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John Powell's SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018) - Deluxe Edition 2020 / Intrada 2-CD edition October 31, 2023


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When it comes to Powell, The Bourne Supremacy was my first love. I've played Sonic's deluxe editions of that one and Ultimatum to death. I absolutely love those scores. I feel the same way about Kung Fu Panda, Dragons, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Solo and Paycheck (which I only discovered thanks to the Deluxe Edition!).

 

Given that selection, I guess I gravitate more towards Powell's action writing than anything and as such, there are several scores/albums of his that I rarely play in their entirety, even if they contain cues that I absolutely love. I'm not overly familiar with The Call of the Wild for instance, but "Buck Takes the Lead" almost immediately became one of my favorite cues of all time.

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I liked his Bourne material at one point but now it's limited to just a handful of cues such as Tangiers.

 

Which is odd, because if you looked at my recent listening habits, it's full of electronic-based, textural music. For some reason Powell's more modern style doesn't really do it for me. I think that back in my soundtrack infancy I had full albums because I liked the films at the time, but eventually I realised I never listened to the scores.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

It's nothing new, but HZ.com has updated the Solo page to properly list all the Williams credits (from both the cues he wrote and where his material is used).

 

Did the repertoire titles come from BMI, GEMA, or ASCAP? Someone has been telling me the ones on the site are partially fake, yet they effectively fully match what's on Jay's spreadsheet. The only thing that stands out is Jungle Cantina Source [7m46s] not being there, but the DE titles are too different for me to really compare it to that.

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My favourite statement is towards the grander emotional statement towards Parting Ways starting with a solo horn. Gorgeous John Williams goodness.

 

Karol

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4 minutes ago, Jay said:

What is everyone's favorite statement of the main Han theme in the score?

 

 

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

Unrelated to the question, but in that track, the back and forth between the brass and percussion from 2:07-2:24 is just so damn cool!

 

Indeed! I made a post about that moment here:

 

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@Jay, you took my answer! And good for both of us.

 

I just remember hearing The Adventures of Han and thinking "I mean... It's a nice little tune. I'm not sure it's HAN SOLO. But oh, well, right?"

 

Then Powell takes it and knocks it out of the park.

 

@Loert that's a good one too! It's a little bit too much Dragons, but what can you do? I'm sure people thought Superman was too much Star Wars. They probably weren't wrong and it really didn't matter because it's awesome!

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On 25/09/2022 at 11:06 PM, enderdrag64 said:

I was just relistening to this score while doing some work today - anyone else think that the Enfys theme sounds like the Farscape intro? Something about the alien sounding female choir just rings a similar bell to me

 

I have always thought a lot of the vocal stuff in the score sounds Farscape-esque. But which Farscape intro theme do you have in mind?

 

SubVision (seasons 1 & 2):

 

Guy Gross (seasons 3 & 4):

 

Yavar

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6 hours ago, Jay said:

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but some things are worth discussing multiple times!

 

What is everyone's favorite statement of the main Han theme in the score?

 

Right now, I'm really digging the one from 0:24-1:09 of Corellia Chase!  The little trumpet (?) blasts and racing strings throughout the theme presentation make it fun, and I love how it contains a long-lined statement of the A theme as well as the B theme, and the way it segues from the A into the B is so natural and nice

 

 

 

It's just such a good "Act 1" presentation of the main theme.  Great stuff.

 

 

Unrelated to the question, but in that track, the back and forth between the brass and percussion from 2:07-2:24 is just so damn cool!

 

Agreed on all points! And yes, those are trumpets.

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This statement at about 1:29 caught my ear when I first listened to the deluxe release. The rhythmic build-up is very similar to "Chewie Untamed" (or "Flying with Chewie"), using the B theme rhythm to build up into an A theme explosion. I love the trumpet embellishments in between the main A phrases, and the brass writing is excellent all around. The little sleigh bells add some extra drive and give it an overall celebratory feeling (dare I say a little Christmas-y?). 

 

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On 13/10/2022 at 5:26 PM, Yavar Moradi said:

 

I have always thought a lot of the vocal stuff in the score sounds Farscape-esque. But which Farscape intro theme do you have in mind?

 

SubVision (seasons 1 & 2):

 

Guy Gross (seasons 3 & 4):

 

Yavar

I'm not sure. When I listen to them back to back with Solo they don't sound all that similar. Perhaps it's a cue from the show I'm thinking of

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On 13/10/2022 at 11:26 PM, Yavar Moradi said:

 

I have always thought a lot of the vocal stuff in the score sounds Farscape-esque. But which Farscape intro theme do you have in mind?

 

SubVision (seasons 1 & 2):

 

Guy Gross (seasons 3 & 4):

 

Yavar

I mean, Powell uses a Bulgarian female choir and that way of singing is quite specific to that musical culture.

 

I love these choirs. If you have the chance to visit a concert, do. It's marvellous.

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  • 4 months later...
1 minute ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Well how about that. Good thing I never picked up the digital release after all…


Hahah me too.  
 

This is a big deal, and as petty as this sounds, I hope the packaging and booklet is a step up. Maybe a slipcover like Dracula. 

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This would have been an easy buy if it had been released simultaneously with the digital version. Now, having already purchased that, it'll come down to the presence of absence of additional material for me. I'd be willing to double-dip for the unreleased JW demo cues. Probably not for anything else.

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3 minutes ago, Jay said:

You haven't noticed how many people on this forum enjoy having a physical collection of film music? 

And it feels good to own a physical copy of a great expansion from a great score!

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Having just purchased the digital release on iTunes this news is quite comical for me, however I will most definitely be picking this up regardless of whether it features more music than the digital release.

 

As mentioned above, hopefully this bodes well for other SW expansions from Intrada - as long as they don't handle the mastering.

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23 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

Having just purchased the digital release on iTunes this news is quite comical for me

 

Since you bought compressed files instead of lossless ones, the music on the CD edition will have more data than your files.

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1 hour ago, JTWfan77 said:

 As mentioned above, hopefully this bodes well for other SW expansions from Intrada - as long as they don't handle the mastering.

Only Matessino is allowed to come near John Williams expansions from any label so we're good.

 

Karol 

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Ya'll think the disc break will be in between "Extra Deluxe Mine Mission" and "Kessel Run in Less Than 12 Parsecs " ?

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Hadn't... thought of it. Is that about how it times out?

 

I don't think I bought any of the Sequel movies on disc. So this will be the first Star Wars CD I'll have bought since 2005!

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7 minutes ago, enderdrag64 said:

my first specialty label purchase

 

You like Powell's Solo score but not his How to Train Your Dragon scores?

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