Joe Brausam

OK.  I saw the film in the theater last night.  And holy motherforking shirtballs, THIS SCORE IS INCREDIBLE.
 
I cannot recall another experience quite like this one, where I went to the theater and saw a movie, and was just in awe of how good the score was the whole way through like this.  What was most amazing was that even after listening to the 95 or so minutes of score we have between the FYC and OST a lot before seeing the film and becoming very familiar with it, EVERY SINGLE ADDITIONAL, UNRELEASED CUE I HEARD IN THE FILM WAS SOMETHING I WANTED TO HEAR AGAIN OUTSIDE THE FILM!  Every cue he chose not to put on the FYC or OST had SOMETHING special in it that made it worth having.  I just sat there being blown away as cue after cue was a great unreleased highlight.
 
I don't understand the reports from people saying eh, most of the highlights were on the FYC or OST, or eh, there's only 30 minutes of more music and most of it was older themes anyway, or whatever.  No way!  I mean, of course a lot of the cues do feature old themes, but many of those old themes are completely new variations of them!  I heard an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC rendition of The Emperor's Theme unlike any I had heard before (it was a quiet rendition, on woodwinds IIRC), a great new version of Luke's theme, some great new Force Theme variations, and TONS, I mean just TONS of great new Rey's Theme variations.
 
JW clearly is in love with Rey, and she is basically the main character of this film, and JW pretty much scores all her scenes with some new version of her theme, and I feel like we only got maybe half of these renditions between the FYC and OST.  He does so much more with that theme in the full score.
 
The other thing apparent from watching the film, is that it is very clear from watching that the film was scripted and shot as a longer experience, and then edited down within an inch of its life for the final cut.  It's quite clear sometimes when entire scenes are missing (some of which we have the cues for on the OST album), and it's also clear in other times that the scenes he kept in where whittled down and down and down after the original cue for them had been recorded.
 
This score is instantly my #1 most requested session leak / complete score release from all the John Williams scores that haven't been expanded yet.  Not only is there just a bunch of great music you can hear in the final film that hasn't been released yet, based on everything we can hear right now it seems clear to me that the full sessions for this score would have the most amount of interesting music we've never heard.
 
I can't remember the last time I was THIS into a new John Williams score this much, nor the last time I got 95 minutes of a score and still wanted more very very much.  It's clear that JW was very inspired while writing this score, either by an earlier longer cut that made a lot more sense, or just something inside him that wanted to make this score really special.  It's amazing to think that an 87 year old man who could have retired 25 years ago with a career more noteworthy than most composers can dream of achieving is still crafting masterpieces like this.  Bravo, maestro!

Considering that the ST is all about reminding people of their love for the OT, while at the same time making them forget the PT, it's a little weird to see Williams quoting random cues from TPM and AOTC on the new trilogy, like Talk of Podracing on Finn's Confession and The Arrival at Tatooeine on that Poe/Zori scene.
 
Maybe this is just a case of temp track love? Many people pointed that some action scenes on TLJ (Rose's sister dropping the bombs on the Star Destroyer, Holdo's Resolve) seemed to be tracked with Battle of Heroes.
 
Or maybe it's Williams James Horner-ing? "I've written this stuff for this other movie, but you know... It would be great if I put it on this new film I'm working on!". It wouldn't be the first time for him. *cof cof Harry Potter cof cof*

I enjoyed it.  I understand what people didn’t enjoy here, not saying they’re wrong or the criticism isn’t valid.  But I couldn’t help but enjoy it the whole time.
 
To each their own!

I can't stop laughing, thank you. 

It is probably my favorite post-2005 Williams score, though for me it has some very strong competition from Lincoln - they both do a lot for me.  I do consider War Horse to be masterpiece level from Williams, and I think it is one of his greatest original soundtrack albums as well.  It's so well arranged and tells a complete story on its own.  In that sense I feel like the score is practically a tone poem and works as a self contained piece of programmatic music.

It is probably my favorite post-2005 Williams score, though for me it has some very strong competition from Lincoln - they both do a lot for me.  I do consider War Horse to be masterpiece level from Williams, and I think it is one of his greatest original soundtrack albums as well.  It's so well arranged and tells a complete story on its own.  In that sense I feel like the score is practically a tone poem and works as a self contained piece of programmatic music.

