Henry B

Well, more proof that StarWars.com is a terrible Star Wars site.

Maybe after the debacle of The Chamber of Secrets, Williams wanted a bit of a fresh start. The Knight Bus seems like a real one-time thing to me. It's very easy to imagine it being cut from the massive Order of the Phoenix, being one of the more unnecessary scenes.

Yeah, most of the unreleased music plays during cut-scenes, which use a single audio mix, meaning music extraction is nearly impossible. The in-game sections were scored by Jeremy Soule (there are probably exceptions to this "cut-scenes = Williams, game = Soule" rule, of course). The unreleased "Arena" music is from Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns, and is easy to rip, since it is part of an audio track (Clone Campaigns is one of the last games to use these; now music is "dynamic," meaning it can adapt to its environment sort of, but of course it has to be encrypted with the rest of the game information and is not as easily available). I recommend ripping the entire "Arena" section from the audio track (a forty-minute medley of Star Wars music), which is something like 13:00 to 19:00, and editing it in to "Love Pledge and The Arena" from the Attack of the Clones album around the 2:00 or 3:00 minute mark (easy editing there).

Actually, it is quoted (along with its B theme) at the beginning of the end credits. Very nice.

Guys, the end credits in Sorceror's Stone and Chamber of Secrets were just as long as these, it's just that they weren't presented in chronological order on the album. The Sorceror's Stone credits are composed of "Harry's Wondrous World" and "Hedwig's Theme," and The Chamber of Secrets has "Harry's Wondrous World," "Fawkes the Phoenix," and "The Chamber of Secrets," which are twelve or thirteen minutes together.

Yeah, another theme we don't need is the friends theme, because Ron and Hermione aren't really in Prisoner of Azkaban, right? :?

I'd like to hear about any thematic reemergences -- that is, Harry's (family) theme, the friends theme (alternately Harry's theme), Hogwarts Forever!, the Sorceror's Stone motif, and the You-Know-Who theme. They weren't on the CD, but who knows what will be on the full soundtrack?

"A Window to the Past." Never mind the sad melody, it's that rendition of Hedwig's theme that chokes me up! "Buckbeak's Flight," "The Dementors Converge," "Finale," and the first two minutes of "Mischief Managed" were also contenders.

DiMaggio did provide the voice in the Clone Wars cartoon, and it was nothing special (Bender is awesome, though). I don't believe it's confirmed that he's doing Grievous' voice for Episode III. You could be more on top of these things than I, though.

Funny thing - I'm on dial-up, but both dial-up and broadband versions load at a faster rate than they play, perhaps almost instantly. Is this because I use AOL as my ISP and web browser?

The Emperor's Theme...it's mislabelled, it should be from Return of the Jedi - unless you meant that spooky music played during the hologram scene. I think it would make for quite the concert arrangement, even if it would be a bit unusual-sounding. Go heavy on the choir! As for the Force theme, there is a pretty good concert arrangement created by a fan, though it's only available as a MIDI, unfortunately. I think they have it at "Music by John Williams" (musicby.jw-music.net). It may be the same as "May the Force Be with You," although it is definitely a concert arrangement and not easy piano or something.

It certainly is nice, but it seems like whenever the game is calling for a fast-paced, dramatic cue, Soule delivers some more ambient music. There are a few wonderful moments though, most of which involve the Force theme, and most of which occur during cut-scenes, which sound like they're being played through a telephone.

Having read the track by track analysis, I notice that there are only two returning themes: Hedwig's theme and Nimbus 2000. Um, wow. I'm sure I will enjoy the soundtrack greatly, but I'm a theme freak. Must have Harry's theme, Sorceror's Stone motif...well, I'm holding out for the full version of the score (as heard in the movie, for the time being). There's no track that is called, or that underscores, for example, Trelawney's prophecy. That moment certainly calls for the Sorceror's Stone motif or the You-Know-Who theme.

Will the Harry Potter movie franchise still be going after Goblet of Fire? Will the actors be able to stick around? And, of course, will we get a John Williams score? There are some amazing musical opportunities for the Department of Mysteries sequence; terrifying, spooky music, tragic music, the Sorceror's Stone motif--like in "Meeting Tom Riddle," but even better, a few desperate renditions of Harry's theme, or Hedwig's...ee. But will they ever get that far?

All right, I admit it: I listened to Hedwig's theme and a bit of Aunt Marge's Waltz. :oops:

Mm, isn't SWTWC a bit similar to Nimbus 2000?

It's like going to TFN and reading up on all the Episode III spoilers...er...if you're into that sort of thing. It's feels great at the time, but you'll regret it later. Wait for the CD!

Dunno, The Lord of the Rings certainly evoked MY emotions...

Holding out for the CD, but it's tough...

So like...most of the old themes are gone? I'm going to, er, be strong and not listen to this. Gotta...hold out for the CD...

I was thinking a strong rendition of Vader's theme as he first appears out of the smoke and debris on the Tantive IV, a la the music that underscores "I am your father" (well, the footage following it). That is all.

There are many instances in the books where somebody swears, but the swear word is not specified.

I really couldn't stomach the Imperial motif (from Star Wars) during a scene depicting such a massive army. It's not grand, it's not evil, it's just "uh-oh, bad guys." And it suits Star Wars perfectly well, but the finale of Attack of the Clones? Agreed, although I'm actually more concerned about it robbing Episode III of its (musical) power. How is Williams going to compose the obligatory spine-tingling rendition of the Imperial March at the end without it being redundant?

By your reasoning, then, the cue "Ben's Death" is wrong? Like the finale of AotC, but again, it was effective.

Feh, I say the soundtrack experience is slightly damaged by it. I remember when I was watching Attack of the Clones for the first time, I was constantly listening for music that had appeared on the album, and it bothered me when it appeared all out of order and edited into other cues. "Hey, that's the beginning of 'Ambush on Coruscant' -- wait, it's changing...what gives?" The converse was true for several films.