STAR WARS: EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002) – Album Analyses & Reviews

TRACK LISTING

REVIEW #1

By Roald van der Laan 

John Williams is a very lucky man.

From the beginning of time there have been stories. Some never leave the bedroom of a child, others become timeless. The story of Jesus Christ, Hercules, King Arthur, Alladin, Hamlet; they are part of our culture, part of who we are. They will be told and re-told untill the end of time.

Personally; I consider the story of Anakin Skywalker, who becomes Darth Vader and is saved by his son Luke Skywalker, to be o­n par with the classics from the past. It follows the rules of myth, the hero-journey formula. I think it’s great that I have been able to witness the birth of a classic story.

And everyone involved with the Star Wars franchise is very lucky. It’s a film story that will be around long after most films have been simply forgotten.

And so John Williams continues to shape what will undoubtly be regarded as o­ne of the most important and classic musical statements of our time; the original music for a modern myth. Assuming that people will still be interested in the story of Yoda, Princess Leia, C-3PO and R2-D2 in a 100 or 500 years from now (like we are still fascinated by the story of The Odyssey for example) I think this should cloud our judgement of Williams latest: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones. It isn’t just a score – it’s destined to form the musical influence for generations to come.

I’m glad that Williams isn’t aware of the importance of Star Wars or isn’t burdened by it, because the music flows so freely and easy from the composer’s mind. And the music IS good…

All superlatives and speculation for the future aside, let’s get to the score…

—-

I was completely blown away by Attack Of The Clones. It’s genuine Star Wars, but different too. It’s approach is darker and less accesible – but that never becomes a bad thing! It’s thematically less driven than, let’s say, The Phantom Menace. Phantom had many, many new themes looking back at the score now. The problem I had with that score was that with the exception of Duel Of The Fates none of the new themes were either melodically memorable or were expanded upon enough. Anakin’s Theme was, for me, emotionally hollow, because of it’s great (and unneedful) complexities and the themes for Jar Jar or Qui-Gon Jinn were o­nly used of snippets. The Trade Federation March lacked any kind of personality and sounded to come straight out of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.

To sum it up; I was dissapointed by The Phantom Menace. I wanted it to be as good as Duel Of The Fates, but it turned out that that piece stood head and shoulders above the other material.

Perhaps my expectations for Attack Of The Clones were considerably lower. Still; I have a feeling that I would have liked this score more than The Phantom Menace. Why?

Because of Across The Stars…

Across The Stars, the love theme for Episode II, is my idea of a Star Wars theme. Even more than Duel Of The Fates. THIS is what I wanted to hear during the more tragic scenes in Episode I. The theme forms the heart of the score and used many times throughout. This is my track-by-track analysis and I will elaborate o­n the usage of the love theme throughout the score.

—-

Track 1: Main Title and The Ambush o­n Coruscant

The Main Title Theme sounds great (but is it lifted from the recording of The Phantom Menace?). The first new material is heard during the Ambush o­n Coruscant part. It starts with a great statement for brass followed by this motif at 1:50 which is a repeating motif throughout the score. It sounds very Goldsmithian to me. The music is dark, foreboding and suspenseful. At 2:25 the motif returns and sounds like it comes straight out of Raiders Of The Lost Ark – GREAT!. At 3:00 a new motif is heard (Count Dooku’s motif?). It’s brooding and dark. 8/10

Track 2: Across The Stars (Love Theme)

The greatest track o­n the album and o­ne of Williams’ finest themes ever. The melody is gorgeous and is repeated several times. It’s a fairly long-lined melody which could have served Braveheart or Conan The Barbarian very well too. At about 2:30 the music becomes dark and brooding and builds up to a truly fantastic repeatment of the love theme. It works incredibly and is the first of this album’s numberous great transition moments. More o­n that later. The piece ends with the theme o­n harp (very Morricone-like ambience) and o­n oboe. 10/10

Track 3: Zam The Assassin and The Chase Through Coruscant

This track clocks over ten minutes and is full of surprises. It’s outragous action music that Williams-fanatics will love. It’s isn’t very melodic of thematically driven, but still very enjoyable. Williams incorporates an electric guitar to wonderful effect – in truly enhances the music and gives it a unique personality (if o­nly for two very short moments – at 3:20 and 5:10). The track is dominated by wonderful percussion. This would be the heavy metal music among orchestral works! 8/10

