BrandonDaCollector wrote:
My super special Star Wars Deluxe Soundtrack Collection Box Set! Oh man, this is one of My prized SW items of all-time too! My Mom got it for My 15th Birthday in 1996 (that was one of My most memorable ones ever!) and I was really, really surprised she got it for Me because I had no idea it existed back then (this was before the time of the web in general). She may have gotten it at Peaches/Sound Warehouse Records (It was Peaches before that---gosh that place was awesome!) but I think she got it at some cool store at Crestwood Plaza Mall. Anyway, if you read My commentary in My Video Game topic then you know I love movie music, My Grandpa did too, he taught Me how to respect & love it. He had the SWOT on vinyl records and we played the heck outta of them. We upgraded to CD sometime later. Anyway this special set has four discs, 3 from the OT and one bonus CD with alternatives and never before released material which this was a big deal then till they released the special edition OT complete movie scores some years later. This also included a large and thick but fantastic booklet of art, pics of John Williams and so forth. This was when SW was so fun!
So since I'm getting to the nitty-gritty of the Original Trilogy I thought I'd extend My SW Score Set even further because that is a very special set I have noted above. This will be an awesome update
Even though My Mom got Me this for My 15th Birthday in 1996, this special set actually was released in 1993 which was 30 years ago this year I hope there's still other people out there there that has this collection and cherishes it because there wasn't a set like it before nor since. I have read recent comments from people that actually was late at buying it as recent as 2016 and was praising it so at least there's some out there Here is the 1993 Copyright & More plus the back of the cover with the great Star Wars scores and even the Outtakes that is featured
I have explained how SW made it's comeback in the early 90s throughout My great topic especially with My recent Micro Machines showcase. Now this was the first time that Star Wars had a treatment like this on Compact Disc I mean this was pretty big back then if you were a fan of the franchise and you loved the music. No serious SW fan should skip something of this magnitude of grandeur. In fact this really was the first major item of media that was made during this great period of time however you could consider, count and coincide the Video Games that I showcased here Rebel Assault & SNES' Star Wars Trilogy that was around this great time as well. Now this was originally going to be a FIVE-DISC Set but since Lucas was already planning the Special Edition Trilogy (see My VHS Special in My previous showcase for his special interview) they ran into issues and had to scrap the whole second bonus disc which My-o-My how cool that would have been Now usually I want nice & clear pictures but I made an exception because the fronts of the jewel cases are so dark a glare on My pics actually helps see them more clearly
Here is the backs of the jewel cases. You can click them in a new tab for massive detail.
Again here is the 4th bonus disc with the Outtakes, it's truly one of a kind edition with alternative cues that was never released before and it's the longest of all of the CDs which is over an hour which i always prefer. I know PB said in My Vintage Wrestling Theme CD Collection showcase that you can go to YouTube and listen to these in five seconds. Sure it's a convenient way but really, trying getting all of this original material in this order and most of all it doesn't compare to the special time this was from not to mention the Case & Booklet it has included I mean those are some big time collector's items within themselves
Now here's inside of the jewel cases. I love the CDs of this set. Like I had explained in My Vintage Wrestling Topic's Wrestling Theme CD Collection showcase of when they were making CDs more fancy, they were experimenting then in the early 90s but it was mostly with special editions & collector's sets, not standard issues. These CDs are truly remarkable. The first three has concept art on them and here they are
A New Hope has Luke Skywalker as he first appeared as George Lucas' original intended concept of Luke Starkiller, stuff like this is in the great booklet seen above. Look at that
Here's this one from The Empire Strikes Back with the Tauntaun concept being a bipedal reptilian creature that would eventually be the predecessor for The Blurrg: Beast of Burden seen in the 1985 Ewok: Battle for Endor film as well as The Mandalorian TV Show in recent times, so cool
For Return of the Jedi is really just a concept that was used for the scene when the heroes escape Jabba the Hutt and blow up his Sail Barge during the great battle at the The Pit of Carkoon
Now here is a great one of The Outtakes and how apropos that they chose John Williams to be on this. Record companies never show the composers enough in their releases and countless times they don't even include one picture at all which really I believe led Me to know these great talented masters of music even further
Here is a look at the set...
and another with the back of the booklet.
