Miz

Vader's Theme for Vader. 'The Empire' ANH theme for Stormtroopers. The Death Star theme for the Death Star. Throw in some more themes for a new baddie and we're done!

I'm alike in only being attracted to the final 3 tracks, at the moment. But the rest of the score, though not instantly appealing to listen to on its own, sounds like it would complement the film's drama and action well. I'll find out more when I see it. I do object to the rubbishing of a score because it isn't a 'good-enough' stand-alone album; we have to remember that's not the music's job. For most people, any film score is not interesting or suitable to listen to apart from a film. Some composers deliver up some stunning albums. I listen to most scores as invidividual tracks and playlists, but Tomorrowland, Up and John Carter are all albums I listen to fully. Do we often feel that because a composer happens to have delivered a good 'album listen' before, that a new score should be assessed on its ability to live up to those experiences? I think not. I count myself lucky when a score sounds great as an album - I do not count it as an inferior score to those others, if it does its job just as well in the film. It's a bit like Clemmensen measuring film scores against his narrow standard of "thematic-developed , leitmotif-heavy, narrative-based, largely-symphonic" scores that Star Wars epitomises.

Heh. Listened to Secret Weapons Over Normandy this morning, and I got inklings that the shrill brass and tumbling melodies could really suit a good old-fashioned X-Wing battle; and that Medal Of Honor's ground-battle tempo could have a good run-in. I'd like the Rebel theme to take centre stage and even be developed forward (not truncated like so many reboot/soft-reboot/sequel scores tend to). Not that I want a recycled sound, I'm sure (given time) he could make this soar while keeping depth...but it's not a given.

I'm a little concerned that Giacchino has not had long enough to write this. He was probably brought on before the news was released, but how long has he had? Also, he'll have to form relationships with a new director and team - including a new sound team, do we know? I hope we get less 'Earth Days' and more 'Jupiter Ascending' and 'John Carter'.

Seconded, this score has real staying power and some of the best themes he has written. Can't wait for a full release... is it possible?

Does anyone have a chronological or episode/scene breakdown for each track on the Season 6 album?

There's a rich sideline in Lando, Chewie, Fett, the Falcon and the 'scum of the universe'. It would be weird for them to cast him as Indy too, though.

I think this score is more of a grower than the previous two (not so the film, though). The main theme is played with and stretched and, while it doesn't allow space for much other thematic material, it's nice to hear it developed. I also think this score has some of the series highlights for more poignant and subdued performances of the familiar themes. The newer themes are not so interesting as, for example, Harrison's was, but Yorktown is definitely welcome...

I think I agree with all those points. I also think this Season 6 album is the best of them all. I like the developments of so many themes and I've listened to this album more than the others combined - infact, as an album, where I just selected mp3s from the previous 5 albums.

No, it's the same as the lead-in to the 'main' (choral) theme as in previous credits.

Or maybe he has enough money from LoTR and likes making music at home, or a thousand other leisure things a human might enjoy with so much time and wealth.

Touching indeed, especially for one who knows the bond he means. In celebration of what their union manifested, I further explore Powell's work... Does anybody know what proportion of the various Bourne scores are synthesised and instrumental? I heard from Classic FM that the first score was all sequenced synths.

I've found Tomorrowland is a grower; it has much more momentum and character to latch onto than Jurassic World.

Ha. The British win Independence Day! I'd like to see this too. 3 hour train ride away. *strokes chin*

I ripped all of my CDs and gave them away to charity (second-hand) shops, and sold a few worth something. I prefer the convenience of mp3s, playlists, listening to full albums when they present the kind of listening experience, and taking individual tracks at will when they don't. About half of my current film score collection is paid for; about one eighth of my total music collection is.

Aww, experts helping newcomers over the mountains of John Williams is a stirring sight. I reckon the potential/real extended scores for the prequels go like this: TPM > ROTS > AOTC. The last is mostly well-represented (especially with the conveyor track) aside from the tracked material we already have well on TPM releases. ROTS has plenty of new interesting material, and from the weak sources I've heard, the full length presentations of key tracks are more majestic (beside their microedited album presentations - a feature I've noticed more now that TFA has shown us). The best are Anakin's Betrayal & Anakin's Dark Deeds. The Coruscant battle (espeically the full intro) deserves a good releases. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBPA5m4pVEE&list=PL8X6l_2AhBONZSNf9X8eOAlGadKgbInfV&index=33

I agree Rey's theme is the strongest part of the score, and possibly the only robust and lasting element of it. The action music is well-written and works in film, but continues to fail to hold me when listened alone. The old themes punctuating Falcon and Scherzo are too incongruous with Williams' modern style and even he can't blend them. They are satisfying signposts, but too spare to really 'make' each track.

