is it not a pastiche made from Superman the movie??)

 

Haab's music is the same constantly quoting williams passages.

 

WIlliams does not do that even if he is following a temp track. I mean he can quote a passage... or compose en entire piece that resembles somthing but compose a track contantly mixing pieces of classical music? Never heard that sorry.

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  • 4 months later...

He recently released his Death Star and Scarif suits. Some very intersting references to the Prequels in there (including a section in the Death Star Suite that reprises the Droid Battle from TPM and a section in the Scarif Suite that references "The Falcon" from The Force Awakens.)

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/05/2017 at 10:55 PM, Gistech said:

A week or so ago, Gordy Haab posted the Rogue One: Scarif Suite to his Soundcloud:

 

 

interesting how the little theme he brings in sounds similar to Giacchino's Jyn Erso theme.

 

it's all very pleasant to listen to but it falls into the usual trap that his Star Wars work outside SWTOR has, essentially sounding like a remix of John Williams or another one of his Star Wars works. I'm pretty fluent in his KOTFE and KOTET expansion work for SWTOR and I did hear a lot of similarities, I just feel like its a case of it feeling like an imitation rather than another style that builds off the musical language of Star Wars like Jeremy Soul's KOTOR 1 or Mark Griskey's KOTOR 2.

 

I still get a kick out of it though because I appreciate the Star Wars musical aesthetic greatly, hopefully if he does come back to score Star Wars Battlefront 2 now that there's an actual campaign we should get more interesting work out of him.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 years later...
Quote

‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ Game Music Set for Release on Walt Disney Records (EXCLUSIVE)

 

Gordy Haab’s award-winning scores for the video games “Star Wars: Battlefront” and “Star Wars: Battlefront II” are about to be released by Walt Disney Records.

 

“Battlefront” is slated to hit digital retail and streaming services at midnight Eastern time tonight, 9 pm Pacific time; “Battlefront II” will land on Feb. 5.

 

The first “Battlefront,” released in 2015, won Music of the Year and Best Interactive Score at the Game Audio Network Guild (GANG) awards, while “Battlefront II,” from 2017, won Video Game Score of the Year at ASCAP’s Film and Television Music Awards.

Both scores were performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Voices choir. These original game soundtracks serve as audio companion pieces to the popular games and have been long sought by fans of the franchise.


“Battlefront,” from Electronic Arts Inc., DICE, Criterion Software and Lucasfilm, is an immersive first-person and third-person shooter game that challenges players to fight for either the Rebellion or the Empire. The sequel “Battlefront II,” from Electronic Arts, DICE, Motive Studios, Criterion Software and Lucasfilm, features characters from every era and involves epic space battles both online and offline.


Said Haab: “I consider composing the original score for EA’s ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ series one of my greatest accomplishments. Creating new music for a game with such high expectations was a colossal task, only made more daunting by my own passion and desire to pay honor to my favorite franchise. And for this reason, I poured a lifetime of love into every note. As did the orchestra who performed it – and every person who helped bring the music to life.”

 

Added Steve Schnur, president of music for Electronic Arts: “Gordy Haab brought his own aesthetic to ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ and ‘Star Wars: Battlefront II,’ while at the same time honoring the most iconic film music in history. Watching him bring these scores to life in the same studio and with the same orchestra that was used to record the original `Star Wars’ has resulted in remarkable music that fans are finding just as timeless. These soundtrack albums are the proof.”

 

Haab’s other “Star Wars” game scores include “Star Wars: Fallen Order” (2019) and “Star Wars: The Old Republic” (2011), both also GANG award winners, and “Kinect Star Wars” (2012). He has also written music for such other games as Microsoft’s “Halo Wars 2″ and Activision-AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”

 

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/star-wars-battlefront-game-music-release-dates-1234894898/

 

 

The new OST for 1 is already on iTunes NZ or AU

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/star-wars-battlefront-original-video-game-soundtrack/1549747358

https://music.apple.com/au/album/star-wars-battlefront-original-video-game-soundtrack/1549747358

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I gave the OSTs a try when he put them on Soundcloud and I was not very impressed.  A lot of people on JWFan like em though

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This is going to be great! I'm loving that we are getting all this fantastic Star Wars music officially released.

