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

[Dr. Rick 1,387]

Got mine as a birthday gift from my mother haven’t opened it yet but plan to after thanksgiving weekend 

[Brando 2,796]

Happy birthday!

[Davis 3,957]

On 12/11/2023 at 1:05 AM, Jay said:

Makes no difference to me.

Well it DOES to the person who wrote the cue without getting credit for it. 

8 hours ago, Dr. Rick said:

Got mine as a birthday gift from my mother haven’t opened it yet but plan to after thanksgiving weekend 

Happy Birthday!

[Smaug The Iron 783]

Its here!

 

[Jay 46,239]

I haven't had time to open up my physical copy yet, but I really like the slipcover!  It was a great idea, and I liked how it had the character posters on the back.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,696]

Finally received my copy. It's so great to play it, it's one of the best sounding expansion ever.

I really like the slipcase but not that much the deluxe banner on the booklet

[rough cut 1,786]

[GerateWohl 6,492]

Listened to disk one yesterday and disk two today. This is really a great listen as an album. This score is so diverse. And at disk two I realized how well Powell integrates Williams' original themes. 

Great musical work. My favourite Powell score. 

[ThePenitentMan1 1,521]

Well, I placed my Solo order at Intrada a month ago; still no sign of it even preparing to be fulfilled.

[Tallguy 7,364]

It's on it's way. It got a little sidetracked.

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

9 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

It's on it's way. It got a little sidetracked.

Don't cancel the order, you'll be throwing away a fortune DON'T BE A FOOL!

[ThePenitentMan1 1,521]

On 18/02/2024 at 2:59 PM, ThePenitentMan1 said:

Well, I placed my Solo order at Intrada a month ago; still no sign of it even preparing to be fulfilled.

 

A few days after I posted this, I got my shipment email from Intrada!

 

Funny how this sort of thing usually works itself out as soon as it's posted here...

[Tallguy 7,364]

57 minutes ago, ThePenitentMan1 said:

 

A few days after I posted this, I got my shipment email from Intrada!

 

Funny how this sort of thing usually works itself out as soon as it's posted here...

 

What are the odds?

[ThePenitentMan1 1,521]

8 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

What are the odds?

 

Don't tell me.  Never tell me.

[ThePenitentMan1 1,521]

Solo is here!

 

 

[Tallguy 7,364]

Excellent. You'll be flying in no time. 

[Demodex 593]

Didn't that come out in 2020?

[ThePenitentMan1 1,521]

1 minute ago, Demodex said:

Didn't that come out in 2020?

 

I didn't buy it in 2020.

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

20 minutes ago, Demodex said:

Didn't that come out in 2020?

Not on CD.

[Holko 12,057]

Well this score is still amazingly fun. I bit the bullet and got the Intrada. The interview is very nice, full of interesting insights, fun bits and bobs, and JW fanboying. Aaaaaand for once I can say that I actually like how this set looks. The key colours are nailed down and carried through, the pictures are good quality and integrated well, even fittingly (a picture of Qui'ra on the page where the love theme is discussed etc), the design is simple but with a sleek pleasing style that fits into the design language of the marketing. The formulaic "text on black background" discs might be the lowest point.

 

One qualm is that the 3 alternate OST versions (or even more) are still not included. In my edit I switched Chicken in the Pot to the OST version, combined Gonna Be a Pilot with Mimban Battle, combined the two versions in Maul's Call / Parting Ways, and combined Sabacc Rematch / To Tatooine with the credits.

[ThePenitentMan1 1,521]

Gosh, I still haven't made an edit for this score yet...

[Jay 46,239]

A clean ending to "5M33A Kessel Run Pt. 2 - Monster" (aka the cue from 0:00-3:46 of OST track "Into The Maw" // the cue from 6:09-9:56 of Deluxe Edition track "Kessel Run In Less Than 12 Parsecs") is available on Batu Sener's page on Kraft Engel's website

 

https://kraft-engel.com/clients/batu-sener/

 

https://kraft-engel.com/wp-content/uploads/cue_playlist/sener-2025-09/26-Into-the-Maw-Solo-A-Star-Wars-Story.mp3

[mrbellamy 8,229]

Was it ever quite determined for sure which parts of the score, if any, are things they left in from Williams's "demos" or whatever they were? 