Track 4: Yoda And The Younglings

It starts with a nice, playful melody. At around 0:50 Across The Stars first appears followed by Yoda’s Theme. Then at 2:00 a gorgeous choir is introduced. Not really performing a melody, but focussing more o­n ambience. At 3:30 the track closes with a wonderful and full version of the Love Theme.
7/10

Track 5: Departing Coruscant

The shortest track o­n the album (1:44) and probably also the least interesting. The Force Theme appears, but o­nly half of it. It ends with music very close to The Phantom Menace. 7/10

Track 6: Anakin And Padme

Like Yoda And The Younglings it starts with a nice, playful melody. At 1:00 we hear o­n the love theme o­n a keyboard (sounds great and funky). The music then becomes more subdued and draining. Turn up your stereo to hear it. 7/10

Track 7: Jango’s Escape

Typical of this score’s action music; great arrangements and orchestrations (some of Williams’ very best ever), but lacking any thematic drive. Still; I love this music! It’s loud, it’s bombastic, it’s crazy! It’s pure Williams. It ends with an Arabic sounding motif which is quite interesting. 7/10

Track 8: The Meadow Picnic

The third track starting with a playful melody which doesn’t seem to be a part of the scores principal themes and motifs. It’s quite mellow and relaxing. At 1:40 the Love Theme kicks in tremedously. It works so well and wonderful. The track reminds me somewhat of Seven Years In Tibet (the Palace Invitation music). The track ends mysteriously with the motif from the first track. 7/10

Track 9: Bounty Hunter’s Pursuit

Another great action piece. The brass really kicks in. During the middle part it becomes more queit and suspenseful, but it gains your attention all the way through. At 3:00 the Trade Federation March from Episode I slams in. 7/10

Track 10: Return To Tatooine

Playful opening. It goes into a variation of the motif from Ambush At Coruscant and then at 3:10 a wonderful, classic version of The Force Theme followed amazingly by a short snippet of Duel Of The Fates (with choir and slamming paino!). This is another GREAT transition. I think it will work wonderful in the film. It ends creepy and dark with a variation of the second motif presented in the opening track. 9/10

Track 11: The Tusken Camp and The Homestead

A creepy atmosphere, mostly created by a continues ticking woodblock, starts this track. Then it goes into a very sad part, mostly dominated by low brass like the more tender moments in Saving Private Ryan. At 2:30 the track becomes furious and menacing. Anyone familiar with the story will undoubtly know what scenes this music will support. The Imperial March is heard for the first time, but not fully in terms of orchestration and melodic content. It ends chaotic and relentless as it should. At around 5:20 a great, dark male choir is introduced for a short musical statement. 8/10

12: Love Plegde and The Arena

The first two minutes present a gorgeous version of Across The Stars. It form the single best two minutes of the score and some of Williams’ most remarkable music EVER! These two minutes alone are worth the price of this album! I can listen to it a thousand times. The track then becomes a great action piece, this time supported by thematic material. A new variation o­n the Trade Federation March is used as the basis for most part of the track. Parts of The Force Theme and The Love Theme are used. It is a wonderful track with a great Star Wars feel to it. It clocks over 8 minutes. 9/10

Track 13: Confrontation With Count Dooku and Finale

A GREAT track! It starts menacing and dark with a fantastic female solo at around 1:20. It builds into a variation of the motif from Ambush At Coruscant; very atmospheric and brooding. Then at 3:00 it becomes truly AMAZING! The Imperial March is heard in a fabulous rendition and it segues into The Love Theme! And now you realise completely how well the new theme actually works with the existing Star Wars themes. It is MAGIC. At 4:40 the End Credits suite is introduced. The Love Theme, the o­nly true new theme from the score, follows the classic Star Wars march. The ending is the work of true musical genius! It ends with Anakin’s Theme followed by The Imperial March o­n low strings. You have to hear it to believe it. It’s truly amazing! This tracks runs over 10 minutes. 10/10

Track 14: o­n The Conveyor Belt

A wonderful action piece! This will make a GREAT concert performance! 9/10

—-

The main critisism towards Attack Of The Clones could be the lack of new thematic material besides The Love Theme. Sure; I would have liked to hear two or three more great new themes, but that wouldn’t nessicarily improve the Star Wars musical legacy. There are already so many themes established, a lot of them are used in this score, that perhaps Williams felt it would be better to write o­ne great new theme that will attract as much attention.

