Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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CD Details
Brand: TCMComposer: John Williams
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 2005-05-03
Model: 827969422021
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Star Wars and The Revenge Of The Sith
- Anakin's Dream
- Battle Of The Heroes
- Anakin's Betrayal
- General Grievous
- Palpatine's Teachings
- Grievous and the Droids
- Padme's Ruminations
- Anakin vs. Obi-Wan
- Anakin's Dark Deeds
- Enter Lord Vader
- The Immolation Scene
- Grievous Speaks to Lord Sidious
- The Birth Of The Twins and Padme's Destiny
- A New Hope and End Credits
Music reviews of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Music Review: Best of the Prequel Soundtracks by far.
Rating: 5 Stars
It's a very rare occasion when John Williams creates a soundtrack that disappoints. In fact, although that notion is completely subjective, the question can be raised if it's ever happened at all. I haven't heard every soundtrack he's recorded but I can tell you that the ones I own or have heard have all been wonderful listening experiences as emotional and strong as the films they accompany. The soundtrack to REVENGE OF THE SITH is certainly no exception. In fact, after multiple listens, this may just be the best of the prequel soundtracks.
Now, if I remember reading correctly, the Main Theme was not recorded during the sessions for EPISODE III. They're using an older version to open up the film and to be honest, the edit sticks out like a sore thumb to me. It's about 1:17 into the song or so and every time I hear it I sort of cringe. Still, the next phrase is so well done that you immediately forget the bad transition. What follows is a traditional John Williams march that is quite enjoyable and helps make this one of the better (and longer) opening tracks on any Star Wars soundtrack. It changes tempo a few times and is pretty relentless making it a joy to listen to. I'm sure these cues will appear in various parts of the film and underscore the action quite well.
Track two is called "Anakin's Dream" and comes in at just under five minutes. It starts out quite soft with some nice strings and you'll hear bits and pieces of "Across the Stars" sprinkled throughout. Anakin is having a dream about Padmé that turns into a nightmare and listening to the track you can pretty much tell when that happens. The song is nice but not one you'll put on repeat and listen to over and over.
"Battle of the Heroes" is one of my favorite tracks on the soundtrack. In pop music terms, this would probably be referred to as the "hit single" of the recording just as "Duel of the Fates" was for THE PHANTOM MENACE and "Across the Stars" was for ATTACK OF THE CLONES. I'm a big fan of vocal orchestration and harmonies so hearing voices accompanying familiar Star Wars themes as well as new ones makes me gush a little inside. Hearing this track really got me excited. It's more Star Wars than just about anything on the previous two soundtracks combined, especially when the main passage is repeated in a later track called "Anakin vs. Obi-Wan." This is one you're going to want to put into regular rotation on your MP3 player.
"Anakin's Betrayal" is one of those slower songs that you really like because it's so powerful. Right from the opening, it seems to be building and building to these thunderous peaks so that you can almost see Anakin in your head turning to the Dark Side. The vocals underscore it well and you can feel every tense climax in your gut. One ends and you feel another one building and each one is better than the next. It does slow down near the end a bit but by that point you're pretty satisfied and it feels just right. Sit back and bask in the darkness.
"General Grievous" is a generally (no pun intended) upbeat theme and I'm sure we'll be seeing some great action over this. I'm hearing that Force theme in there again so I'm assuming these are some of the cues for Obi-Wan's chase and fight with the droid General. It's a percussive track, which I like having been a drummer for years. Short accents over odd-tempo measures make it all the more fun and unnatural, like the General himself. Straight 4/4 just wouldn't have been the same.
The track called "Palpatine's Teachings" starts out with some creepy low notes that seem to go on forever before any kind of theme actually comes in. In fact, it's well over a minute before the other instruments come in. Somehow this fits the track but on the whole, this song is mostly just incidental music. Almost two minutes in, we're treated to some bass notes that bring us a little deeper and lead us into a bit of Darth Vader's theme which then goes into the Force theme once again. I like how the Force theme and Vader's theme are constantly at odds in this soundtrack, showing the real internal struggle in Anakin. One theme has to win out in the end and you know which one that will be. The song ends with a reprisal of the bombastic theme from THE PHANTOM MENACE where we arrive at Coruscant for the first time which seems a little out of place after all that darkness but it's most likely just a transition for a specific shot.
