The Force Awakens Soundtracks (Yes, That Is Plural!)

I am a huge John Williams fan, and if you haven't been listening to the Rebel Force Radio podcast, which is a *must*, then you must at the very least be listening the Star Wars Oxygen on the same podcast feed. They do a deep down analysis of every major motif in each of the films.

I am particularly excited to have learned that Disney has released an alternative set of tracks for consideration of awards like the Oscars. This album has been dubbed For Your Consideration (FYC) and each track is available to download free! You can find the track on this John Williams fan site: The Force Awakens - For Your Consideration.

In the forums of this site, someone has gone to a lot of trouble to breakdown and analyze each track along with the original soundtrack (OST). Here are the results: Detailed track breakdowns

Below I have summarized what new material you get in the FYC version as compared to the OST version:

• No main title on FYC.
• FYC 03 The Scavenger - The first 35 seconds of The Scavenger (OST 02) is omitted
• FYC 05 I Can Fly Anything - The first 60 seconds are new (vs. OST 05)
• FYC 06 Finn's Trek - All new!
• FYC 09 Snoke - All new, though choral track is same as OST 17
• FYC 10 You Got A Name? - The first 45 seconds are new (vs. OST 10)
• FYC 11 I'm No Hero - Extended new material by 54 seconds (vs. OST 10)
• FYC 13 Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle - Extended new material by 14 seconds (vs OST 13)
• FYC 14 The Resistance - All new!
• FYC 17 The Bombing Run - All new!
• FYC 18 On the Inside - The first 48 seconds are new (vs OST 18)
• FYC 20 The Ways of the Force - The first 80 seconds are new (vs OST 20)

You can find the details in the track breakdown list above, but here is a summary of how you can make your own The Force Awakens playlist that follows very closely to the order of the film using tracks from both of these releases. Enjoy!

CONCERT ARRANGEMENTS

OST 06 Rey's Theme

OST 16 March of the Resistance

OST 17 Snoke

OST 21 Schero for X-Wings

FILM

OST 01 Opening Title/The Attack on the Jakku Village

OST 02 The Scavenger

FYC 05 I Can Fly Anything

FYC 06 Finn's Trek

FYC 07 Follow Me & The Falcon

OST 08 That Girl with the Staff

OST 09 The Rathtars!

FYC 09 Snoke

FYC 10 You Got A Name?

FYC 11 I'm No Hero

OST 11 Maz's Counsel

FYC 12 The Starkiller

FYC 13 Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle

FYC 14 The Resistance

OTC 14 The Abduction

OTC 15 Han and Leia

FYC 17 The Bombing Run

FYC 18 On The Inside

FYC 19 Torn Apart

OST 20 The Ways of the Force

FYC 21 The Journey Home

FYC 22 Farwell and The Trip

FYC 23 The Jedi Steps and Finale

Your Own Theme Music

This is a short blog post on a type of music I have really gotten into over the past few years - epic music. You may have noticed in trailers for video games and movies that the background music is different from what might be on the actual official soundtrack. A perfect example of this is the music to the trailer for Inception. The incredible work is *not* done by Hans Zimmer, even though he did the soundtrack. It was written by Zack Hemsey and you can find the song, Mind Heist, on You Tube.

The song that started this all for me was Immediate's Darkness on the Edge of Power. Follow the link and listen to it now. This will give you an idea of what I am talking about! What I love about this is that you can listen to it while working, driving, household chores, or any mundane task and it adds an element of significance and drama to what you are doing. It helps me to focus and work more efficiently - especially those mind-numbing repetitive tasks you just have to do.

I imagine most of these musicians and fans, such as me, can trace their interest in this style of music to the seminal works of John Williams. So there is your Star Wars tie-in to this blog!

You Tube has a huge selection of epic music to listen to with a simple search. The musicians for this whole sub-genre of music have started releasing "public" albums of their works. They are amazing and you should buy them on Amazon and iTunes! Here are my top choices, ranked in order:

Invincible by Two Steps From Hell
This "group", which I think has a lousy name, is probably the best of any of the epic music musicians. This particular album has wall-to-wall greatness. My favorite is Velocitron.

Illusions by Thomas Bergersen
This album is by one of the members of Two Steps From Hell. There is not a single bad track on this album either. It is hard to pick my favorite, but I'd say Immortal and Rada are my top two.

Trailerhead: Saga by Immediate
This album has my first favorite, Darkness on the Edge of Power, which I mentioned earlier. It is hard ranking this album only third, but I'd say these top three are all "must buys".

I would also recommend any of the soundtracks by Hans Zimmer. He is an amazing talent. Two Steps From Hell has several other albums out as well (check out Aesir from Archangel), which I would recommend. But I hesitate a bit with SkyWorld. There are a few vocal tracks on that album that just don't fit and one of them is just plain bad.

Immediate also has several albums out that are all great. Take a listen to How to Control the Dream from Trailerhead: Triumph and The Reluctant Warrior from the original Trailerhead.

Lastly, I will mention Globus, which has some great choral type of music. My personal favorite of their's is Preliator. It sounds like a martialing of an army heading to a decisive battle.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the albums have 20+ tracks and if you get the MP3 version it is only nine or ten bucks - a fantastic bargain!