And what a great new theme Williams wrote!

In consider this score about 8/10. It’s o­ne of my favorite Williams scores. I love it as I hope the above review shows.

— Roald

REVIEW #2

By ‘The Mystical Yoda Claus’

Track 1 – Main Title and Ambush o­n Coruscant

Since the Main Titles are no different than any other SW movie (with the sole exception of the snare drum dragging like a mother hummer), I shall move o­n to the Ambush section.

At first listen, I thought I was listening to TPM, but then it went interesting. The horn stuff at 1:38 is cool, really gives us the impression of something sinister at hand. The string melody at 1:51 continues this. I like how its not really busy, but he continues the cool string melody as a sort of theme for this scene, which he seems to do a lot in this score. At 3:08, I enjoy the trombone (I think) soli, very dark. Overall, this track is very different from most of the stuff in TPM (aside from the main titles themselves and the little introduction).

This track gets 2 ratings. Main titles – ***/***** simply because of the irresponsible percussionist. Ambush – ****/*****

Track 2 – Across the Stars

I REAAALLY like this o­ne. The oboe solo is beautiful, possibly o­ne of the more beautiful melodies John has written in a long time. I love how lush the strings are at about 1:00 with the harp doing the triplet ostinato throughout….OH…1:33, gotta love the F-Horn. This piece, my friends, is a Williams moment all in itself. There are so many things this piece conveys to me…Hope, Hopelessness, Love, Fear, Sadness, and a tinge of Anger. It’s almost Tchaikowsky in its confused emotion. At first glance you may think I’m crazy by putting 2 contrasting emotions for the same piece. You’ll understand when you hear it. I love how it starts out sparse, goes very lush and then ends sparse again.

*****/*****

Track 3 – Zam the Assassin and Chase Through Coruscant

All I have to say is…drums. This has some very interesting percussion. Thise piece seems to capture the very essense of the original trilogy. It reminds me a lot of ANH o­n Tatooine. This piece also has a theme for the scene… it seems like a 3 note descending line ostinato. This motif is used not o­nly in the melodic instruments, but also in the drums, as it seems to serve as a bridge between the percussive to the full orch. This piece is very exciting, and I can’t wait to see the film to hear the electric guitar in context. I love it. It goes very Leonard Bernstein at about 3:30. Again, the 3 note motif seems to be very important. As a percussionist, I seem to be cheering at the longer percussion part at about 4:30ish. This is a very modern piece, less romantic than Across the Stars. He steps more into mid-20th Century with the style of this o­ne. (typical actiony stuff for Williams now-a-days, not to say this is LIKE anything hes done recently). The piece continues with the Williams actiony music with some decending line stuff. The piece then changes pace a bit at 7:30. It gets more tense, more dischord, then more percussion, back to the Bernstein stuff, then some sinister trombone stuff…then some sparse strings, in the vein of Herrmann. It goes o­n with some light underscore with a light reprise of the drum stuff until a clash chord build-up to create a lot of tension, resolving to a relatively pretty minor chord. More tension builds til the end…
This is a VERY cool piece, definately o­ne of my faves.

****/*****

Track 4 – Yoda and the Younglings

EH…. Its good, very good….but…I guess its not my favorite, its tone is SOOO different from the previous piece. The Across the Stars theme pokes its head in here with a cool horn riff that goes into my…errr, Yoda’s Theme. The choral stuff is relaxing, very much in the same vein as the stuff in Hook. The Force Theme makes an appearance briefly which goes back into a happy Across the Stars.

***/*****

Track 5 – Departing Coruscant

Its o­ne of the shorter tracks, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t as good as the rest. Very noble sounding, like the Coruscant music from TPM. The Force theme makes a very nice appearence, but dies down right before the grand crescendo you would want to hear. The Coruscant theme goes o­n through the end.

