Smaug The Iron

Here's a breakdown of the suite
 
0:00-1:02 = The Adventure Theme from Williams' Jurassic Park score, basically the same as the standard concert arrangement. 1:02-2:04 = The Main Theme from Giacchino's first Jurassic World Score, basically the same as "The Park Is Closed" from the first OST (including Williams theme partial cameo at the end) 2:04-3:20 = New Theme #1 (Fallen Kingdom Theme?), the one introduced at the end of "This Title Makes Me Jurassic" and then appears in "Nostalgia-Saurus", "Wilting Iris", "Thus Begins The Indo-Rapture", "You Can Be So Hard-Headed", "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Free", "World's Worst Bedtime Storyteller", "Declaration of Indo-Pendence" and "The Neo-Jurassic Age" 3:20-3:40 = B Section of the Fallen Kingdom Theme, which only appears in the main score in "World's Worst Bedtime Storyteller" and "The Neo-Jurassic Age" 3:40-4:11 = Fallen Kingdom Theme 4:11-4:31 = Fallen Kingdom Theme B Section 4:31-5:18 = Fallen Kingdom Theme 5:18-6:40 = New Theme #2 (For now I'll call it the Quiet Theme), also heard in "The Theropod Preservation Society", "Volcano to Death", "Operation Blue Blood", and "To Free or Not to Free". 6:40-7:45 = New Theme #3 (For now I'll call it the March Theme), also heard in "March of the Wheatley Cavalcade" and "Raiders of the Lost Isla Nublar" 7:45-8:08 = non-thematic bridging material that was re-used in "Go With the Pyroclastic Flow" 8:08-8:28 = Fallen Kingdom Theme B Section 8:28-9:00 = Fallen Kingdom Theme 9:00-9:20 = Fallen Kingdom Theme B Section 9:20-9:57 = Fallen Kingdom Theme 9:57-10:35 = non-thematic bridging material that was re-used in "This Title Makes Me Jurassic" 10:35-end  = Fallen Kingdom Theme  
Again I haven't seen the film so don't know what these themes represent.

As far as returning themes go, the main Jurassic Park theme only returns in cameos - the concert arrangement intro appears in "The Theropod Preservation Society" and "To Free or Not to Free", and the B section of the theme appears in "Nostalgia-Saurus".  The actual main part of the main theme DOES appear in "Volcano to Death" in a sad, defeated way, but it's cut off before finishing the entire theme.  The first 3 notes of the B section also appear in the End Credits track at the end of the same arrangement of the main Jurassic World theme that was heard in "This Park Is Closed" from the first Jurassic World album.
 
The Adventure Theme gets a big runthrough in the first minute of "At Jurassic World's End Credits / Suite", and that's it.  No Carnivore theme.
 
 
Returning from the first Jurassic World score, his Main Theme returns in 6 tracks (2, 4, 9, 24, 25, 26), the Owen's Raptor Squad theme returns 19, 20, and 24, and the Indominous Rex theme is in tracks 1 and 23 (This Title Makes Me Jurassic and Declaration of Indo-Pendence).  
 
The Family Theme and Hoskins/In-Gen theme don't return at all.
 
 
 
New themes:
 
The new main theme (Fallen Kingdom Theme?) is introduced at the end of the first track [2:27-end] and gets a big concert arrangement in the Suite from 2:04-5:18 and then again from 8:28-end. There's a 16 note quiet theme in "The Theropod Preservation Society" [0:36-1:07] and "Operation Blue Blood" [0:46-end] that gets a spot in the Suite from 5:18-6:40. There's a 16 note march-like theme that appears in "March of the Wheatley Cavalcade" from 0:15-0:35 and then shows up in the Suite from 6:40-7:45. There's an ominous theme that opens "Go With the Pyroclastic Flow" [0:00-0:14] and also appears in the Suite from 7:45-8:08 There's also a twinkly theme that appears interspersed with the main theme in the suite (ie 3:20-3:40 and 4:11-4:31 during the first part and 8:08-8:28 and 9:00-9:20) during the second part)... but I don't know if this is truly a separate theme or just a B-section of the new main theme.  
There's probably more new stuff I haven't unpacked yet.  I haven't seen the film so have no idea what any of the themes could represent.
 
The suite is a pretty damn great track, I wish it appeared in its own track not connected to the first 2 minutes of old theme retreads, though.

Now up for sale in countries where it's already Friday
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/1391415975
https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/1391415975
etc
 
 
Here's my initial impressions of the album after first listen
 
Overall I guess it's pretty good, I suppose I like it more than the first score (certainly more than the first OST album).  I think he does some things much better than the first score, but other things not as well.
 
The strongest part of the album is definitely the end, like the last third maybe.  Some of the percussion-based action material towards the end is fresh and exciting.
 
I really liked the parts of the score where he takes his JW1 themes and reworks them for the new score.  Owen's Raptor Squad theme especially sounds great.
 
Most of the new themes are not very in-your-face, and didn't leave much of a strong impression on me at all.  Subsequent listens should help.
 
 

The only thing that's superbly comfy fit for Giacchino is Pixar, imo
 
Anyway almost 2 minutes of scoring session has just been released:
 
Well, they recorded all instryments altogether.

I don't know how to describe the emotional sensation that's brought forth every time I hear Chewie's theme blasted in Break Out at 0:40.
It's magic.

You have to actually install the iTunes program, they don't play from the web page. If you're on an android phone and not a computer, I dunno if it's possible. I assume on an Apple phone they'd play in the iTunes app. 

