Ranking the Star Wars Soundtracks — Page 3

My list:

1. Tie between ESB+ROTJ
2. ROTS
3. ANH
4. Shadows of the Empire (Not a movie score, but whatever)
5. TPM
6. TFA
7. AOTC

ESB/ROTJ:
I watched ESB and Jedi the most as a kid, so I picked up more favourite pieces this way and they stuck with me the best. My favourites from ESB are Battle of Hoth, Attacking a Star Destroyer, Yoda and the Force, Leia/Han’s theme, Boba Fett’s Theme, that-one-choir-bit-as-they-enter-Cloud-City and Clash of The Lightsabers. ROTJ mostly reused older pieces but I do enjoy Den of The Rancor, Sail Barge Assault (and it’s alt version), Emperor’s theme, Farther and Son, Battle of Endor 1-3 (specifically A Jedi’s Fury) and Victory Celebration.

ROTS:
What do I need to say? It’s an all around amazing soundtrack, not as memorable as ESB or ROTJ but still damn good. Favouite piece is Battle of the Heroes (who would’ve guessed) but Goodbye Old Friend is a close second (Battlefront 2 feels).

ANH:
No need for explanation really, it’s the daddy of them all, it stands the test of time. Has some atmospheric, emotional, fast paced and all around exciting pieces. But once you really start to get into classical music and listen to composers like Holst, Tchailkovsky and Korngold then some of the original magic is lost. Favourite pieces are Imperial Attack, Leia’s theme, the Stormtrooper motif, Detention Block Ambush, Shootout in the Cellbay (so underrated) and Battle of Yavin.

Shadows:
A soundtrack for a book, I guess they really didn’t have anything better to do until TPM came out. Mcneely nails the John Williams feel, his version of the main theme is easily my favourite. However, while the pieces themselves are good, they simply aren’t as memorable as the ones we’re most familiar with. Often in these tracks there are long, quiet, barely audible periods of score with nothing interesting about them. But even then, these are almost forgivable since The Destruction of Xizor’s Palace just might be my favourite SW composition ever, everything else in this soundtrack just sorta pales in comparison.

TPM:
I honestly find this soundtrack kinda overrated, sure Duel of Fates is a great piece but now it’s become incredibly overplayed like Imperial March. Battle of the Heroes was just an all around better piece in my opinion. There also wasn’t that much I liked in this soundtrack anyway, besides the Trade Federation March, Flag Parade, The Tide Turns and Augie’s Municipal Band.

TFA:
I’m mixed on this movie as a whole, but I ultimately found the soundtrack the most disappointing aspect of the movie. Rey’s Theme, Kylo’s theme, March of the Resistance and Jedi Steps all stuck with me after I left the theater, everything else was just… there.

AOTC:
Across the Stars.
That’s literally it.

Earl said:

My list:

1. Tie between ESB+ROTJ
2. ROTS
3. ANH
4. Shadows of the Empire (Not a movie score, but whatever)
5. TPM
6. TFA
7. AOTC

ESB/ROTJ:
I watched ESB and Jedi the most as a kid, so I picked up more favourite pieces this way and they stuck with me the best. My favourites from ESB are Battle of Hoth, Attacking a Star Destroyer, Yoda and the Force, Leia/Han’s theme, Boba Fett’s Theme, that-one-choir-bit-as-they-enter-Cloud-City and Clash of The Lightsabers. ROTJ mostly reused older pieces but I do enjoy Den of The Rancor, Sail Barge Assault (and it’s alt version), Emperor’s theme, Farther and Son, Battle of Endor 1-3 (specifically A Jedi’s Fury) and Victory Celebration.

ROTS:
What do I need to say? It’s an all around amazing soundtrack, not as memorable as ESB or ROTJ but still damn good. Favouite piece is Battle of the Heroes (who would’ve guessed) but Goodbye Old Friend is a close second (Battlefront 2 feels).

