Music From The Star Wars Saga by Robert Ziegler & the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra

[Marian Schedenig 8,178]

I wouldn't mind Williams doing a new non-film recording of the Main Title. I think his live performances in recent years have been the best I've ever heard from him.

[lairdo 726]

I think the album is fine, and the price for the CD is extremely reasonable - really very inexpensive for prices these days and full to the brim. This would be a nice gift for a new JW fan, for example.

I think HSATP is very good on the album. I too have the live recordings from 2018, and this has the benefit of being studio recorded. I am fine with the pacing of it. Lots of reverb on the low string plucking which gives them a fairly heavenly/distant sound to my ear contrasting with the very present higher violins and violas. I like the transition at 2:59 which could have been taken slower by some, but felt like a good change in momentum before the big push with most of the orchestra swelling in at 3:25.

 

Once we get TROS, and assuming it has 1 or 2 suite pieces, I do like the idea of creating a best of SW suites playlists.

 

 

[King Mark 3,626]

Bought this in a store for 12$. cheaper than amazon right now

[Pellaeon 593]

On 12/6/2019 at 6:29 PM, Falstaft (hiatus til TROS) said:

A cursory listen indicates these are the debut rerecordings of not only the new Han Solo & the Princess arrangement, but Ahch-To Island and The Battle of Crait from TLJ.

 

Just a lazy/insolent/pedantic question—isn’t “Ahch-To Island” an album assembly of, like, 5 different cues? Wouldn’t this be the first recording of it per se?

[mstrox 6,647]

Listened to this a few times this week - I think it's fine, not my favorite Star Wars album, but worth listening to.  I'm very happy to have a studio recording of the new Solo/Princess.  It's a little weird ending with The Battle of Crait, which isn't much of an ending at all.  Shoulda shuffled Throne Room/Finale to the end, or waited for TROS which had a concert arrangement which wraps everything up very neatly.

[Jay 37,322]

They probably did an analysis and determined they sell more if it came out just before TROS instead of months after

[mstrox 6,647]

Yeah, from a business standpoint it makes a lot more sense to time it to coincide with a movie release.  But musically, Battle of Crait might be the worst track on the album to "end" it - it just kind of tapers off a bit.  Wish they hadn't been slavish to the chronological approach.

[Jay 37,322]

Indeed

[Jay 37,322]

I listened to my physical copy of this album this week.  I had heard the whole album digitally a few times, but this was my first time opening up the physical edition.

 

My thoughts on the album is, that it is a mixed bag.  Opening with the same old main/end title combo again, ok fine, what else can you do.  And then Duel of the Fates was cool because even though I've never heard a recording that matches the awesomeness of the LSO original, I always end up liking any re-recordings I hear for being different, and generally being good.

 

And then I liked the programming of the next few tracks, Anakin's Theme -> Across The Stars -> Battle of The Heroes -> Princess Leia's theme..... because it was like paring down the prequel story to just Anakin's viewpoint, his theme as a child, his love theme, then his life-changing battle against good once he's turned evil.  And then Princess Leia's theme is like, oh yea, and here's what his offspring get up to.

Except that after Leia's theme, the Throne Room blasting in kind of spoiled that mood, and it was annoying to have to sit through the end credits again after they already played them in the first track!  I wish they hadn't recorded this track, or moved it to the end of the album; going into The Asteroid Field right after Leia's theme would probably work pretty well.

 

Then for an album that is supposed to cover 8 films/scores, it really includes too much TESB and ROTJ music, as great as those scores are, with Asteroid Field and Yoda's Theme and Imperial March and Hans Solo and the Princess and Parade of the Ewoks and Luke and Leia and The Forest Battle.  Sheesh!