 

I love Gordy's material despite my criticisms that he copy pastes JW a little too much for my liking. I can't resist more Star Wars music.

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19 minutes ago, artus_grayboot said:

!!! 

 

 

 

 

I just went through the game and got a taste of Haab's stuff.

 

Jesus Christ I thought he backed off on his plagiarism in recent times to upgrade to superficial pastiche, but then stuff like SoroSuub Skirmish plays :blink: Seriously at that point why even bother writing anything at all? I wonder if any of the LSO players had an existential crisis and questioned the linearity of time from the amount of deja vu they experienced while recording this.

 

Some of the later dramatic cues are pretty nice and sound more "authentic" as far as actually conveying something instead of sucking his gut in a desperate attempt to be "Star Wars Williamsy" at the expense of all else.

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So how does the new album compare to the old Soundcloud album?

 

1000x1000bb.webp

 

1 Walker Assault 6:05 
2 Pale Blue Orb 6:45 
3 Survivors of Endor 6:26 
4 SoroSuub Skirmish 8:50 
5 The Imperial Advance 5:38 
6 The Battle in the Clouds 6:23 
7 Jundland Wastes 6:27 
8 Approach to Landing Pad 13 9:36 
9 Rebel Resistance 6:35 
10 Fully Armed and Operational 7:40 
11 The Graveyard of Giants 8:57 
12 Jedi on the Battlefront 6:07 
13 Attack! 1:53 
TOTAL TIME - 87:00

 

https://open.spotify.com/album/3QSV1jMUUJ2baFCfq8YIgG?si=LJ5pO13fRy2-k5KlsZgn1g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-naDgBMbAo&list=OLAK5uy_k0yKvlUubRfnvQbX1Gxy1uovsM7dp3YPk
https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/star-wars-battlefront-gordy-haab/ia9wv37cvxeia
https://tidal.com/browse/album/170510247
https://music.apple.com/us/album/star-wars-battlefront-original-video-game-soundtrack/1549747358
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TR9JYWP/

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Picked this up today with Wandavision, and to the back of my considerable music backlog it goes.  Might be a "fool me twice" situation since I really didn't care much for the Fallen Order album (Squadrons was better, but maybe by merit of relative brevity).

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48 minutes ago, Jay said:

So how does the new album compare to the old Soundcloud album?

 

Some new material, a different track order, and a new mix.

 

01. Walker Assault (Jedi Main Theme)

02. Pale Blue Orb (Hoth Suite)

03. Survivors Of Endor (Endor Suite)

04. SoroSuub Skirmish (Sullust Suite)

05. The Imperial Advance (Imperial Suite)

06. The Battle In The Clouds (Previously unreleased)

07. Jundland Wastes (Tatooine Suite)

08. Approach To Landing Pad 13 (Scarif Suite)

09. Rebel Resistance (Rebel Suite)

10. Fully Armed And Operational (The Death Star)

11. The Graveyard Of Giants (Thirty Year War Suite)

12. Jedi On The Battlefront (Dark Jedi Suite)

13. Attack! (Previously unreleased)

 

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Less dynamic range, slightly clearer highs. It's probably is marginally better to be fair. But if I hadn't looked at the waveforms, I probably wouldn't have noticed.

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2 hours ago, SilverTrumpet said:

The album format is much better than Fallen Order's. This isn't all the music written for the game, right? How much is missing if not?

 

All we're really missing is the Victory/Loss/Draw stings and hero entrance and exit stings, and since those are reprises of existing material (especially since the hero stings are direct JW quotes) it's not a big loss.

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There was about ~2 hours of original music written for the game; the stingers (victory/defeat and character intros/outros) take up a small portion of that. So this album does contain most of the music, but it's still missing a small amount.

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