John Powell - composer for Han Solo (w/ theme by John Williams)

HAHA! That's source music, not score. What about score?

 

I am honestly surprised that no one is talking in this thread about the genius track that is "Mine Mission"! It's fun, it's catchy, the motif packs a lot of punch without being too over-the-top, and it has enough variety that the best parts aren't driven into the ground (looking at you, TFA Resistance theme).

I agree with some that the tone of the soundtrack doesn't quite match the film in places, but the sheer musical quality of Powell's work more than outweighs those misgivings. I would say the most accurate criticism should be that Powell tries to sound like Williams in the majority of cues, but the heavy percussion sections and vaguely-ethnic choral bits make the score feel slightly bipolar in focus. Honestly, looking at the score as a whole, it sounds more like Kevin Kiner's work for Star Wars: The Clone Wars than an extension of Williams' genius - which isn't bad, just different.

 

found Chicken in the Pot (Vos' band music) but the version on the album doesn't have the epic green guy in the jar bass voice



Still a very catchy tune anyway but green dude with the sweet deep voice kicks it up to another level.

 

Chicken in the Pot is one of the funniest, most interesting, most disturbing song in all of Star Wars. I listen to it all the time I have it on Google Play - don't know about the frog dude, but there are two voices...

 

The fact that the green jar guy is nowhere to be found in the record version is such a bummer.

 

I agree but I would guess it's the same performance on the album version but some (admittedly genius) came up with the idea to digitally pitch him way downward which is how you got the greatness of the film version.

 

I just noticed that at 3:34 in Train Heist there's a brief use of the ANH Empire theme!

Previously only Rogue One reused that theme, twice in Krennic' Aspirations. So cool to realise that it was in Solo too. Now all 3 pre-Empire Strikes Back Dark Times movies use this theme (and the only use of the Imperial March was for Vader in R1). Love the consistency

 

Nice interview here with John Powell at starwars.com...
https://www.starwars.com/news/solo-a-star-wars-story-composer-john-powell

Yeah, that is a really, really nice touch. It just goes to show the level of love and detail that goes into making these films. Especially the scores. People have complained about Powell re-using Williams' cues, but I think he did it in a way that both paid tribute to JW and also gave us some lovely variations and expansions upon on existing cues. I hope he gets asked back to score more Star Wars in the future.

 

Filmscoremedia has posted a number of tracks ripped from the bluray, including the Duel of the Fates reprise:

 

Ok, just rewatched the movie to get a better sense of the OST order. Most of it's fine, all in order, no cue splitting, up until Savareen, where the order is thusly:

The Good Guy (0:00-1:50)
Savareen Stand-Off
The Good Guy (1:50- 3:58)
The Good Guy (3:58-End)
Testing Allegiance
Good Thing You Were Listening

The reason for splitting The Good Guy into 3 is that there are unreleased tracks between cues 2 and 3.

For a full soundtrack experience, utilising Filmscoremedia's Bluray rips, this is the order, coming to 37 tracks, X means unreleased.

Meet Han
Lady Proxima (X)
Corellia Chase
Spaceport
Mimban Battle parts 1 and 2 (X)
Han the Deserter (X)
The Mud Pit parts 1 and 2 (X)
Flying with Chewie
Planning the Heist (X)
Train Heist
Marauders Arrive
Dryden's Yacht (X)
Chicken in the Pot
Han and Qi'ra Reunited (X)
Meeting Dryden (X)
Test Me One More Time (X)
Is this Seat Taken? (FSM's vid) (X)
Is this Seat Taken? (OST is the rest of the scene)
L3 and Millenium Falcon
Hyperspace (X)
Lando's Closet
Trust No One
Kessel Arrival (X)
Break in (X)
Mine Mission
Break Out
Reminiscence Therapy
Into the Maw
The Good Guy (Cue 1)
Savareen Stand-Off
The Good Guy (Cue 2) [Coaxium Gambit]
Beckett's Betrayal (X)
The Good Guy (Cue 3) [Triple Cross]
The Final Duel (X)
Testing Allegiances
Qi'ra Contacts Maul (X)
Good Thing You Were Listening
Beckett's Death (X)
Don't Hold Your Breath (X)
Dice and Roll
The Adventures of Han (Unused in the film, concert suite)

 

Did they do a Music Only release for this one?

 

Sadly not, SFX and occasional dialogue is present in the tracks ripped from the bluray.

 

Boooo....

 

Love this Williams cue from the end.

 

I finally got a copy this yesterday. Pretty good stuff. But I like the RO score better.

 

I absolutely love this soundtrack. I've had it playing in my car since May and the only track I skip most of the time is Chicken in the Pot. I just don't dig the gibberish sounding language.

 

Sorry, Howard but I agree with GK. I do love the Solo score, but I love the Rogue One score more.

 

I said RO, not ROTK.

If only Powell could have worked in the Moth theme somewhere...

 

LOL the Moth theme.

 

The International Film Music Critics Association has handed out its annual awards, Solo won three of them:

- Film Score of the Year
- Best Score of the Year for a Fantasy / Science Fiction / Horror Film
- Film Music Composition of the Year for "The Adventures of Han” by John Williams

In the last category Solo had also been nominated for "Mine Mission".

http://filmmusiccritics.org/2019/02/ifmca-award-winners-2018/

Makes it even worse that they failed to hand things in in time for the Oscar deadline. Not that the two awards are all that closely connected, but at least it shows that a nomination might have been possible.

 

The Solo score was 10x better than Black Panther.

 

Solo is my favourite SW feature film since ROTS and IMO the best score of the four new films so far. The love theme and Dryden's theme are incredible. I only wish the sound mix of the film had the score featured more prominently.

 

I do like it, but I can't say that. I think the Saga films (ST) by Williams are the best work since ROTS.

 

Nobody talking about the extended ost yet? Downloaded from amazon. It's great. Gives it chance to breath.