I'm genuinely planning to drink very little for the day preceding, but take water with me into the theatre, by which time I will be parched. Taking no chances.

I'm enjoying his self-awareness. There was another anecdote somewhere where he talked about Kasdan sometimes catching him during writing playing down to the audience, over-explaining something that could be inferred another way. Seems like he really is giving this thing his best shot. I'm not expecting him to suddenly become this brilliant virtuoso, but I would like to see this movie find a nice balance away from the nervous, hyperactive energy of his other movies. A more cool, confident sense of style and pacing would be great. I think Williams can affect some of that too. Lost had that deliberate pacing and sense of space in spades - some said too much and found it a drag, but it is the anti-thesis of that 'nervous hyperactivity' we see in his action films. Abrams directed the pilots and executive produced the rest; I think he is confident about a more reflective style when he wants to be. Some of our favourite trailer shots imply TFA could exhibit this. As for Lucas, his concept of Star Wars is very different to most fans' (and non-fans') idea of Star Wars. He envisaged a Tolkien-esque universe of complexity, mythos and obscure language and, as many now know, it was his team that rounded it out to create the successful franchise. It's no wonder him and fans don't see eye to eye. I've always said, judging by his unbridled vision put forth in the prequels, his attitude to Star Wars is the same as an 8-year-old boy's. In a toy shop. Avatar was made a for a wider audience than that! The film's weaknesses have squat to do with James Cameron's opinions on sustainability. He's not trying to shame Earth's population, but calling (in whatever way) for a change in the over-consumptive and destructive habits of our global civilization (which accounts for only some of Earth's humans - mostly, it has to be said, North Americans, but definitely Europeans and Australians too). Veganism, in parts of the world where factory farming is practiced, goes a long way towards doing that; whether you find vegans pretentious, or your perception of their diets uninspiring, has little to do with those facts. Anyway, the saddest irony about Avatar's 'philosophy' is that the audience leaves the film glowing with a sense of satisfaction because, in the film, we have sided with the natives and the natives have won. Then we carry on with our lives in which we benefit very much from the destructive and immoral plunderers, raping some far-off land for our benefit. Plus, the massive amount of computer-dependent production has created further demand for the precious metals within all those computers and tech, ripped out of places we don't hear about. Cameron would have been braver to end the film with the annihilation of the natives. A braver move still would be to end the trilogy in that way, but the suits would never have it, and even if he could fund that depressing and very accurate finale himself, I don't believe he would have the guts.

Well the film was scarcely more impressive than the reviews made out, and having delved into this score more deeply than I do before a film viewing, I have to say the visuals and ambience can't match the thematic creativity and grand orchestration of the music. Can anyone else confirm that the mixing of the score was quite strange and/or weak? Or that there was a strange 'pre-echo' of (perhaps) certain channels in the recording, just prior to particular cliffhangers, flourishes or reveals in the action. I found them quite distracting having got to know the score well.

I was blown away by Boy Who Could Fly and now cycle across town to it, along with Flying Ship Fight. Those power-punch developments of the themes are helping me get into the rest of the score now. It's more evidence that film score as a genre, and composers talents, seem to shine best from fantasy films. I've only known Powell so far for Bourne (which I know inside out) and X-Men 3, which I dip into occasionally. I must try harder to delve into his Dragon scores; are there any other exemplar works of his with the same qualities as these?

I can hear riffs on the ewok theme in the Endor planet showcase. Nicely done. Does anybody spot any other deliberate fusions of Williams material?

I've been avoiding spoilers but you can't be very smart if you can't glean the basic arcs for, say, ex-Stormtrooper and desert-scavenger, and the overall good-beats-evil inevitability of the whole affair.

He captured Brosnan's Bond yet not Craig's. Newman's tighter, leaner, less flowery sound fits his performance to a T. Au contraire, Newman's sound is thin and unresponsive. Much of it is good as Newman music, though not all, and his broad sweeps through pulsating action music all of equal tempo sound like they can't quite match the kinetics hammering on screen in these movies. Arnold nailed Casino Royale and QoS with action music that flew with differing momentums and flew very well without the 'Brosnan era' action music, characterised mostly by its 'thematic dependencies'. Arnold's last two sport a confident style that could stride into swagger when needed and paint locations provocatively; they show variety in most of his action, espionage and quieter passages; and they both feature smart and subtle theme-play rewarded with multiple full listens. And he definitely acted as the voice for Bond's evolution as a character in those films (for example, the emerging Bond theme at the end of CR - Fall of a House in Venice, but also many other tracks in QoS involving new riffs).

Interesting deconstruction of the Jaws theme on yesterday's film programme on BBC Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06j5qd5