Star Wars – music by John Williams

Let’s have a show of hands. How many people became soundtrack-collecting addicts after listening to the original Star Wars soundtrack on vinyl approximately seventeen gazillion times in the 1970s? Thought so. Not only is George Lucas credited with salvaging the science fiction film genre from the clutches of pretentious high-concept 2001 wanna-bes and B-movies, but John Williams is credit for reinvinting the art of scoring movies. With Star Wars, it shows – the London Symphony Orchestra is in fine form, and seldom has a composer so thoroughly (or correctly) assessed the dramatic and emotional needs of the movie’s score.

This is the 1997 re-re-re-release, which was unleashed not only to cash in on the premiere of the Special Editions of the original trilogy, but to put the complete score, every note of music recorded for the entire movie, on the record for soundtrack fans. There’s even music that wasn’t heard in the movie: some bonus archival material is included at the end of disc one’s final cut, with several alternate takes of the main theme – but after hearing the umpteenth take on this track, one’s ready to skip to disc two and leave the endless alternate takes to the music students.

Disc one:
1. 20th Century Fox Fanfare (0:23)
2. Main Title / Rebel Blockade Runner (2:14)
3. Imperial Attack (6:43)
4. The Dune Sea of Tatooine / Jawa Sandcrawler (5:01)
5. The Moisture Farm (2:25)
6. The Hologram / Binary Sunset (4:10)
7. Landspeeder Search / Attack Of The Sand People (3:20)
8. Tales Of A Jedi Knight / Learn The Ways Of The Force (4:29)
9. Burning Homestead (2:50)
10. Mos Eisley Spaceport (2:16)
11. Cantina Band (2:47)
12. Cantina Band #2 (3:56)
13. Binary Sunset – alternate version (2:19)

Disc two:
1. Princess Leia’s Theme (4:27)
2. The Millennium Falcon / Imperial Cruiser Pursuit (3:51)
3. Destruction Of Alderaan (1:32)
4. The Death Star / The Stormtroopers (3:35)
5. Wookiee Prisoner / Detention Block Ambush (4:10)
6. Shootout In The Cell / Dianoga (3:48)
7. The Trash Compactor (3:07)
8. The Tractor Beam / Chasm Crossfire (5:18)
9. Ben Kenobi’s Death / TIE Fighter Attack (3:51)
10. The Battle Of Yavin (9:07)
11. The Throne Room / End Title (5:38)

Released by: RCA/Victor
Release date: 1997
Disc one total running time: 57:33
Disc two total running time: 48:15