OST means Original Soundtrack, which is also called a film score or simply a score.
My rating: 8/10
The Force Awakens Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (this is the official name of the CD) is the first Star Wars OST that I have ever bought or even listened to in full. Interestingly I decided to buy a Star Wars OST after listening to the end credits of Attack of the Clones and noticing how beautiful the track Across the Stars is. I have to thank my little son for this – he is too little to watch Revenge of the Sith, so he keeps asking for Attack of the Clones and watches it till the end of the end credits. Anyway, that was when I decided to buy a CD with the music from Star Wars.
I ordered the CD “Music From The Star Wars Saga - The Essential Collection” with the best tracks from the episodes I through VIII (featuring Across the Stars, obviously). However this is NOT an OST, but a re-recording done by a different symphony. I'm still waiting for this CD, so I can't review it right now. For some reason I still felt the need to have a Star Wars OST conducted by John Williams himself, so I decided to buy another CD, this time from a single movie.
As the best tracks were not crucial to me (because I would have them anyway in the above mentioned collection), I concentrated on the overall composition, especially the “character of music”. To judge it I listened to the samples of most of the tracks from all the Star Wars movies that can be found on some sites selling digital music.
The biggest problem to me was the fact that most of the Star Wars OST featured significant number of tracks that were either too pompous/
/bombastic/grandiose or too menacing/stressful. I prefer listening to uplifting music that features few “heavy” instruments. This problem is connected with another problem – all of the Star Wars OST had some very big differences in volumes of the music between the loudest and the quietest tracks. I hate that. Sure, there have to be some differences, but when one track is deafening and another is barely audible then it's NOT good.
I chose The Force Awakens OST simply because the problems mentioned above were least pronounced AND at the same time the music felt rather “warm” and uplifting. It was not too pompous/
/bombastic/grandiose, but it was also not boring. A perfect combination to me.
My hopes came true when I listened to The Force Awakens OST in full for the first time. I liked it very much from the very first listen! There are some awesome tracks, very good ones, good ones, a few average ones and only one weak one. Here are my ratings for all tracks (in the brackets there are numbers showing the order of the tracks on the CD):
Tracks rated 10/10:
Rey’s Theme (6), March of the Resistance (16), The Jedi Steps and Finale (23)
Tracks rated 9/10:
The Scavenger (2), Farewell and The Trip (22)
Tracks rated 8/10:
I Can Fly Anything (3), Follow Me (5), The Falcon (7), Finn’s Confession (10), Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle (13), Han and Leia (15), Torn Apart (19), Scherzo for X-Wings (21)
Tracks rated 7/10:
Main Title and The Attack on the Jakku Village (1), The Rathtars! (9), The Starkiller (12), The Abduction (14), On the Inside (18), The Ways of the Force (20)
Tracks rated 6/10:
Rey Meets BB-8 (4), That Girl with the Staff (8)
Tracks rated 5/10:
Maz’s Counsel (11)
Tracks rated 3/10:
Snoke (17)
UPDATE:
Music From The Star Wars Saga - The Essential Collection (mentioned above) is very good (9/10). All the iconic Star Wars tracks on one CD! The fact that it is a re-recording done by a different symphony is a double-edge sword to me. In my opinion some tracks are actually better because they are less “noisy” OR the sound volume is more even (volume differences in particular tracks are not as big as in original ones). The track that instantly comes to my mind is Dual of the Fates – I find the original one actually annoying, but I love the re-recorded version on this CD. On the other hand some tracks are somewhat weaker, especially Across the Stars, but it's hard to describe why.
Interestingly one of the best tracks on this CD are the best tracks from the Force Awakens OST: Rey’s Theme and March of the Resistance! Yes the Force Awakens OST is THAT good! But I am still glad that I bought Music From The Star Wars Saga - The Essential Collection because of all the other iconic Star Wars tracks that it contains!
No comments:
Post a Comment