drum roll please...
1. John Williams - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
How do I do this soundtrack justice? I can't. I just can't. I can listen to all the powerful metal music I want, but that kind of music to me simply can't match the emotion an orchestra can convey when the composer has skill and it's done right. This goes for classical music as well, but most of that doesn't come in albums as we think of them in contemporary music. but here we have about 2 hours of music. Think of it as a 2-hour concept album, where the concept is the great story by George Lucas, of course helped immensely by Kasdan's screenplay and by Kirshner's direction and the famously great production design all the others who worked on this great film. But back to the music. John Williams did an amazing, oscar-worthy job on the original Star Wars, and re-invigorated film music in one master stroke. Here he had his themes from the first film to play with, and what he does incredibly is not lean on those themes too much but adds whole new themes, and it is definitely the new themes that put this music over the top as the best album of all time. Of course everyone knows Darth Vader's Theme (aka The Imperial March) but this film wouldn't be the same without Han and Leia's love theme which does much of the emotional lifting. Yoda's theme is also very important in the middle part of the film. I could type a whole essay on this music, but I'll try to keep it condensed here. The Battle of Hoth early in the film is accompanied by 4 amazing tracks in a row, 5 if you count how it leads directly into one of the most famous cues in the soundtrack, The Asteroid Field. Each builds tension and excitement progressively, and Vader's theme infuses each one of them in perfect amounts to convey exactly what is going on emotionally. The middle section on Dagobah is filled with Yoda's theme which is beauttiful, reaching a mini climax when Yoda pulls Luke's X-Wing out of the swamp using the Force. Once we get to Cloud City, we don't have a traditional battle-based film climax, but the music accompanying Han's trip into carbon freeze, Luke's losing lightsaber battle with Vader, Leia Chewie and Lando's escape from the stormtroopers, and Luke's subsequent desperate escape/rescue are unbelievably emotive. For me, the high point of the music before the end credits roll is when Luke is hanging on the weather vane underneath Cloud City, and Leia hears his voice prompting Lando to turn the Falcon around in a barrel roll, which then cuts to Vader who is still as driven and menacing as ever. It then continues with pulsing strings until Luke is finally rescued and safe in the Falcon with the music reaching almost unbearable tension. Of course the heroes still aren't safe and it takes some heroics by R2 to save them, accompanied by more pulsing stacatto string play. The movie ends with an emotional statement of the love theme, but importantly the music is not over. The six and a half minutes that accompany the end credits are the perfect encapsulation of the movie and a fitting ending. Starting off with the main theme/Luke's theme, transitioning into Yoda's theme, then Vader's theme, then the love theme, and finally a strained incomplete statement of the Rebel theme on trumpet leading into the best ending one could imagine, with crashing cymbals and a grand tutti that ends triumphantly, leaving the sound to echo in one's mind as it's greatness fades into memory. While some of the music is understandable "underscore", or music just meant to accent an emotional tone without any themes, it can still be listened to on its own. I have no problem sitting down and listening to these 2 hours in the dark, and by the end I'm emotionally exhausted and don't want to return to the real world. This set of compositions is an achievement for all time, even though film music often doesn't get taken as seriously as it should and even Williams hesitates to place so much importance on it. This was John Williams at his absolute height (amazing if you don't know he's still composing today at 84 and will score the new Star Wars films as long as he's able, but they could never possibly match this) and it will be a long time before we see his heir. Highlights (if you don't want to listen to the whole thing): The Battle of Hoth(parts I-IV), The Asteroid Field, Yoda and the Force, Attacking a Star Destroyer, The Clash of Lightsabers, Rescue from Cloud City (aka Losing a Hand), Hypserpace, End Credits.
Topic: Re: nicmos' Top 50 albums v. #1 that is why you fail (Read 22846 times)
