Shadows of the Empire - Soundtrack Review

Star Wars music not composed by John Williams has become something that is not unusual to us today. John Powell, Michael Giacchino and Ludwig Göransson have all become household names in recent years as Star Wars composers, but back in 1996, the release of the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack has since gone unnoticed by many, and so did its composer. Many who listened to the soundtrack while playing the game or listening to the CD never realised that it was not Williams who had been enlisted to come up with its magical score. That honour fell to Joel McNeely, an esteemed composer in his own right.

Born in March 1959 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Joel McNeely was born to parents both involved in the music industry. He would learn to play saxophone, bass, flute and piano in his childhood years, so a career in music was inevitable. That career has seen him nominated and winning multiple awards for his scores. His early work saw him take on projects for Walt Disney TV series and he would move on to work on the Radioland Murders, and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles for Lucasfilm. In more recent years, he has returned to work with Walt Disney Studios again and has been heavily involved with many of the new movie projects.

For the LucasArts multimedia platform project for Shadows of the Empire, McNeely was to be accompanied by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus. The soundtrack was to be based around the events of the book by Steve Perry and would also be used for the video game.

If you have the recently released vinyl copy of the album, the cover notes, written by McNeely and Robert Townson for each track explain the music and which part of the story it accompanies. That in turn also gives an insight into how each track flows and changes.

On February 24 and 25, 1996, the ensemble came together at City Halls in Glasgow, Scotland to record the 10 tracks for the album.

1. Main Theme from Star Wars and Leia’s Nightmare: Most fans of cinematic and classical music know the main theme in an instant from just the first few bars. I’m pretty sure we have all stood there while listening to it at some point, volume cranked up, eyes closed flailing our arms around dreaming that you are the conductor of the orchestra … or, is it just me?
   The main theme bursts to life and then layers straight into Leia’s Nightmare. The transition is in the usual Star Wars style, you can imagine the camera pulling back from the opening crawl to reveal the action that is about to unfold. Although based very heavily on Princess Leia’s Theme by Williams, with haunting horns reflecting The Imperial March. The use of Princess Leia’s Theme is there to stir the memories of her and Han’s last moments together on Cloud City and then the change to a more abrupt playing style reflects the nightmarish end to her dream of seeing Han suspended in carbonite.
2. The Battle of Gall: Starting so softly and then skips into a higher tempo mid-section which is reminiscent of music from Indiana Jones. This may well be influenced by McNeely’s work on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles TV series. The use of clarinets at the start of the third movement adds a very fun edge to the music before the more dramatic kettle drum and trumpet finale. You can see how the build up of the movements attributes to adding intensity to an on-screen space battle sequence. This track was composed well before Williams would have even contemplated preparing music for The Force Awakens, so this must be sheer coincidence, but I also felt that there were few subtle undertones in there for the music we hear at different points in the movie centred around Rey.
3. Imperial City: Coruscant, aka Imperial City. Again, a soft start to this piece which almost gives a sense of mystery to a place we knew little about in 1996. The choral section is the first time anything like this had been tried with on any Star Wars project. Yes, we heard it in The Phantom Menace with Duel of Fates, but McNeely was ahead of Williams on this score. If you have read the book, you can understand how this piece fits perfectly. It is when we first meet Prince Xizor and we start to understand his relationship to Darth Vader and the Emperor. It also gives a sense of being on a fly past of all the skyscrapers and skyhooks that dominate the landscape and cityscape of Imperial City.
4. Beggar’s Canyon Chase: The first bars produce a sense of danger and state of alert. Luke comes under attack from a Swoop Gang affiliated with Jabba, but paid for by Xizor and Black Sun. This results in Luke’s first test of his lightsaber and a chase on swoop bikes through the fabled Beggar’s Canyon. The staccato nature of the horn section punctuates the rhythm to gather that pace, but then as the piece moves forward the playing becomes more elongated and almost ends in a hero’s fanfare as Luke and Dash win the day and overcome their would-be attackers.
5. The Southern Underground: Again, a further adventure through Coruscant, but instead of reaching the heights of the monolithic buildings, we are now deep within the bowels of its underworld. Leia and Chewbacca have infiltrated the planet defences and are now in search of a Ho’din called Spero to gain important information. A short piece that communicates a sense of sneaking through the shadows and surreptitious journey to find their mark.
   Now, for those listening to the vinyl version of the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack, track 6 is actually side 2, track 1!
6. Xizor’s Theme: The start is almost a hiss, that reflects the reptilian nat of Xizor’s species, the Falleen. The use of the choral section gives that sense of Xizor being revered and almost a deity in his importance. The final movement is the music so many fans of the game will remember. For me it is possibly some of the best Star Wars music ever. It exudes power and presence in the same way Williams did with The Imperial March for The Empire Strikes Back.
7. The Seduction of Princess Leia: You can imagine this piece having a very elaborate dance set to it. From my limited knowledge, I would say that dance would be a waltz if my ear is correct. It is very dramatic and grandiose in its composition. It is a very uplifting and powerful piece of music, but the end is quite sharp and the trombone at the end brings that to a conclusion abruptly. It is as if those tones at the end are there to assimilate Chewbacca interrupting the seduction and Leia stopping Xizor with a tactically placed knee.
8. Night Skies: This has echoes of Xizor’s Theme and Imperial City mixed in with the orchestrations from the Original Trilogy soundtrack. The Imperial March and Binary Sunset converge with choral sections to bring together a piece that is so familiar, but still has that air of freshness and being something different. These changes in music tell the story of what is happening in the book. There is angst between Vader and Xizor over Luke Skywalker, one wants him alive, one wants him dead, and they are sparring over their prey. The almost off tune The Imperial March reprise in the last few bars almost communicates the sourness that Vader has toward Xizor.
9. Into the Sewers: Murky, dark, and smelly, that is what a sewer is, right? The bass tone mixed with the violins gives an eerie feeling to this track. You get the sense that something is in the shadows of the sewer lurking and ready to pounce on our heroes as they try to infiltrate Xizor’s Palace. As it continues, the attack of the Dianoga is quite obviously orchestrated as it builds in ferocity.
10. Destruction of Xizor’s Palace: The grand finale, and it brings the whole story to a fitting end. The energy of the battle can be felt with just the pace for the second movement. The choral section rises and drives with that pace and it gives the piece an edge of wonderment. The short passage of The Imperial March signifies Vader’s victory over Xizor and the chaos that ensues as his Skyhook is destroyed. The final movement is a true Star Wars style fanfare to signal a great victory.

And great victory is the best way to sum up this triumph of Star Wars music. It is obvious that McNeely really understands John Williams’ work on the Original Trilogy. He expands and consequently develops a style of his own but stays very true to the core of Williams’ score. As I mention that homage to Williams can be heard and even inflections for other cinematic compositions are included, making the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack different to anything we heard at that time. The introduction of choral music to the score was a brave move but works magnificently well with the orchestration. Incidentally, the words sung by the RSNO Chorus were written by Ben Burtt.

The Shadows of the Empire soundtrack is very underrated and deserves far more credit than it actually gets. For those who love the original scores by Williams and the subsequent work for anthology movies and TV series, this is well worth adding to your playlist. Sit back, plug in those headphones, turn the volume up to 11 and lose yourself for 51 minutes and 27 seconds of Shadows of the Empire!