Oh boy, here we go, this maybe the final showcase of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire as I may present with only bonuses here & there. As seen earlier within My big 2-Part SW: SOTE Showcase I first experienced this wonderful score over at Blockbuster Music in the year of change 1996 with My Mom. Fast forward she got it for Me for Christmas in 1999. I have played this countless times, more than any other SW Score and IMO it's the best and most fun of them all. I pity any big SW fan that has never heard this or even gave this a world. You do not know what your missing and once you hear it you will be hooked on it 4-Life Here is the front & back of the CD jewel case
Here's the inside with the inner booklet & CD, the booklet is just so exciting
Here's another look at the cool blue CD and the 1996 Varèse Sarabande & Lucasfilm Copyright. Varèse Sarabande is a soundtrack specialty company that I have tons of scores from. Their really your most ideal company, even more than Intrada is which is hard to believe if you know movie scores
So inside the bookle we are greeted by Prince Xizor and a special word from the president of the company Varèse Sarabande, Robert Townson. He was best friends with the late great legendary Jerry Goldsmith and they released countless titles of his over the decades, even his wonderful rejected score to 2003's Timeline which this years marks it's 20th anniversary and that was such a treat
Now the booklet is really detailed as it shows the new places in this nearly forgotten story since the Disney takeover marks most if not all of this as legends It tells all about it. A note from the composer Joel McNeely. I love Leia's Nightmare, this is the best version of the Carbon Freeze cue. I absolutely adore Battle of Gall, it's so fun to listen to and I love the choir in Imperial City, back then we never saw the location, SOTE was the first to show it and the music was made perfectly to envision it
Beggar's Canyon Chase is also another fun one however I always thought it sounded like something that the late great legendary James Horner would write. Prince Xizor's theme is really haunting and the Seduction of Princess Leia has such a tremendous Waltz motif to it, so darn good
Here is a nice look at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra & Chorus as well as a look at the composer Joel McNeely, now this is how you make music
Like I noted in My great Composers topic, many composers start their careers as assistants to others then make their way to TV Shows & Video Games. This is exactly how Joel McNeely got his start and boy what a start it was. McNeely was basically hand picked by George Lucas & John Williams as he composed the The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and won an Emmy for it. In the booklet it tells a lot about him which you can click in a new tab for maximized detail. In fact this booklet is most impressive as Lord Vader would say because it shows him a bit here. In 1997 he re-performed the complete score of Bernard Herrmann's 1960 Psycho as it was never released before with the same said orchestra above and in 1999 he would compose the score for the sci-fi horror film Virus which was a tremendous score. He would do much more later on. He is truly a great one
Here is the chorus, words & notes of Dha Werda Verda from The Destruction of Xizor's Palace, it's so extraordinary to listen to this epic piece of music, it's one of the greatest cues of ever, of all-time IMO
Here is a cool picture of the Millennium Falcon all of the info that you need to know about the score and all about the orchestra that made this possible plus another look at the 1996 Varèse Sarabande & Lucasfilm Copyright
Here's a special pic I took with the booklet folded out to reveal the fantastic poster that I have always loved and I placed My Vintage Kenner SOTE Dash Rendar with it since he wasn't on the cover for whatever reason. You can see him more and My entire collection as well as My SOTE FAN FICTION on the previous page in My great massive showcase
Finally here is My original Star Wars Score Box Set seen above with My Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Score in all their great Classic Vintage beauty the way Star Wars is meant to be seen & heard IMO, look at that
Wow, I can't believe that I did that, it turned out so good It's so great showcasing something like this from a time like that when SW was coming back I hope you liked this and were a bit surprised I hope you give all of this a go and check it out on YT or even consider acquiring it for yourself in a physical manner I mean it's all so fun and it's a such a great way to relive the days of when Star Wars was still superb Next I will present one of My most anticipated entries and that will be the great PC Video Game Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight which is is arguably My favorite SW video games and this will be so radical, until then I'll see you around