"Grievous and the Droids" isn't all that exciting at first but then picks up a little over a minute in with more of that military style percussion that I love so much. It swirls around for a while but there aren't any real memorable themes in this track. I do, however love the series of two note phrases near the end as they build up each time, adding more instruments as they build. Unfortunately, it only happens once.
Track eight is called "Padmé's Ruminations" and is another one of those incidental tracks that you might not listen to over and over but will want to put on once in a while because it's kind of creepy. You can almost hear voices sort of fading in and out all over this sort of low rumble in the background that, like in "Palpatine's Teachings," seems to go on forever. The eeriness leaves about a minute and a half in and brings us to some more incidental strings but nothing all that memorable. For a song about Padmé, it's pretty dark.
"Anakin vs. Obi-Wan" to me is the defining song of the soundtrack. It's definitely my favorite and the one that I listen to the most. For a four minute track it certainly packs a punch and is loaded with great material. The main theme here is the "Battle of the Heroes" theme but that's merely the roadmap to take you through the song. At any given moment in the song, be prepared to hear Darth Vader's theme or the Force theme. In fact the song seems to stop and command you to listen up. It starts out with those driving notes you might hear in an Original Trilogy chase scene and by the time thirty seconds have passed, Darth Vader's theme has already been introduced. Then about a minute in comes another great moment where the music echoes the duel Vader would have many years later with his own son. It's that accented version of Vader's theme from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK where Vader is hurling debris at Luke. It's wonderful stuff and Williams is smart to not overuse it and play the end of the phrase differently so that it'll seem fresher and more intense when you see THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, assuming people will one day watch these films in their correct order. This track doesn't let up. Williams pulls out all the stops and once again, as I noted earlier, the Force theme and Vader's theme are once again battling it out just as much as Anakin and Obi-Wan are. This time, however, the struggle isn't so much inside Anakin's head, as he's turned to the Dark Side by now. The Force theme is probably representing Obi-Wan. This is a great track and really demonstrates Williams mastery of soundtrack construction and composition.
"Anakin's Dark Deeds" and "Enter Lord Vader" have a few elements that I enjoy, mostly the low strings and vocals but on the whole are not tracks that I listen to as much as I probably should. The first one starts out pretty up-tempo but then slows down quite a bit so I lose a little interest since the theme doesn't have anything all that memorable in it and the second comes in slow, then picks up nicely, and then slows down again so it's almost a tease in a way. It does this a few times, actually but you do get to hear passages of Vader's theme in there so it's not all that bad. I believe these two themes go along with scenes where Anakin's not doing anything all that nice so they can be dark and creepy and slow if it fits. They're probably nothing you want to crank up at the family picnic though.
"The Immolation Scene" is very misleading because I was expecting some kind of fast, action music here and what we get is a slow, somber free-form string melody that never really stays on track and just floats around from measure to measure with no real glue holding it together until the end and even then, it's not that strong. In pop terms, you'd call this filler. It's purely incidental but nice to have on there.
"Grievous Speaks to Lord Sidious" is a fun track. I like how it opens up with those swirling string phrases and is accompanied, once again, by that military ambience. Then those cool vocals kick in and you're loving it. Then it comes to a complete stop, however, and you're sort of waiting for it to reprise but never does. It trails off into something slow and ends.
"The Birth Of The Twins/Padmé's' Destiny" brings us to the most carefully-worded track of the soundtrack. I guess they didn't want the repeat slack they got from the EPISODE I track listing where they named one of the songs "Qui-Gon's Noble End." A zillion of angry fans read the track listing, not expecting any spoilers and got the biggest one of all. Oopsy. Speaking of Qui-Gon's noble end, this track contains some of the same music from Qui-Gon's funeral pyre at the end which is nice. This track, however, starts off with the tense birth of Luke and Leia and you can almost see it in your mind as you hear it on the track. The moment builds to a peak and then transitions into the funeral music described above from EPISODE I. On the whole, it's a nice piece but very dreary, echoing the film's tone.
