Tonight at midnight, you can catch me LIVE on Robert Daniels’ radio program VISIONS IN SOUND. Tune in locally on your FM dial to CKWR 98.5, or even easier, just click “listen live” via their website! The show runs from midnight to 2 am (ET). Needless to say I’ll be fueling myself up on coffee.
The subject: STAR WARS! The soundtracks specifically. Last week, Rob covered the music from the prequel trilogy composed by John Williams. Tonight is the original classic trilogy, also composed by Williams, so you don’t want to miss this. And if you do, it should be available online for streaming later on. Rob and I have been excitedly discussing the upcoming film The Force Awakens (only a week away!) and I can’t think of a better way to get ready.
I hope you’re able to tune in and catch some incredible music. I’ve reviewed all the classic trilogy soundtracks already, and you know you’ll be in for a treat.
This is one of the coolest spots yet. A few weeks ago, Hasbro released a “riot control stormtrooper” figure featuring some kind of electro-baton. In this clip we get to see Finn facing off again this guy with the blue Anakin saber. Looks just awesome.
First of all, JJ lied! He said there were no more trailers coming. Well, here is a new one from Japan, with tons of new footage and plenty of Rey dialogue we haven’t heard before. Who are her parents? Find out December 18.
Force Friday came and went without a hitch (for me). It was only the unboxing videos that caused me problems!
I understand quite a few people came away disappointed. I did not. I was hunting for only one type of Star Wars toy: The Black Series 6″ figures, which readers here know I collect almost religiously. I’ve posted lots of pictures of the opened portion of my collection. They can be found here, here, here, and here. They are just awesome figures that we would have died to have back in the 70’s.
The first wave of 6″ figures from The Force Awakens consists of:
01 – Finn
02 – Rey & BB-8
03 – Kylo Ren
04 – First Order Stormtrooper
05 – Chewbacca
Going in with a game plan, I decided to skip Chewie. (Iron Maiden’s newest was also released on Force Friday, cutting into the budget.) A re-sculpt of an older figure I already have wasn’t a priority, and I don’t like his new face. I also aimed to get two each of Rey, Kylo and Stormie, because I wanted one of each of those to open and play with! (The next wave looks to include Captain Phasma and General Hux. We’re also expecting a Tattooine Luke, and a Kanan from Star Wars Rebels. Count me in for those. But where is Threepio?)
Unboxing #1: Kylo Ren
Unboxing #2: First Order Stormtrooper (technical difficulties!)
What is summer without a few trips to the cottage? This past weekend was beautiful and loaned itself to some photography and loads of music.
Below, you will find a video using a new track by Stealth, the duo made up of bass clarinetist Kathryn Ladano, and percussionist Richard Burrows. The music is “point i” from their debut album, called …listen. Thanks to Youtube, you no longer have to just “listen”!
“Point i” suited the jungle planet in the photos. I was just playing around with my Star Wars Black Series 6″ figures and I wanted to show off my new IG-88 and Chewbacca. I got carried away and what you see below is the result. It was a lot of fun, which I hope you can see in the adventure!
Thanks to Kathryn and Stealth for permission to use the music. Pick up ...listen by contacting the artists at kathrynladano.com, coming soon to iTunes and Amazon.
STAR WARS: Return of the Jedi – Special Edition original motion picture soundtrack (1997 RCA limited edition with holographic discs, original soundtrack released 1983)
The final soundtrack of the original trilogy received the most disappointing Special Edition soundtrack. The reissues for A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back essentially offered complete collections of all the music from those two films. The soundtrack for Return of the Jedi suffers the most from the Special Edition changes. New music replaces old well-loved tunes, which is rarely a good idea.
Instead of the classic music of “Lapti Nek” (Jabba’s palace scene) we now get “Jedi Rocks”. I need not tell you how unwelcome that song was, replacing “Lapti Nek”. All because Lucas didn’t like that the singing alien puppet’s lips didn’t move enough, so he decided to “fix” that by putting in a much more elaborate musical number to go with the new CG lips. Thanks, George. Thankfully “Lapti Nek” was included on the 4 CD Star Wars Anthology box set.
The other missing music is “Ewok Celebration”, which fans worldwide know as “Yub Nub”. This Ewok song was one of those miserable little teddy bears’ few redeeming qualities. “Ewok Celebration” is replaced by the bland new “Victory Celebration” which ends the film. Thankfully the original music is also on the Anthology box set. (I would like to get that.)
Yub Nub!
Return of the Jedi gets off to a slower start than the other soundtracks. Instead of a battle or vicious Wampa attack, Jedi opened with a couple droids wandering through the desert before finding gainful employment with Jabba the Hutt. I know, right? How could that not make for exciting music? It’s not until Luke Skywalker confronts Jabba (track 6) that things start to move. Until then, the music remains largely atmospheric and creepy. There are a few unforgettable musical cues, such as that which accompanies Han Solo’s thawing.
