DarthDementous

Indeed. A lot of people didn't "get" Rey's Theme at first. So it's certainly not a case of it being a Star Wars hype.
 
That's how it comes off to you! I'm not responsible for the way you interpret my comments. Especially since they weren't even directed at you.
 
This Cantu guy was far more dismissive of people here then my "ok" ever was.
 
And who the hell are you to tell me how to formulate my opinion anyway?
 

 
Rey's theme is anything but random. It is, first and foremost, a derivation of the Force theme. Now, it may not sound as "tight" or complete as other, more popular Williams themes, but I believe Williams is aiming at something bigger here. Rey is only just becoming aware of her nature. Only by the end of the film is the Force "awakened" in Rey, and this is beautifully referenced by Williams in the end credits, when Rey's theme is played alongside the Force theme. This is Williams explicitly stating, "Hey guys, Rey is actually strongly connected to the Force".
 
But before then, Rey's theme only subtly hints at this reference. And I agree that Rey's theme might come across as slightly hollow. One of the reasons for this is that the theme keeps returning to the tonic, but not always "on the beat". This is unlike the Force theme, which has a stronger sense of harmonic rhythm, whereas Rey's theme might come across as more confused.
 
But this is entirely appropriate for the film and the story, because, after all, Rey is a "lost character" herself when we first come across her. She's a strong character to be sure, but ultimately confused about her destiny. And hence Rey's theme, while it certainly sounds bold, does not have such a strong sense of direction as it could have, because there isn't much to be certain about. Rey's journey is only just beginning!
 
So, I don't think it's correct to dismiss Rey's theme because it isn't hummable or memorable. I believe that Williams knows what he's doing, and that he's trying to paint a larger, more profound narrative with his music, more so than he has done in the past. And I think this is one of the reasons why this soundtrack has been such a "grower" for so many people. It is not the kind of soundtrack that hits you in the face with memorable, hummable tunes, but (speaking for myself) it left me feeling inquisitive after first listening. And I like the fact that Williams seems to be going down this more operatic route because, after all, Star Wars is the sort of franchise which lends itself to this operatic treatment very well (even though it is just a kids' movie...)

It's chock full of gorgeous little things.
 
Like the melody that opens this: 
 
Or River's backwards motifs and diverse unreleased variations, which slowly becomes a new melody.
 
I think I'm most aware of the narrative flow of the music in the Matt Smith years, due to the more detailed releases.
 
Gold is extremely good at emotional manipulation and writing lines that grow and grow.

oh wow, how did I forget this track - it's absolutely beautiful! this plays during Hell Bent when the Doctor reveals how long he spent in the Confession Dial:
it has the aesthetic of the music in Heaven Sent and maybe a bit of Doomsday in there, very beautiful subtle piece of music.

 
The songs usually are highlights, and The Rings of Akhaten made particular good use of them. It was hardly one of the best episodes, but it drew some of the show's most powerful moments from the combination of storytelling and music/song.
 
 
And it has one of my favourite action cues:
 
 

 
Martha and Clara for me:
 
 
 
 
Certainly, though Tenant also had a pretty good theme already. I've grown to like Capaldi's, but it's more simple, Media Ventures styled and certainly not as interesting or exciting as the two earlier incarnations. (Capaldi's Doctor also has the by far best looking title sequence, but an annoyingly overproduced and un-swashbuckling rendition of the theme).
 
Speaking of swashbuckling, one of my favourite set pieces is this one:
 
Sounds more piratey than the actual pirate episode that came later.
 
 

Yes, JWFan has now reached the point where we find all the classic iconic themes completely unsuitable for their respective characters and situations.