****/*****

Track 6 – Jango’s Escape

Very rambunctious. Again, we have a theme for the scene, which seems to be the biggest difference from the other score. As opposed to intertwining a theme for the scene with character themes in the Wagnerian style, each scene has a specific style and melody. There is a lot going o­n here, it seems to be ‘Mickey Mouse’ -ing a lot of action o­n screen, because I hear a lot of hits and falls. It ends with a mid-eastern feel, which I rather enjoy.

****/*****

Track 7 – Anakin and Padme

I like how serene this piece is, although, like we had with Yoda and the Younglings, this piece is very different from its previous track. Across the Stars makes another appearance (for obvious reasons) o­n a celeste (instrument that plays Hedwigs Theme), I believe (could be a synth). More underscore ensues with the same serene feeling which starts to get more edgy at about 2:15.

****/*****

Track 8 – The Meadow Picnic

This track begins in much the same way as Anakin and Padme, same theme, so, therefore it must be a very similar scene, with a slightly more mideastern feel (finger cymbals and whatnot). This o­ne is more playful than AaP. It sounds like they are having fun, definatley more stable than AaP. 2:27, it abruptly goes dark, and stays this way for some time. 3:46 it goes insane with the fast flute and strings, then goes peaceful again.

Track 9 – Bounty Hunter’s Pursuit

Very cool. Possibly my favorite piece…possibly. This has an aura of mystery to it that makes me want to know what is going o­n. Not really much to talk about in the first 2 minutes, a lot of mysterious stuff. 2:47 is where it gets really good. It builfd til 3:00 with a GREAT rendition of the Trade Federation March.

Track 10 – Return to Tatooine

I love how the feeling from TPM is restored to this track at the beginning, like a remembrance of old childhood memories. It gets a little darker at about 1:34 with some arpeggiating triplets in the strings and harp with light chords from the brass section. We finally get that wonderful Force theme reprised from the binary sunset which jumps right into…DUEL OF THE FATES! What a wonderful transition…although there seems to be a new word in DotF… It gets darker, sneakier after Duel, and winds down to almost nothing by 4:45 where a solo trumpet plays a somber melody. It continues with this sneaky, sinister feel until the end.

*****/*****

Track 11 – The Tusken Camp and the Homestead

The beginning feels a lot like the Tatooine material from ANH. A somber french horn melody breaks this feel. Sad strings ensue. Growth occurs with chords from the brass. It gets frantic, almost crazy, like bees are annoying people sort of feel. It goes crazy with the chord progression thereafter, and mellows out, but still retains an uneasy feel. The Imperial march is played in 1/4 note triplets, entirely (very cool). There is some underscore that follows, but I seem to have lost my train of thought after realizing what that melody was…Somber chords from brass are played at 5:14, and a male choir accompanies some sad music after. It is very dark from here o­n. Strings end it.

Track 12 – Love Pledge and the Arena

Tympani opens it, goes into the love theme, which continues for sometime, then is repeated with flue and harpsichord duet, followed by an all out full version in the strings. The some weird marimba stuff with woodwinds and strings with accents by brass follow. Militaristic nature ensues. Very much in the same vein of the Trade Federation March, but not that march. This continues for some time with some cool impact points. The tension really seems to build. Again, there seems to be a scene motif. This whole section is very brassy in nature, and by about 6:00, it incorporates a soft Across the Stars section contrasting the brassy sections. After this, there is a percussive ‘chase-type’ section which flows back into the majestic Across the Stars. Some Force Theme pops its head in, sounding determined more than mystical. More frantic music ensues. And, somehow, it ends softly. Very nice piece of music.

Track 13 – Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale

This is my favorite track. The intro with urgent woodwinds going into the force theme really trips my trigger. Not very actiony, but a good use of solo vocalise. Afer this is a light buildup by the flutes to a slightly larger section into strings accompanying the solo a slight crescendo leads to a tese buid-up that feels like it is going to go into the Force Theme but instead goes into the………IMPERIAL MARCH in all its glory. Trust me, you will love how this happens. I know this track has confused me terribly because of this. I have no idea what is going o­n, but it slams right into Across the Stars until the closing credits, which is standard. The concert piece at the end is Across the Stars with a different ending that incorporates Anakins Theme, Across the Stars, and The Imperial March to a great ending to a masterpiece of a soundtrack.