Phew!  Finally caught up on this thread.
 
So this is the chronological order?
 
01 02 Meet Han (2:20)
02 03 Corellia Chase (3:34)
03 04 Spaceport (4:07)
04 05 Flying with Chewie (3:30)
05 06 Train Heist (4:48)
06 07 Marauders Arrive (5:14)
07 08 Chicken in the Pot (2:09)
08 09 Is This Seat Taken? (2:36)
09 10 L3 & Millennium Falcon (3:16)
10 11 Lando's Closet (2:13)
11 12 Mine Mission (4:10)
12 13 Break Out (6:15)
13 15 Reminiscence Therapy (6:13)
14 16 Into the Maw (4:49)
15 14A [0:00-1:51] The Good Guy  (1:51)
16 17 Savareen Stand-Off (4:26)
17 14B [1:51-end] "We'll Win" (3:33)
18 19 Testing Allegiance (4:21)
19 18 Good Thing You Were Listening (2:08)
20 20 Dice & Roll (1:54)
 
Place wherever you like:
01 The Adventures of Han (3:49)
 

Longbottom Leaf, I presume.
 
Hm. No wonder Neville's into Herbology!

Williams apparently helped Powell out of a massive writers block, he could have helped with the spotting to provide an expert's view of what a Star Wars score is, Powell apparently had a blast, his own themes are wonderful, his variations on AoH are great, the score is amazing.
 

Better than 1800£, as it was available a few years ago.
Gotta take it while I can, I'd never forgive myself if they'd go out of production and I'd miss them again.
These 3, considered one whole entity, are my second favourite film scores of all time after Star Wars ('77) and these sets are near-impeccable examples of how a complete score release should be done. That's worth it for me.

It is the finest SW score of 2018 and also the best one since The Last Jedi. I also rank it among my top 10 feature SW scores of all time.
 
Karol

John Williams conducted the Boston Pops in a performance of this Wednesday May 23rd and Thursday May 24th in Boston last week, and WCVB radio broadcast it online yesterday. Here is @Faleel's recording of the internet stream. Enjoy!
 
 

I'm in love with the passage of Chewie's theme in the middle of Mine Mission, it's such a lovely progression in the middle of all the action, like coming up above the clouds.

At 1:17 in "Break Out", are those the opening fanfares from the Main Title?

One area I think JP deserves a lot of credit is for smartly re-using OT music. I like how deep he reached into ANH material, the humorous in-universe version of the Imperial March, and the elongated statements of the Rebel Fanfare/Falcon Theme. Fun stuff.
 
And I'm really glad JP didn't touch the Force theme even once. 

Having listened to the OST twice through now, this is easily the most successful JW score follow up by a different composer that I can recall. There are very few pastiche moments and Powell integrates JW's music very well with his own style. I'm not sure he succeeds 100% in his attempt to create the same kind of "flow" JW has in his music, but it's pretty close. 

That's a fascinating insight into Williams' mindset, really. That he was more interested in a younger, contemporary composer not being slavish to the style of the original scores, but finding ways to integrate his thematic material using more contemporary techniques, makes perfect sense. Doubly so if you believe the rumours about his frustration with Giacchino's Rogue One, which ultimately comes across as a modern composer imitating the style of a classically-trained composer by imitating a classically-written Star Wars score, resulting in an amateurish pastiche. It clearly didn't work.
 
This score, on the other hand, fully retains Powell's voice as a composer, modernizes it with techniques Williams generally eschews, while rooting itself firmly within the Star Wars musical tapestry. He's achieved quite the feat, if I do say so myself.

"Train Heist" is magnificent. The second the action started to pick up in the theater, I knew this was going to be a nice action cue.

Okay, so anyone who's listened to the soundtrack will know I'm talking about "Reminiscence Therapy."
 
Starts with a Death Star motif, goes into a bit from "Imperial Cruiser Pursuit," then "Attacking a Star Destroyer," then later has "Tie Fighter Attack (Here They Come)," various bits of "The Asteroid Field," some of which he does some cool variations on, and that stuff that sounds like "The Battle of Crait," which admittedly is also in the title suite Williams composed.
 
I will say, on first impression of the soundtrack, Powell's best use of an existing theme is the main title when Solo sees the Falcon for the first time ("L3 & Millennium Falcon"), and in general I appreciate his use and interpretations of that theme and the Rebel fanfare, which is what I was hoping for from him in that regard (and little or no Force theme).
 
I really like Han's theme, and am still trying to get into the other stuff, but I like it too, and melodically find it fits very well into the existing Star Wars soundscape. 

I liked it very much. Williams theme for Han is good and Powell did a great job with the rest of the score. I hope Powell do more Star Wars scores. 

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.

Chewie's theme is a real ear-worm too.

Karol

i love how Powell really plays with his themes:
 
For example the chewie/Friendship theme* . It consists of 3/4 phrases
(* first i thought it was similar note to note with Terminator Salvation, but then i realized it is the first two phrases played in minor that makes it vaguely similar, but the original arrangement as a whole is quite different)
 
First heard in this track "Flying With Chewie" in its suspense mode, 00:07-00:24
 
In its solemn mode in this track at 2:16 - 2:40
 
 
And then to its danger mode in this track, at 4:07 - 4:22 ( i really love the "push" in its third phrase)
 
 
To its GLORY MODE (this is the true Powell!) in this track at 0:45 - 1:04
 
 
And then to its cheerful mode in this track at 2:54 - 3:13
 
 
My god! so much to analyze in this score!

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:
 
 
 

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.