Because Jedi was the third movie in a trilogy, it revisits a lot of familiar themes. The music for “The Imperial March” is heard several times for example (such as within “The Emperor Arrives”), but there isn’t much in terms of new memorable themes. I suppose that is to be expected. The nature of the film, including the deaths of beloved characters and other upsetting revelations, lent themselves to a darker soundtrack. A lot of atmospheric pieces helped underscore the mood of these scenes. This is offset by child-like Ewok segments of brightness.
A nice touch is the inclusion of alternate versions. The exciting “Sail Barge Assault” is included in an alternate take. There is also a sweeping concert suite of “The Forest Battle” on disc two. “Lapti Nek” and “Yub Nub” would have been nice, but in 1997 George was really trying to bury the original versions of the films forever. I’ll just have to find an old record, or that Anthology box.
The original music, excised for the Special Edition, is what this CD misses most.
STAR WARS: The Empire Strikes Back – Special Edition original motion picture soundtrack (1997 RCA limited edition with holographic discs, original soundtrack released 1980)
Composed and conducted by John Williams
When I was 8 years old, this was my favourite album. It was my favourite album for a long time. I didn’t have a lot of albums when I was young, but The Empire Strikes Back was a clear favourite. It was only usurped by Styx’s Kilroy Was Here several years later.
Even when I was a child I had a sense that this one was something special. The Empire Strikes Back contains one of the best known Star Wars anthems ever: “The Imperial March”. Hard to imagine today, but that piece of music did not exist when the original Star Wars came out in 1977. The character of Darth Vader grew tremendously in the second film, and I think “The Imperial March” helped drive it home.
As far as I’m concerned, composer John Williams is a rock star. He makes instrumental concept albums. That is exactly the way that my rocker ears hear this music. I cannot express how true to me that is. For me, this album (in its original double LP format) was like The Wall, Tommy, or Quadrophenia. It has always been a rollicking journey to listen to, preferably loud. It has swells and drops, peaks and valleys. It has memorable “songs” that you can go back to over and over and over again.
The original soundtrack from 1980 was a massive two record set, but it was still only long enough to contain 75 minutes of the film’s music. This double CD has a whopping 124 minutes — the complete score. Even all these years later, revisiting the soundtrack, I can immediately tell when a piece of music wasn’t on the original record. “Ice Planet Hoth” was the first such moment. Other pieces such as “The Magic Tree” are very familiar because I played those records so many times! As a kid, I don’t think I even realized that the LPs didn’t have all the music.
Having the whole soundtrack, in order, on CD, is a real treat. It makes me want to take a dig through my parents’ basement and dig up my old Kenner Millenium Falcon. Or even better, get the bigger, badder, awesomer new one. That thing looks incredible…but I digress. My point is, it reignites that feeling I had as a kid. I’d hear this music, and go grab my Falcon toy, and “fly” it around. That feeling hasn’t gone away. In fact, with this baby remastered the way it is, I’d say that feeling is stronger than ever.
Other honorable mentions: “The Battle of Hoth”, “The Asteroid Field”, “Mynock Cave”, and “Yoda’s Theme”. All these are almost as memorable as “The Imperial March”.
Since I’m not musically schooled in any way, I wanted to talk to someone who is. I spoke to world-renowned bass clarinetist Kathryn Ladano about the music:
This album is one of my favourite soundtracks, and I still listen to it often. In fact, when I got my new turntable for Christmas, the original LP soundtrack for Empire was the very first album I played on it. In terms of Star Wars soundtracks, I think this is the best one. I am certainly more critical of John Williams’ soundtracks in general now than I was as a kid because I now know that much of his material was “borrowed” from other composers, but despite that knowledge, this album still has a lot of iconic and evocative themes. My favourite is probably “The Asteroid Field”, but obviously “The Imperial March” is pretty amazing too.
If I had to pinpoint a favourite moment in this soundtrack, it actually appears during the track “Carbon Freeze/Darth Vader’s Trap/Departure of Boba Fett”. From about 5:10 to 5:20 is a series of dissonant chords that I have always loved the sound of (especially the one at 5:17 – 5:18!). Long before I studied music or played an instrument, those dissonant chords resonated with me and I still love hearing them.
I now know what album I’m going to listen to today.
I’m fortunate to have the limited edition CD wallet version of this soundtrack. As with A New Hope, the discs are hologram etched. This time, instead of the striking image of the Death Star, it’s just a fairly flat Imperial logo. Not quite as awesome.
mikeladano.com 