Final Score – *****/*****!!!!

OH, and o­ne more….

Track 14 – (Bonus!) o­n The Conveyor Belt

One of my favorites. It is a very modern piece. I love the use of percussion and playful woodwinds, with xylophones pointing out urgency.

-St. Yodes

REVIEW #3

By ‘Binkot the Clown’

First, how this soundtrack (assuming it illustrates the quality of the rest of the score) stacks up against the rest of the Star Wars scores.

TESB, AOTC, ROTJ, ANH, TPM

It is very much Empire Strikes Back-sy. Instead of the Imperial March insert Across The Stars and voila you have that same sort of powerful score with o­ne dominating theme that sums up the film musically.

This score ranks so high because not o­nly does it work beautifully o­n it’s own, but it deepens the impact of The Phantom Menace. It bridges the gulf (at least in places) between the Original Trilogy and what many consider to be George Lucas’s cinematic red-headed stepchild. It also offers us o­ne of John Williams’ greatest themes ever. A theme we were so close to getting in A.I. and so disappointed we missed in Harry Potter. Speaking of the Potter score I will say the following. It was lovely, sweet and solid. We all liked it, it was hard not to like. It was not, however, everything it was cracked up to be. It is then perhaps the greatest compliment to AOTC that this score makes up for Harry Potter in addition to holding it’s own weight. In places it sounds a lot like the boy wizard’s music, but even when it approaches that cutesy sound it is lightyears more mature and assured. It has the craftsmanship of A.I. with the tools that Star Wars has to offer. It is brilliant, flawed to be sure, but executed in a way that (and this is important – it is where Potter failed) meets and in most cases EXCEED’S our expectations. Any negative comment directed at the score can be retorted with three easy words: Across…The…Stars.

Without further ado, a track by track breakdown…

Main Theme and Ambush…:
Main Theme, you know what to expect. The second part of this track is interesting though it starts off the same way TPM did, which makes o­ne wonder if Williams was so pressed for time he couldn’t write a bar of original music for this segue.

Across The Stars:
I will go out o­n a limb and say this is the best love theme of the SW saga and perhaps the best theme…period. Sure it reminds everyone with an iota of knowledge about Hook of the neverland theme, but it’s different enough to warrant the kind of praise it’s gotten/getting/will get.

The Coruscant Chase:
We’ll see how this o­ne plays o­n the big screen. That theme (that get’s nicely treated at the 4:00 minute mark) doesn’t get said treatment enough and it ranks below the Quidditch Match and The Visitor In San Diego cues (wait they were different?!) in Johnny’s “Loud drums and strings that hopefully sound cool” collection.

Yoda And The Younglings:
I will go out o­n ANOTHER limb here and say this is the best (almost) not-related-to-Across-The-Stars theme o­n the album. Yoda’s Theme and the force theme together again…it reminds o­ne of the High Council cue from TPM but more importantly it reminds o­ne of the original trilogy.

Departure From Coruscant:
Nice, small gem of a cue. Not much to say about it except that if it underscores OBI-WAN’s departure from Coruscant (and not Anakin and Padme’s as is generally assumed) I’ll like it even more. It’s got the Love theme with the Coruscant theme and arranged nicely.

Anakin And Padme:
I’m listening to Harry Potter, No wait a second I’m listening to Last Crusade, nope it IS Harry Potter…these are the sort of thoughts this cue provokes. Williams, Across The Stars in hand, running to the autopilot button.

Jango’s Escape:
Best described as slightly generic (but enjoyable) action music this cue is saved from that classification by a middle eastern motif at the end which is so interesting, so non-sequiter that it makes complete sense. This is afterall Star Wars. Worth noting about this cue is the fact that it is more theme driven (that is it’s own theme) that the occasionally rambling action music in TPM.

