To my knowlege, this is the first film music review on the forums, unless you count Orb's review of Director's Cut by the Fantomas.
John Williams is a legendary film composer, having done such movies as Star Wars, ET, Jurrasic Park, Jaws, Close Encounters and Schindler's List. John Williams has worked with, probably the two biggest directors in Hollywood, George Lucas and Steven Speilberg. John Williams is one of the biggest names in film compostion, right up there with guys like Jerry Goldsmith, Danny Elfman and Howard Shore.
This album is a compilation of music from Star Wars, Episodes IV-VI. The score is played by The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra.
Star Wars (Main Theme)- This song is the main theme that you hear when the trademark yellow Star Wars. The song is very exciting and attention grabbing, which makes it ideal for an album opener. The song has some great sectional parts and a really great melody. 5/5
Princess Leia- At first this song is great, and really gets that romantic feel. But towards the end it gets a bit boring, especially if you haven't heard very much film music and you aren't really used to it. The start is just a really great piece of music though. 3.5/5
The Little People- I'm not sure what scenes this music comes from...my guess would be the Jawas. Honestly, this track is one of the lower points on the album and gets very boring, very quickly. Probably the worst song on the album, not that it's atrocious or anything. 2.5/5
The Imperial March- One of the best songs on the album, extremely catchy, everyone knows this song. The melody is great too, but the high point, IMO is the percussion. Just listen to it next time you hear the song, because it's just superb, one of the highest points of film music ever.
It's really that good. 5/5
Yoda's Theme- This is "full on Jedi music". This is the theme that you usually hear when Luke does some corageous Jedi power move. It's a really great tune and it has some amazing power to it. Definitely one of the best songs on the album. 5/5
Parade of the Ewoks- This track has a real majestic feel to it, it's great, kinda reminiscent of fireworks music...well, to me anyway. This is a great song with some really good parts to it. 4/5
The Asteriod Field- The legendary scene with the Milennium Falcon navigating it's way through an asteroid field. This is great track which never gets boring. It has some really great bits that jump out at you, and the strings in it are just awesome. 5/5
Luke and Leia- Great song, it has a romantic feel, while also having a struggling feel to it as well. The strings in it are just gorgeous, and have a very lush sound. A really great song. 4/5
The Cantina Band- This song is great, it has a very different sound to the rest of the cd. It's really great, a good melody line, with some very good work from clarinets and the brass section.
Also, some great percussion in this song, sounds very different to some of other percussion on the album. 5/5
Here They Come!- An exciting piece of music, you can easily picture the ships flying towards the Death Star. This song will keep you entertained the whole way thorugh, and it's really just a lot of fun. Good stuff. 4/5
Jabba The Hut- A fairly solid song that has some melodies from the Tuba. It does get a bit boring after a few listens though. It's actually a fairly jazzy piece. 3/5
The Forest Battle- A really good fight scene track, you can almost see the movie going along with it. Totally great music. Really exciting and some very, very awesome sweeps from the strings section. Not bad percussion either. 4/5
Throne Room and Finale- This is the scene when Luke and Han get their medals at the end of Episode IV. This is a very excellent finale and has a some very nice sounding strings, violins especially. The song goes for 7:57, and is great for every second of that. The song then transitions into the music for the credits. This song is just awesome. Some great snare work and melodies. Some really nice echo stuff happening here too. Tied for best song on the album, with the Imperial March. 5/5
This album is just a true example of awesome film music. It is all well written, and has few low points. I give the album a 4/5 because it is so great. The only thing stopping it from a 5 is the few boring parts of the album.
Final Rating: 4/5