In casual order:
 
- Rey's introduction (especially the piano and celesta figuration when she slides down the dunes)
- Rey's theme on flute when she prepares dinner and eats outside the remnants of the Imperial Walker.
- The Rebel fanfare when we see the Falcon, and the flute repeating figure when the Falcon jumps into hyperspace
- The Starkiller lament (probably the most inspired film/music combination of the entire film, imho)
- The Resistance fleet arriving at the castle
- The tragic reading of Rey's theme when Kylo Ren carries her on his ship
- The timpani roll that precedes the Falcon jumping out of the forest trees on the frozen planet
- The Starkiller explosion, accompanied by one of the most jubilant variations on the Force theme Williams ever did (the whole "Journey Home/Farewell and the Trip" is probably my own single favorite sequence of music of the new film)
- Rey climbing the Jedi steps and finding Luke

Damn. If I had known that I would've gotten physical (then again I didn't even know the difference back then) but I guess I was just too impatient.

Williams is just lazy copying all the greats of the past. Every time I hear the first note in one of his pieces, I can't stand listening to any more because I recognise that note from somewhere else. Every single instrument and note Williams writes has been used before. But he just reorganises the instruments and notes in a different order, thinking we wont notice. It disgusts me. 

 
You are seriously becoming a candidate for the ignore feature

 
I agree that those more sweeping arrangements are wonderful, but I really like how the scoring for duel hints more at Rey's power and perhaps at the temptation of the dark side. I don't know whether my interpretation is correct, but between the music, the editing, and Daisy Ridley's acting, it seemed to me that Rey's power was being fueled in part by anger and vengeful thoughts. As we've seen, an untrained youth with strong Force powers can be tempted quite a bit by the dark side. And Williams' approach with the duel does a perfect job of subtly underlining that danger, even as she's besting the villain.

@DarthDementous,
 
1. It's great that you've realized that iTunes and other online digital retailers sell compressed files, and that lossless is better.  Good for you, welcome to a whole new world!
 
2. If you want to own lossless music instead of lossy, most of us would recommend buying the physical CDs that music comes out on.  If not, there are actually online retailers that do sell lossless music instead of lossy - check out http://www.hdtracks.com/, http://www.ponomusic.com/, http://qobuz.com/, http://7digital.com/, etc etc.
 
3. If you want to illegally download music instead of paying for it, that is your prerogative, but DO NOT TALK ABOUT THAT ON JWFAN!!!!  It's really very simple.  If you want to talk about some music you've heard, talk about the music.  Don't mention that you illegally downloaded it from a torrent site!  Come on now!
 
4. If you have any specific questions about lossy vs lossless stuff, file formats, etc, then start a thread in Other Topics.  This thread is done.

I'm not really a big fan of that one to be honest.  Especially not in its wholesale regurgited form in the latter 2 prequels.

Well your loss. I prefer it to the Prequel scores. Mainly because it's a lot more emotional, and a more cohesive score. Also finally theme new character them,es actually fir the people they are written for, which wasn't always the case with the Prequels (I like General Grievous's theme, but it has nothing to do with that stoopid character. Same for Anakin's...)
 
And while I've warmed to what John Williams was trying to do for ROTS, I still don't get nearly the amount of emotion from it that others seem to. Very effective music, but also quite hollow. More patina then content.
 
I've struggled with most of JW's scores in the last decade. I wanted to love ROTS but didnt. really wanted to love KOCS but can't. Tintin is very good but missing something, as was War Horse.
 
Whatever those scores don't have, TFA does!
 
 

 
*cough* two movies still to go *cough*

 
Yeah, you bring up one of my favourite points about Luke's theme, it seems the OT has never been deconstructed here the way TFA has with regards to connections between themes and motifs and how they may be derived from each other, etc.
 
Maybe it hardly registers consciously but by sharing such identifiable and intervallic characteristics, having the A section of the Rebel Fanfare derived from the cadence you mentioned in Luke's theme is so key in helping to glue those two ideas together .....even though at the beginning of the movie Luke's heroic dreams feel so out of reach for him..
He fantasizes about them but more than likely believes that there is no hope of ever leaving the farm. Destiny has other plans.
The melody which plays over that cadence is one of variations of the fate/destiny motif (dies irae), like the almost apocalyptic rendition during Burning Homestead, so most of Luke's journey is written into his musical DNA, by superimposing the fate motif over the rebel fanfare we have part of Luke's theme, it's incredible and it's almost impossible for those ideas not to have a feeling of inevitability while working together throughout the whole score's musical journey ....and Luke's!
 
