Full, unbiased, detailed review of the TFA musical score.

The New: John Williams gave us Rey’s theme, which has got to be one of the most beautiful pieces that I have EVER heard in a film score. So much heart, so beautiful, and so epic. It is everything a Star Wars theme should be, and it fits Rey’s character wonderfully. He then gave us Kylo’s entrance “riff.” Sure, it’s not a full theme, but it’s menacing, iconic, and also fits his character perfectly. I LOVE hearing it when Kylo is arriving on the scene. Then we have The March of the Resistance. This track is so reminiscent of older action fanfares (Indiana Jones style flicks). It’s epic, and reminds me VERY much of the Battle of Endor riffs. I will always picture a squad of X-Wings flying across the water when I hear the tune. I love it. In the end, Williams introduced the Jedi Steps tune. It reminds me of his Harry Potter type scores. Very intriguing, beautiful, and above all, catchy. I except we’ll be hearing more of this one in the future. Then we also have other tracks that are not necessarily themes, but are beautiful nonetheless (“Farewell and the Trip”).

The Old: Williams brought back Luke’s theme (also frequently called “The Force Theme,” which is another reason I’m not completely convinced Rey is Luke’s daughter), Han and Leia’s theme, the Bespin/Falcon cascade, the SW action Fanfare, and the Imperial March briefly for the shot of Vader’s helmet. And of course the main theme and credits (duh).

The John Williams Effect: John Williams is a master of varying his themes to fit a certain scene. He’ll change the scale or key to conform to a certain mood. He displays this so well with the meshing of Rey’s and Luke’s themes in the battle in the woods, also utilizing the minor scale. He also does this with other themes throughout the film. So cool to hear.

Comparisons: This score is a very different style from the prequel soundtracks, but so were the OT soundtracks. With the prequel music, he tried to display a much more ancient and regal era, utilizing choral groups more often (Duel of the Fates……Order 66….etc.). It worked well for the films! The music was definitely one of the prequels strengths. But with TFA and the OT, the scores are much more fun, conveying a sense of adventure rather than seriousness. Let’s also compare it to the ROTJ score for reference. With that film, we got the Emperor’s theme, the Battle of Endor riffs, and a couple themes for the Ewoks. Other than that, the music was recycled themes from the previous films, which we know is the way to go. When you look at ratio of old to new musical content, TFA gave us just as much, if not more.

The bad: To me, the ONLY thing working against the TFA score is the nostalgia effect. People have been hearing the OT themes for over 30 years now, and have so many memories linked to those pieces of music. The new TFA music has been around for a couple of days. Give it time.

Considering all of the above, I think John Williams delivered big time. What more could I expect or want from a Star Wars score? Nothing at all. I love it. To all the haters out there, please chill out and give it a chance.