The Meadow Picnic:
One of those times you star to wonder if perhaps Mr. Potter is the troubled youth Padme is falling for. The love theme sure is nice in this cue and the dark spell in the second half is wholly engrossing…too bad the instrumentation and cutesy presentation of the love theme at the 1:40 mark (as much as I like it) draws comparissons to The Sorcerers Stone.

Bounty Hunter’s Pursuit:
Cue the frenzied battle music, then get quiet and then deliver simply the best rendition of the Trade Federation march and you’ve got this track…

Return To Tatooine:
The cutesy music in the beginning is o­nly preamble to this, o­ne of the strongest cues. It introduces a motif which I assume belongs to Anakin in his troubled state. Much like the V’ger cloud keyboard ostinato from Star Trek: TMP it neatly segues into the Force theme and Duel of the Fates…which offers the cool dichotomy of the two. Anakin’s fate is summed up musically in about thirty seconds.

The Tusken Camp And The Homestead:
The BIGGEST dissapointment of the album. I almost held off o­n listening to this cue for fear it would take away from the emotional power of watching the scene it underscores. But with the exception of a bittersweet rendition of Shmi’s theme from TPM it is pretty uninteresting largely anti-climatic. Sure it has it’s moments but pales in comparisson to the next two cues and doesn’t offer what we really want in this scene: the full blown imperial march.

Love Pledge and The Arena:
William’s finally ditches the Harry Potter-esque handling of the love theme in favor of a more mature rendition which segues into a fun Belly of the Steel Beast-esque cue underscoring the Arena battle. It is williams back o­n the top of his game action wise.

Confrontation…End Credits
Interesting chorus piece (Count Dooku’s Theme?) which segues into Hands down the BEST rendition of the Imperial March. Whoever orchestrated this deserves the oscar themselves, it is VERY powerful (which is no small feat considering we’ve all heard this theme countless times). It segues into ANOTHER (thankfully) mature rendition of Across the Stars…another musical contrast that William’s pulls off effortlessly. The theme segues (organically, not suddenly and forced like in ROTJ and TPM) into the end credits…Luke Skywalker’s theme and Across The Stars make up the majority of the cue. Many fans were wondering how he would handle the end of the credits since his last credits cue was written off as a simple snip and play job of the concert versions of Duel Of The Fates and Anakin’s Theme. Thankfully he stuck to his guns and offers the tail end of a new arrangement of Anakin’s Theme, which ends with an even darker Imperial March than TPM. Musically, Anakin’s fate is sealed

REVIEW #4

By ‘Binkot the Clown’

First, how this soundtrack (assuming it illustrates the quality of the rest of the score) stacks up against the rest of the Star Wars scores.

TESB, AOTC, ROTJ, ANH, TPM

It is very much Empire Strikes Back-sy. Instead of the Imperial March insert Across The Stars and voila you have that same sort of powerful score with o­ne dominating theme that sums up the film musically.

This score ranks so high because not o­nly does it work beautifully o­n it’s own, but it deepens the impact of The Phantom Menace. It bridges the gulf (at least in places) between the Original Trilogy and what many consider to be George Lucas’s cinematic red-headed stepchild. It also offers us o­ne of John Williams’ greatest themes ever. A theme we were so close to getting in A.I. and so disappointed we missed in Harry Potter. Speaking of the Potter score I will say the following. It was lovely, sweet and solid. We all liked it, it was hard not to like. It was not, however, everything it was cracked up to be. It is then perhaps the greatest compliment to AOTC that this score makes up for Harry Potter in addition to holding it’s own weight. In places it sounds a lot like the boy wizard’s music, but even when it approaches that cutesy sound it is lightyears more mature and assured. It has the craftsmanship of A.I. with the tools that Star Wars has to offer. It is brilliant, flawed to be sure, but executed in a way that (and this is important – it is where Potter failed) meets and in most cases EXCEED’S our expectations. Any negative comment directed at the score can be retorted with three easy words: Across…The…Stars.

Without further ado, a track by track breakdown…

Main Theme and Ambush…:
Main Theme, you know what to expect. The second part of this track is interesting though it starts off the same way TPM did, which makes o­ne wonder if Williams was so pressed for time he couldn’t write a bar of original music for this segue.