There are Force Theme connections too but that's another story.
 

 
https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/99f7741cb59c958bd826037aee8a1b78a32e182d
 
 

Star Wars was considered epic at the time but Williams gave us a different epic (and apparently now modern epic) with TPM.  I'm glad Williams given us a new, different yet familiar Star Wars sound for TFA without relying on loud and in your face music.

That is certainly possible.
 
iTunes sells AAC's which are compressed in such a way that the sound quality is affected. That isn't the case with FLAC. 
 
 

That is a matter for the Admins and Mods to decide.  I would hope that anyone planning on even hinting as to such a posting would PM the powers that be for pre-blessing.
 
Its a murky point.  While the material is readily available for free, it is at a lower quality.  And that difference in quality is what may lean the big kahunas to decide against such posting.

Wait... Does that mean DarthDementious was only listening to lossy files all his life until... today?

Examples like that are usually designed to work on a sub-conscious level. Through analysis we can appreciate this but its meant to subtly inform the emotion of the moment as its being watched.

So many! Here's just a few moments that make my heart flutter.
 
(FYC because they're film versions)
- Kylo Ren's introduction, from his shuttle landing to him getting off ("Attack on the Jakku Village Part 1" 4:28-5:03). Anyone who says there's no awesome epic music or moments, look no further.
- When Rey reveals her face and tries to drink water, then slides down, then drives away, then eats, then hangs out by the AT-AT. Basically, the entirety of "The Scavenger" and "Lunchtime."
- Every statement of Poe Dameron's theme. 1:52 on "I Can Fly Anything" when Finn knocks out the turret and they both cheer - a totally fun and classic Star Wars scene. 1:06 on "The Resistance" when Poe's X-Wing flies around taking out baddies showing he's "one hell of a pilot." 0:35 on "The Journey Home" when Starkiller blows and our heroes fly away.
- The entirety of "Follow Me and the Falcon" is just a killer combo of film + music. One small moment I dig is 5:50 when it cuts to the Tie pilot, just a classic bad guy thing. The end is perfect as are all the Rebel fanfare statements.
- Luke's theme when Han and Chewie show up gives me big goosebumps (I think you can hear it on "The Rathtars!" OST at 0:50)
- I'm not in love with "The Rathtars" as a scene or as a cue but I really like the horn bit at 0:31 as Rey and Finn run down the corridor.
- The Force theme when Han talks about, uh, the Force (unreleased, unfortunately). 
- The short motif in "Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle" 0:24 when we see that beautiful shot of the Ties against the sun, Apocalypse Now style. Reminds me of the Death Star motif in the best way.
- When the camera swings to stormtroopers being shot down to the rhythm of "The Resistance" at 0:48.
- The beginning of "The Abduction" on OST with the bad ass rendition of Kylo's secondary theme as he lurches towards Rey, blocking her shots. Also the sweeping, tragic rendition of Rey's theme at the end of "The Abduction" when Finn chases after Kylo's shuttle.
- Pretty much all of "Torn Apart" but I especially love at 1:33 as it shifts from sinister to sad as Han puts his hand on Ben's face and falls away and then at 2:04 when it shifts from sad to angry as Chewie flips shit.
- "Burning Homestead" when Rey gets the lightsaber. Yeah, it's tracked, but nowhere else does the film give me chills this big.
- The Scherzo bit at the start of "Ways of the Force" as the X-Wings start their trench run, and the big statement of the Force theme at 3:20 as Rey harnesses her potential.
- "The Journey Home" at 1:51 when Rey hugs Leia and we hear Han and Leia's theme for the last time and I cry my eyes out.
- The entirety of "Farewell and the Trip."
- The entirety of "The Jedi Steps."
- A bunch of others. I could spend all day doing this.
 
Yeah, I really like this movie and score.

I really like the moment in Torn Apart before the death and also the angry trumpets when Chewie gets pissed off right after the strings. Also the great muted trumpet moment in The Rahtars! 2.20-ish.
 

-The short fanfare from "The Bombing Run" as the x-wings begin their assault on the Death Star