The last track is a killer. Simply titled, "A New Hope and End Credits," it really brings it all home. Sometimes the ending credit themes can drag on a bit, slow down, and wander off because there isn't any real action on the screen, just words moving along. This piece however is really stirring. You can see Leia being held by Bail and his wife on Alderaan as Leia's theme plays softly in the background. The theme sounds as if it also is in its infancy. Remember, technically this is supposed to be the first time it's introduced and Williams handles it magnificently, short as the cue is. Much more time and attention is given to the "new hope" as he's handed over to the Lars family. I don't know about you, but this is how I always envisioned EPISODE III's ending: Obi-Wan hands off the baby and then walks off into the twin sunset as the Force theme plays out. Lucas and Williams really come through here and after the usual build, the Main Theme blares its way back into our ears and sounds especially better than ever; not because it's different but because we know this is the last one we're getting in a film. All the major themes are reprised here with a few new surprises. First we head back into Leia's theme which is a wonderful theme in its own right. This is the fuller version that sounds more like the one we're used to and it's just great. That theme transitions into the thumping "Battle of the Heroes" chorus which is even more powerful when reprised here for some reason. Once again, the voices over the Force Theme are just amazing to me.
Then, almost out of the blue, Williams throws us a curve ball and hits us with the pointed brass hits of the "Throne Room" music from EPISODE IV, and what a great rendition it is. It varies ever so slightly as if to say, "We didn't use an old take here...this is newly recorded." It ends in its usual fashion and then just when you think it's going to repeat the whole thing, it travels away a bit before coming back to the final measures of the "Throne Room" music again. Wash, rinse, repeat and we're back into the familiar Main Theme once again but this time we're rounding third base, the coach is telling you to gun it home, and you're running full throttle about to slide. You lean into the slide and not only do you make safely it to the plate to score the winning run but you knock the catcher into the stands. Stand up and take a bow.
So as you can see, I like this soundtrack a lot and I highly recommend it to Star Wars fans, classical music fans, and people who can appreciate some well-written music, regardless of genre. The emotional spikes and lows in this piece of music completely mirror the emotional highs and lows of the film in every way.
My complaints are few and they're not really complaints, just minor concerns. I remember reading on Starwars.com that Lucas said "Duel of the Fates" would factor in during the "big duel" later on in the film. However it's nowhere to be found on this soundtrack, not even one measure hidden deep in another song. Perhaps they'll just use either the same one from EPISODE I or an alternate take which is fine but I sure would have loved to hear a re-recorded version with some variations or perhaps a few measures added into "Battle of the Heroes" or "Anakin vs. Obi-Wan."
I also thought for sure we'd hear some dark reprisal of a variation on "Across the Stars" but no dice. I figured Williams might have taken the love song and maligned it much like Anakin does to his love in the film. That does not make for a bad soundtrack however. This is a glorious piece of art that should be accepted and admired.
As with most soundtracks, you get the feeling that there has to be more to this one. There seems to be a lot missing if you've read the screenplay and novel. Then again, titles can be deceiving, who knows, but I don't think this is the last we've seen of the EPISODE III soundtrack. Will there be a Volume II, perhaps? We can only hope, but for now, I am one happy Star Wars fan.
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Description of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.John Williams' lovely and moving score for the sixth Star Wars film brings thirty years of collaborating on George Lucas? beyond-popular intergalactic franchise to a close. (Is this really the end of Star Wars? Can?t Lucas and Williams work together on a prequel to these prequels? Let us hope so, and that Jar Jar Binks is nowhere near it.) As this music accompanies the most exciting Star Wars film in many a moon, the soundtrack itself is more fun, more evil, more nasty and bumpy. Many of the heroic, anthemic themes woven throughout Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith will necessarily be familiar to any fan of the series, from the "Imperial March" to the main theme. It?s remarkable how stirring the latter can be, no matter how many times you?ve heard it, and even for those who do not have all their money invested in S.W. memorabilia. There is a lot of new music here, and the lush, extensive range of both Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra is on display, most notably in the menacing, percolating "General Grievous" and the rousing "New Hope" end theme. --Mike McGonigal
The Force Is Also with:
 Star Wars Trilogy soundtrack box set |  Star Wars Episode II sountrack |  Star Wars Episode II, Attack of the Clones |
 Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace |  Star Wars Trilogy on DVD |  Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith |
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