I do too!  Williams tapped into something special when writing this one
 
I've listened to it regularly for 8 straight years now
 
The OST is superbly arranged, too!

Gustavo Dudamel will helm the recording sessions of Spielberg's West Side Story:
 
https://amblin.com/press/renowned-conductor-gustavo-dudamel-to-helm-recording-of-steven-spielbergs-west-side-story

Agreed.  It's my absolute favourite musical, but I'm not a great fan of the film version.  There's lots to improve upon, and I'm confident that they will with this one!

It's up there for me too - love this musical.  I also love the idea of having an updated version that will stand up better in my classroom when I show this to kids.  As great as the original film is, it LOOKS dated to their eyes.

I had to stop Azkaban after Summoning the Patronus. What an achingly beautiful track, the last minute especially. The way Williams develops WTTP in this score is simply masterful. 
 
But what really surprises with Azkaban is that the score plays like a chamber piece, as if Williams approached the score like a series of miniatures, ala his Children's Suite for Philosoper's Stone. It's inspired writing, poles apart from his lushly orchestrated approach for the first two scores, and innovative scoring for a blockbuster Hollywood franchise score. Frankly I don't think any composer except Williams would have been allowed to write a score like this in the early 2000s, but for Williams it's simply breathless. 
 
Just goes to show the power of a director-composer collaboration that challenges both parties to branch outside their comfort zone. The result is an innovative, powerful display of how adaptable Williams can be, and how agreeable he is to service the director's needs no matter the project. 

https://www.facebook.com/AmblinEntertainment/photos/a.1196140270415844/2666237070072816/

I’m surprised people seem “eh” about the David Newman announcement.  Nobody mentioned, but he has conducted the vast majority of the live to film performances of the original WSS film - he’s actually a perfect choice and should know the score very intimately at this point.

I’m surprised people seem “eh” about the David Newman announcement.  Nobody mentioned, but he has conducted the vast majority of the live to film performances of the original WSS film - he’s actually a perfect choice and should know the score very intimately at this point.

I’m surprised people seem “eh” about the David Newman announcement.  Nobody mentioned, but he has conducted the vast majority of the live to film performances of the original WSS film - he’s actually a perfect choice and should know the score very intimately at this point.

Just an interesting side note for space nerds like me, Apollo 8 was the first manned flight to leave Earth orbit in December, 1968, just six months before Niel and Buzz walked on the surface.  Apollo 8 was commanded by Jim Lovell who would have walked on the moon on Apollo 13 and was portrayed by Tom Hanks.  The crew of Apollo 8 were Time's Man (men) of the year for 1968:

And all three are still with us and reconnected three weeks ago for a redo!  These guys have The Right Stuff!  This is the 50th anniversary photo of these same guys with their craft (Lovell/Hanks in the center):

 
This iconic photo of "Earthrise" was taken 50 years ago on December 24, 1968, by the guy on the left,  William Anders.  It is one of the most influential photographs ever taken.

That's what all of our "reviews" are. They're not really buy it / don't buy it here's why. They're just as informative as we can make them about prior releases, mixing, how they pertain to the film, etc. More studies than critiques because the thinking is, no one wants to read critical reviews for a singular subject. Chances are if one's on a John Williams site, they like the guy's music even superficially, right? One doesn't expect to come here and read critical reviews ala Filmtracks or MMUK. They come for knowledge, details, stuff to supplement these albums and get to the how's and why's of the compositions on those discs. 
 
So basically that but with James Horner. 🙂

The font is fine!
 
 
Then you should try the library of your local university.

It was recorded at the Fox's Newman stage.
 
Karol

The OST is still in print from Atlantic and WEA.  I'm sure Disney licensed the Horner tracks, same as they would have when they released "Star Tours" and "Indiana Jones Stunt Adventure" tracks on their park compilations prior to the Lucasfilm purchase.

Out for delivery, one day ahead of schedule!  

Out for delivery, one day ahead of schedule!  

My set shipped yesterday and should be arriving on Saturday, along with Schindler's list.  Very exciting!