 

Of course, getting a nice recording of Williams' new 2017 version of Han Solo and the Princess is wonderful.  I really enjoy the arrangement and this performance of it.  I will say though, that it absolutely doesn't fit when programmed in the middle of TESB/ROTJ music.  This arrangement is clearly a lament for the death of Carrie Fisher and sort of works in universe as Leia's lament for the death of Solo in TFA.  To me it makes more sense to program it in the middle of sequel trilogy selections, not in the middle of OT music

 

Rey's Theme sounds nice, but I didn't like this rendition of The Resistance March.  And then, since I was listening without looking at the tracklist and didn't remember what was on it, when the next track started I thought I was hearing The Jedi Steps too, until it changed and I realized/remembered that they re-recording the OST's cue-combining track "Ahch-To ISland" lol.  I love that Luke In Exile theme so it was nice to hear another orchestra's take on it.

 

The final track is so dumb, WHY did they re-record the OST's cue-combo track The Battle of Crait instead of simply ending the album with The Rebellion is Reborn?  It's such a silly choice, and they don't perform it well, and the way the track ends makes for a terrible end to an album.

 

So mostly I enjoy a few tracks from this album but not the album as a whole.

 

The physical edition comes with a very small booklet (just one tri-fold), but reveals the album was recorded across just 4 days in July 2019, and was recorded by Simon Rhodes

[GerateWohl 4,343]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

the Throne Room blasting in kind of spoiled that mood, and it was annoying to have to sit through the end credits again after they already played them in the first track! 

That issue is as old as the original Star Wars OST. I always think, as Williams actually reworked and extended "The Throne Room" he should have used the opportunity and write a different ending for this track and not flip into the end credits. These match better with the main title, when they are played in a concert, I think.

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

And then, since I was listening without looking at the tracklist and didn't remember what was on it, when the next track started I thought I was hearing The Jedi Steps too, until it changed and I realized/remembered that they re-recording the OST's cue-combining track "Ahch-To ISland" lol.  I love that Luke In Exile theme so it was nice to hear another orchestra's take on it.

 

The final track is so dumb, WHY did they re-record the OST's cue-combo track The Battle of Crait instead of simply ending the album with The Rebellion is Reborn?  It's such a silly choice, and they don't perform it well, and the way the track ends makes for a terrible end to an album.

Ahch-To Island probably would have had too much overlap with The Rebellion is Reborn (The Luke in Exile theme).

But you are right. Just "The Jedi Steps" from the TFA suite and "The Rebellion is Reborn" would have been a better ending to the album instead of these two tracks.

 

Still I like the album. There are really good versions of many tracks. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

I think it's nice they re-recorded tracks that aren't likely to get many re-recordings.

[Jay 37,322]

3 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

That issue is as old as the original Star Wars OST.

 

I think it's fine on the original OST album, because the two identical instances of the end title music are separated by 70 minutes of other music.

 

I've attending live concerts though, where both the main/end title combo and the throne room/end title combo were played, relatively close to each other, and that REALLY sucks.  And likewise, on an album like this, it's poor programming to have them close together.  If they had moved the Throne Room track to the end, it would be OK.

 

3 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

 

I always think, as Williams actually reworked and extended "The Throne Room" he should have used the opportunity and write a different ending for this track and not flip into the end credits. These match better with the main title, when they are played in a concert, I think.

 

Oddly the only release of The Throne Room concert arrangement that doesn't continue into the ANH end credits (that I know of at least) is the recording they tucked into final track on the ROTS OST

 

3 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

 

Ahch-To Island probably would have had too much overlap with The Rebellion is Reborn (The Luke in Exile theme).

But you are right. Just "The Jedi Steps" from the TFA suite and "The Rebellion is Reborn" would have been a better ending to the album instead of these two tracks.

 

Oh yes of course.  If they wanted to include The Rebellion Is Reborn, then they wouldn't have included Ahch-To Island, and instead would have made the TFA longer and included The Jedi Steps, or gone with I dunno, The Spark from TLJ I guess

 

3 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Still I like the album. There are really good versions of many tracks. 

 

Yea, there was probably more good than bad tracks on the album.  It just overall isn't a fun listen to me as it is from front to back.