Shadows of the Empire

Track Listing

01 - Main Theme/Leia's Nightmare (3:41)
02 - The Battle of Gall (7:59)
03 - Imperial City (8:02)
04 - Beggar's Canyon Chase (2:56)
05 - The Southern Underground (1:48)
06 - Xizor's Theme (4:35)
07 - The Seduction of Princess Leia (3:38)
08 - Night Skies (4:17)
09 - Into the Sewers (2:55)
10 - The Destruction of Xizor's Palace (10:44)

Orchestrated by Joel McNeely, John Bell, and David Slonaker

Conducted by Joel McNeely

Performed by The Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Produced by Robert Townson

Released by Varèse Sarabande Records on April 23rd, 1996

Total Running Time: 58:14

As far as major marketing pushes go, Shadows of the Empire was an odd property to pick for such an event. Set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the book weaved the story of the attempt to discover the whereabouts of Han Solo’s carbonite-cocooned body, along with the attempted coup de tat of Darth Vader (and ultimately the Emperor himself) by the ruler of the criminal underground, Prince Xizor. The book was about average as far as Star Wars books go, with some odd characterizations (can anyone tell me that they can hear Darth Vader saying such things as “I’ve got to stretch my muscles”?). Nevertheless, there was a big push from Lucasfilm for this book (undoubtedly a bit of pre-buildup for the Special Editions and, ultimately, the new prequel films) that resulted in a comic book, a video game, and an honest-to-goodness soundtrack. Of all that came out of this venture, the soundtrack was by far the best part.

The first Star Wars score in almost thirteen years, Shadows of the Empire found Joel McNeely at the helm instead of John Williams in what will probably be the only score ever created for events experienced by the main characters of the original trilogy. At once, McNeely’s musical world is unique and experienced, with the opening refrains of the Star Wars main title segueing into a dream sequence that recalls the events from the end of The Empire Strikes Back. It is crucial to begin the score this way, as it combines primarily Williams material with a smidgen of what McNeely is to provide. The very next cue is all McNeely. “The Battle of Gall” is exciting and well-constructed, but without any of the themes we’ve come to know and love it seems a bit less Star Wars. Since Williams almost never scores an action cue in the Star Wars films without some reference to one of his numerous themes, to suddenly have a cue that is so different in this regard can be rather jarring.

“Beggar’s Canyon Chase” takes this idea and smoothes it out more. While still not referencing any of the original themes, this cue is more exciting and manages to pull in some of McNeely’s own themes for this score in a way that is more appropriate. Following closely thereafter is Xizor’s Theme, a piece that begins with a sometimes annoying clash of horns as we are treated to a musical representation of Xizor’s palace before launching into the powerfully choral theme for the Prince. Following that is an odd, if fun, scherzo detailing the Seduction of Princess Leia. It’s as much out of place in Star Wars as it is out of this score, but it’s quite a fun listen and it ends appropriately with a mischievous sliver of Xizor’s theme that quickly drops into a chaotic percussion moment.

The most powerful track on the album, “Night Skies”, follows Lord Vader’s attempt to contact his son telepathically. It follows the same basic construction as the deleted scene’s cue from Return of the Jedi (Tatooine Rendezvous) and has wonderful performances of both the Imperial March (with part of it performed by chorus no less!) and The Force theme. In fact, at the time of its release, I felt that the appearance of The Force theme here was the most moving out of all of them, even topping the “Light of the Force” cue from Jedi. Since that time however, The Force theme has found an even greater appearance in “The Tide Turns” from The Phantom Menace.

The ten-minute long climax with “The Destruction of Xizor’s Palace” is a most satisfying end to McNeely’s score. Appropriately, this cue brings out all of McNeely’s own primary themes as well as throwing in the Imperial March near the final space battle section (which is over far too quickly). With a chaotic chorus section that underscores the destruction of the palace, frenetic action music, and a sorrowful finale to the battle, this cue is excellent and really helps lift this score to a level that is closer to Williams work on the original trilogy than anything that has come before. If there is any complaint, it’s that there is no segue into the typical ending credits sequences as this would have been a nice ending to the score.

Final recommendation? Skip the book, but buy the score. Even now that we have six John Williams Star Wars scores, Shadows stands proudly, and may be what those who have been disillusioned with the new music may be looking for. It’s not perfect by any means, and there is a bit of stylistic offset from the originals, but this is a fine album and one that no fan should be without.