[Jay 46,239]

Powell told us six years ago

 

On 19/11/2020 at 11:38 AM, Anthony said:

 

 

That post has a typo that he later corrected:

 

On 04/12/2020 at 4:51 PM, Jay said:

 

 

 

There was debate on page 77 of this thread whether or not Powell made a second typo.  Some think he meant to type 7M48 instead of 7M45.  

 

My google doc assumes Powell's post is correct (IE, that Williams did 7M45 and not 7M48)

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Fcd5KxqAJO0dgQ8y1sHfd0o9eCeTSF7sbNFWORc805o/edit?gid=352048365

[mrbellamy 8,229]

Thanks, okay so the bits and portions are educated guesses? 

 

Where was the Parting Ways / To Tatooine mixup confirmed? 

 

Also seemed to remember speculation about the Han's theme statement in Walk to Dryden's, but that one must be Powell?

[CGCJ 581]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

A clean ending to "5M33A Kessel Run Pt. 2 - Monster" (aka the cue from 0:00-3:46 of OST track "Into The Maw" // the cue from 6:09-9:56 of Deluxe Edition track "Kessel Run In Less Than 12 Parsecs") is available on Batu Sener's page on Kraft Engel's website:

 

I've had an identical file since October 2019 which seems to have been from his website.

 

Also, the unused 4m26 ALT Ending which he briefly had on SoundCloud in April 2019 which I posted about here:

On 17/04/2019 at 2:57 AM, CGCJ said:

Unused alternate ending of 4m26 from Solo!
'Gang' tune by John Powell. Arranged and orchestrated by Batu Sener.

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

Unfortunate that the second is a mockup.

[Jay 46,239]

46 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

Thanks, okay so the bits and portions are educated guesses? 

 

I don't understand what you're asking here.  Those screenshots are from John Powell's Instagram.  "Bits" and "Portions" are his wording choices, not mine.

 

46 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

Where was the Parting Ways / To Tatooine mixup confirmed? 

 

There's no confirmation either way.  Some people just think Williams must have written 7M48.  If he did, Powell either forgot to include it (meaning Williams did both 7M45 and 7M48), or that he made a typo (meaning Powell typed 7M45 when he meant to type 7M48).

 

We just don't know.

 

Here's the relevant music if you want to listen for yourself:

 

7M45 "Parting Ways" is 3:39-end of "Maul's Call / Parting Ways"

 

 

7M48 "To Tatooine" is 1:10-end of "Sabacc Rematch / To Tatooine"

 

 

 

 

46 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

Also seemed to remember speculation about the Han's theme statement in Walk to Dryden's, but that one must be Powell?

 

Unless Powell forgot to mention it in his Instagram, I guess so!

[Rachael Foley 10,162]

Hmm, you might need to listen to more Williams.  

 

That bit sounds Williamsy enough to me, shades of TPM, Tintin etc.

[Jay 46,239]

Yeah, I dunno.  I guess I don't have a strong opinion either way.  Cleaned up my posts above with better information.

 

 

BTW, on Youtube, each Deluxe Edition track has a bevy of credits you can look at, and it confirms that 1M8 was entirely composed by Williams for example:

 

Producer: John Powell
Recordingarranger, Producer: Batu Sener
Engineer: Nick Wollage
Engineer: Jake Jackson
Recording Engineer, Mixing Engineer: Shawn Murphy
Recording Second Engineer: Gordon Davidson
Mixing Engineer: John Traunwieser
Recordingarranger: Paul Mounsey
Recordingarranger: Anthony Willis
Conductor: Gavin Greenaway
Digital Editing Engineer: David Channing
Digital Editing Engineer: Ramiro Belgardt
Digital Editing Engineer: Jack Dolman
Digital Editing Engineer: Ryan Rubin
Digital Editing Engineer: Nate Underkuffler
Band Leader: Emlyn Singleton
Vocalist: Baraka May
Composer: John Williams

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDvBrdgehVU

 

But this can't really be used to help with anything else, because both 7M45 and 7M48 are inside tracks that contain other cues with them, so they simply list both Powell and Williams as composer - which is the same thing it does for tracks that Powell wrote that incorporated an existing JW theme.