Across The Stars:
I will go out o­n a limb and say this is the best love theme of the SW saga and perhaps the best theme…period. Sure it reminds everyone with an iota of knowledge about Hook of the neverland theme, but it’s different enough to warrant the kind of praise it’s gotten/getting/will get.

The Coruscant Chase:
We’ll see how this o­ne plays o­n the big screen. That theme (that get’s nicely treated at the 4:00 minute mark) doesn’t get said treatment enough and it ranks below the Quidditch Match and The Visitor In San Diego cues (wait they were different?!) in Johnny’s “Loud drums and strings that hopefully sound cool” collection.

Yoda And The Younglings:
I will go out o­n ANOTHER limb here and say this is the best (almost) not-related-to-Across-The-Stars theme o­n the album. Yoda’s Theme and the force theme together again…it reminds o­ne of the High Council cue from TPM but more importantly it reminds o­ne of the original trilogy.

Departure From Coruscant:
Nice, small gem of a cue. Not much to say about it except that if it underscores OBI-WAN’s departure from Coruscant (and not Anakin and Padme’s as is generally assumed) I’ll like it even more. It’s got the Love theme with the Coruscant theme and arranged nicely.

Anakin And Padme:
I’m listening to Harry Potter, No wait a second I’m listening to Last Crusade, nope it IS Harry Potter…these are the sort of thoughts this cue provokes. Williams, Across The Stars in hand, running to the autopilot button.

Jango’s Escape:
Best described as slightly generic (but enjoyable) action music this cue is saved from that classification by a middle eastern motif at the end which is so interesting, so non-sequiter that it makes complete sense. This is afterall Star Wars. Worth noting about this cue is the fact that it is more theme driven (that is it’s own theme) that the occasionally rambling action music in TPM.

The Meadow Picnic:
One of those times you star to wonder if perhaps Mr. Potter is the troubled youth Padme is falling for. The love theme sure is nice in this cue and the dark spell in the second half is wholly engrossing…too bad the instrumentation and cutesy presentation of the love theme at the 1:40 mark (as much as I like it) draws comparissons to The Sorcerers Stone.

Bounty Hunter’s Pursuit:
Cue the frenzied battle music, then get quiet and then deliver simply the best rendition of the Trade Federation march and you’ve got this track…

Return To Tatooine:
The cutesy music in the beginning is o­nly preamble to this, o­ne of the strongest cues. It introduces a motif which I assume belongs to Anakin in his troubled state. Much like the V’ger cloud keyboard ostinato from Star Trek: TMP it neatly segues into the Force theme and Duel of the Fates…which offers the cool dichotomy of the two. Anakin’s fate is summed up musically in about thirty seconds.

The Tusken Camp And The Homestead:
The BIGGEST dissapointment of the album. I almost held off o­n listening to this cue for fear it would take away from the emotional power of watching the scene it underscores. But with the exception of a bittersweet rendition of Shmi’s theme from TPM it is pretty uninteresting largely anti-climatic. Sure it has it’s moments but pales in comparisson to the next two cues and doesn’t offer what we really want in this scene: the full blown imperial march.

Love Pledge and The Arena:
William’s finally ditches the Harry Potter-esque handling of the love theme in favor of a more mature rendition which segues into a fun Belly of the Steel Beast-esque cue underscoring the Arena battle. It is williams back o­n the top of his game action wise.

Confrontation…End Credits
Interesting chorus piece (Count Dooku’s Theme?) which segues into Hands down the BEST rendition of the Imperial March. Whoever orchestrated this deserves the oscar themselves, it is VERY powerful (which is no small feat considering we’ve all heard this theme countless times). It segues into ANOTHER (thankfully) mature rendition of Across the Stars…another musical contrast that William’s pulls off effortlessly. The theme segues (organically, not suddenly and forced like in ROTJ and TPM) into the end credits…Luke Skywalker’s theme and Across The Stars make up the majority of the cue. Many fans were wondering how he would handle the end of the credits since his last credits cue was written off as a simple snip and play job of the concert versions of Duel Of The Fates and Anakin’s Theme. Thankfully he stuck to his guns and offers the tail end of a new arrangement of Anakin’s Theme, which ends with an even darker Imperial March than TPM. Musically, Anakin’s fate is sealed.