ANH:
No need for explanation really, it’s the daddy of them all, it stands the test of time. Has some atmospheric, emotional, fast paced and all around exciting pieces. But once you really start to get into classical music and listen to composers like Holst, Tchailkovsky and Korngold then some of the original magic is lost. Favourite pieces are Imperial Attack, Leia’s theme, the Stormtrooper motif, Detention Block Ambush, Shootout in the Cellbay (so underrated) and Battle of Yavin.

Shadows:
A soundtrack for a book, I guess they really didn’t have anything better to do until TPM came out. Mcneely nails the John Williams feel, his version of the main theme is easily my favourite. However, while the pieces themselves are good, they simply aren’t as memorable as the ones we’re most familiar with. Often in these tracks there are long, quiet, barely audible periods of score with nothing interesting about them. But even then, these are almost forgivable since The Destruction of Xizor’s Palace just might be my favourite SW composition ever, everything else in this soundtrack just sorta pales in comparison.

TPM:
I honestly find this soundtrack kinda overrated, sure Duel of Fates is a great piece but now it’s become incredibly overplayed like Imperial March. Battle of the Heroes was just an all around better piece in my opinion. There also wasn’t that much I liked in this soundtrack anyway, besides the Trade Federation March, Flag Parade, The Tide Turns and Augie’s Municipal Band.

TFA:
I’m mixed on this movie as a whole, but I ultimately found the soundtrack the most disappointing aspect of the movie. Rey’s Theme, Kylo’s theme, March of the Resistance and Jedi Steps all stuck with me after I left the theater, everything else was just… there.

AOTC:
Across the Stars.
That’s literally it.

Your AOTC summation is perfect LOL

Across the Stars is such a fantastic piece of music. Such a shame about the movie.

And the ‘romance’ it’s supposed to represent.

yhwx said:

And the ‘romance’ it’s supposed to represent.

It’s a tragic love theme, which is fitting for being a Star Wars fan during the PT era.

I don’t think that Battle of the Heroes would work for the Obi-Wan Vader duel in A New Hope. It’s just an old guy and a slightly younger guy in a suit hitting each other with laser sword — it’s not very dramatic, as say the duel in ROTS. Plus, Battle of the Heroes is a pretty weak theme anyway.

It would just feel tacky, and the callback to the ROTS would probably be for the worse. Feels like a Lucas change.

Density said:

Maybe so, but it does callback to the ROTS duel (for better or worse…) and it could actually make the scene feel more dramatic? Maybe?

Ady did that in his first Revisited version and there was a pretty big outcry about it.

Shadows of the Empire was actually the OST for the game based on the book btw. That soundtrack is damn good though.

Earl said:

AOTC:
Across the Stars.
That’s literally it.

Zam the Assassin / The Chase Through Coruscant and the first 5 mins of Confrontation with Count Dooku (before the credits) are worth a shout but the rest is scarily forgettable.

Density said:

Maybe so, but it does callback to the ROTS duel (for better or worse…) and it could actually make the scene feel more dramatic? Maybe?

Check out Adywans ANH Revisted. Not only did he re edit the fight to be more fast paced but he rescored it with “Battle of the Heroes”. There was an outcry but I really loved the change. You might enjoy it too 😉

Smithers said:

Shadows of the Empire was actually the OST for the game based on the book btw. That soundtrack is damn good though.

Actually it was composed for the book. The game uses mostly edited OT score with a couple of McNeely’s cues thrown in here and there.

Jeebus said:

yhwx said:

I don’t think that Battle of the Heroes would work for the Obi-Wan Vader duel in A New Hope. It’s just an old guy and a slightly younger guy in a suit hitting each other with laser sword — it’s not very dramatic, as say the duel in ROTS. Plus, Battle of the Heroes is a pretty weak theme anyway.

From Adywan’s fan edit

I think it works alright, not great, but I think it livens up the fight for sure.

Yeah, I think it works better without the music.

I would say ANH is the best and most original. Then would be ESB and ROTJ. Then PT. And last TFA.