[mrbellamy 8,229]

30 minutes ago, Jay said:

I don't understand what you're asking here.  Those screenshots are from John Powell's Instagram.  "Bits" and "Portions" are his wording choices, not mine.

 

I meant that since he only mentioned "bits and portions" of those cues without specifics and nothing's been confirmed further, we can only make educated guesses about which parts of those cues are JW. 

[Jay 46,239]

Ah, yes, that's right.

 

For 1M1 (Meet Han), obviously 0:00-0:37 is Powell's Secrets theme, so couldn't have come from Wiliams demos.  So then either the entirety of 0:37-end of that track is WIllams' demo, or some of it is with some parts changed by Powell (which seems to be the case considering the presence of Powell Percussion!)

[mrbellamy 8,229]

Looking at the sheet scores more closely, and yeah, there are some clues in there too

 

"To Tatooine" is marked with a little JW box starting at measure 38, which yeah, 1:17 of that track. 

 

"Parting Ways" isn't credited to him, it says John Powell with orchestration by Gregory Jamrok. At the same time, though, neither is "Gonna Be a Pilot" which has John Powell's name, but orchestration credited to Mark Graham so maybe that's an indication if Powell says that's JW. Not seeing any JW markers in 1m1 (edit: never mind, in all the 1m1 v2d sheets and inserts, there's a note that says "Horns Bars 54-65: IN JW SCORE, NOT IN SKETCH", and in 1m1 v2f, those bars are 54-56, possibly a typo. But I think definitely the big Han's theme stuff is derived from his work and they revised it).

 

The "Walk to Dryden's" has a note from orchestrator John Ashton Thomas for "celli in JW's lower octave" between measures 13-21, the Han's theme statement. So I suppose that's either a Williams-esque orchestration choice or it's referencing his composition.

 

"Family Stories" has no JW credit, it says John Powell with orchestration by Randy Kerber, so idk? Maybe like Mark Graham, they trusted JW's stuff with JW's guys.

 

Measures 159-200 of 5m32 v2b are credited to John Williams, which is 3:49-4:40 of "Kessel Run in Less Than 12 Parsecs". That would include 4:05-4:12 which is something I've wondered about. 

 

So, pretty interesting but maybe too inconsistent to be entirely conclusive

[Jay 46,239]

16 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

"Gonna Be a Pilot" which has John Powell's name, but orchestration credited to Mark Graham so maybe that's an indication if Powell says that's JW.

 

It's not just Powell saying it but also the YouTube credits, so that one I'd say is fully confirmed.

 

It is strange that the sheet music says otherwise though.

[Smaug The Iron 783]

18 minutes ago, Jay said:

It's not just Powell saying it but also the YouTube credits, so that one I'd say is fully confirmed.

Williams has solo credit (pun intended) for that track in the liner notes as well. 

[Stéphane Humez 1,178]

37 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

It's not just Powell saying it but also the YouTube credits, so that one I'd say is fully confirmed.

 

It is strange that the sheet music says otherwise though.

It's not unusual to have the main composer always credited in the music sheets. It's just the template... In HZ's scores the additional will rather have their initials (Lorne here) at the end of the cues they worked on...

[Edmilson 12,373]

2 hours ago, Stéphane Humez said:

It's not unusual to have the main composer always credited in the music sheets. It's just the template... In HZ's scores the additional will rather have their initials (Lorne here) at the end of the cues they worked on...

What does "Magnus Rex" means in this case? Is it like a production name for the movie?

[Stéphane Humez 1,178]

5 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

What does "Magnus Rex" means in this case? Is it like a production name for the movie?

 

Yep !

Like The Dark Knight was Rory's First Kiss.

Rory & Magnus are names of Nolan's children in this case.

[crocodile 9,724]

Interesting. Did Batman Begins also have a codename?

 

Karol

[Stéphane Humez 1,178]

1 hour ago, crocodile said:

Interesting. Did Batman Begins also have a codename?

 

Karol

 

The Intimidation Game apparently.

 

Man Of Steel was Autumn Frost.

[crocodile 9,724]

5 minutes ago, Stéphane Humez said:

 

The Intimidation Game apparently.

 

Man Of Steel was Autumn Frost.

Ah yes, of course. Forgot about that. It was reported back in the day as Batman: Intimidation Game in early reports.

 

Karol