Search - John Williams :: Star Wars: The Story Continues...

The Force is NOT strong with this one...

John M. Reiner | Chicago, IL | 07/11/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"My friend loaned me these CD's recently, and let me say they are nothing compared to the original soundtracks.



The recordings sound actually half decent for synthesized instruments, but after hearing the superb London Symphony Orchestra in the original recordings, any artificial orchestra (and even some real orchestras!) is a real let-down. Especially painful are the sequences which call for lots of brass; the LSO was so great at delivering a theme at full blast in an intense action scene, and the MIDI brass just sounds cheesey. The interpretation is poor in a few key sequences as well, too.



Star Wars fans really deserve better than this; get the re-mastered trilogy set:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002YCVLU/qid=1121091193/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8155271-9982339?v=glance&s=music"

Fake instruments leave much to be desired

Nicholas Kliewer | Dallas, TX USA | 01/20/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The synthesized instruments don't do the music justice. First off, when I bought this, I saw the name "Global Stage Orchestra" and was looking forward to hearing an orchestra -- of real instruments. Unfortunately, what I bought was a synthesized interpretation of John Williams's wonderful music.



Many instruments sound so bad that it's distracting. For example, the smooth woodwind lines in "Duel of the Fates" sound detached and mechanical. Some brass instruments (which Williams uses liberally) sound more like car horns. Obviously not put together by a vocalist... the rear cover reads "MUSIC AND VOCALS PERFORMED BY THE GLOBAL STAGE ORCHESTRA." Apparently vocals are not music... which may be close to the truth in this case, since the vocals sound like hollow midi sampled voices. With so many great recordings out there... spend the extra few dollars and get a recording from a "real" orchestra."

Actually a decent re-recording of classics

Bigfoot | NY | 10/01/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Let me start out by saying that this album isn't nearly as bad as many people are saying. I bought it about a year ago at a store up here when the initial album I was looking for was sold out. Not wanting to leave empty handed, I glanced around and found this totally by chance (maybe the force made me find it, who knows:)) and decided to give it a shot.



I wasn't entirely sure of what to expect when I put it in once I got back. Initially after the first fifteen minutes of listening to it, I started to feel as if I maybe should have bought something else, BUT at the same time it was still catchy enough to leave in until the end of the first disc. Before I knew it, I listened to all three discs in one sitting while working on a paper and I must say, it was definitely worth whatever I payed for it.



The music is different enough where if you're getting tired of listening to the same things over and over, you can put it in and not worry about listening to something you've heard millions of times over. However the music is similar enough where if you're in a Star Wars mood, you can put it in and still be satisfied.



The "sythnesized" Star Wars sound is very catchy after a while and a very good addition to any hard core Star Wars fans' collection, or just to anyones collection of music in general. It's interesting to hear how the music is still able to catch all of the emotion that is in the original soundtracks (especially in Episode III) and still sound different. I will admit that the tracks seem to be a bit out of "order". While episodes 4, 5 and 6 come first (which is fine) episode 2 is next, followed by 1, then episode 3, and then back to episode 2 again. Not sure why this is, but it's not a real big deal, just a little odd. Definitely worth buying if you're into collecting all things Star Wars."