The Best Versions of the Star Wars Original Soundtrack Albums Review

A long time ago (1978) but not in a galaxy far, far away, on my 15th birthday a friend of the family's presented me with the two-record (LP) album of music from the original soundtrack from the film then simply known as Star Wars.

The two-record album came in a record sleeve with a white-on-black rendering of the Star Wars logo and the words "original soundtrack composed and conducted by John Williams, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra" on the front, and a stylized rendering of Darth Vader's helmet and breath mask on the back, along with the track lists for both records.

I was 15 at the time and had just gotten my first stereo system, and because I had that youthful ardor for Star Wars that bordered on insane obsession, I listened to the records until they became unplayable due to needle scratches. 

What I didn't realize because I didn't keep my liner notes (I was 15!) was that most original soundtrack albums are usually abridged "samplers" of music from movies and television soundtracks rather than complete note-by-note releases of complete scores.  Maybe back in the days of vinyl records, producers only had X amount of time in a record and putting out a complete score of 90 minutes or more of music would require three to four vinyl discs and making the resulting albums too expensive.  Or perhaps they figured there wasn't enough of a demand for complete scores because listeners have short attention spans and don't really "dig" classical music.

Eventually, I became aware that all of the "original soundtrack albums" for the Star Wars Trilogy released between 1977 and 1983 were essentially "best musical bits" from the scores chosen and placed purely for aesthetic reasons and not necessarily in chronological order.

Nevertheless, when the double album of the music from The Empire Strikes Back was released in May 1980, I bought it.  And when the surprisingly short Return of the Jedi single LP soundtrack came out three years later, I got it as well.

By 1994, when I bought a four-CD box set titled The Star Wars Trilogy Soundtrack Anthology, I began to start hoping that someday John Williams would team up with record producer and soundtrack specialist Nick Redman, the guy who essentially re-edited the 1977-1983 albums into expanded versions by putting the tracks roughly in chronological order, adding unreleased tracks and lengthening a few of the original ones, while keeping the concert-hall arrangements pretty much intact.

My hope, of course, was that Williams, who had produced the albums for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, would work with Redman on more complete rendeings of the Star Wars trilogy scores.

Lo and behold, when Lucasfilm Limited and 20th Century Fox released The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition in 1997 to celebrate the saga's 20th Anniversary, RCA Victor released three two-CD sets which contained the complete scores to Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

As a lover of film music and a fan of John Williams' film scores, I've tried to purchase as many different Star Wars album as my budget and common sense will allow.  I don't have all of the "covers" by other conductors and orchestras, such as the ones by Nic Raine and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, but I do have all the John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra soundtracks.

I thus offer readers and newcomers to the topic of Williams' Star Wars soundtrack recordings with ths short list of the very best ones currently available.

Star Wars: A New Hope (1997 Special Edition 2-CD Set): What sets the Special Edition soundtrack from its two previous CD releases (the now out-of-print Polydor 2-CD reprise of the original 1977 LP album, and Disc 1 of the 4-disc 1993 Star Wars Trilogy Soundtrack Anthology) is that it contains every cue from the film's score, allowing listeners to hear previously unreleased material used in the movie but not released on vinyl, cassette, or compact disc.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1997 Special Edition 2-CD Set): This Special Edition CD is the definitive version of Williams' magnificent score for the middle film of the Classic Trilogy, containing every note heard in the movie. As in the previous 2-CD set of the series, its 23 tracks (11 on Disc 1, 12 on Disc 2) are arranged in the order in which they appear in the film - plus one cue that was recorded but never used.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1997 Special Edition 2-CD Set): Like the previous Special Edition 2-CD sets, Jedi's score is presented fully here, but has had two cues from 1983 replaced by Jedi Rocks and Victory Celebration.

Star Wars Trilogy 2004 Sony Classical DVD Companion Box Set: Essentially, this six-disk set contains the same music as the '97 Special Edition soundtracks with new packaging to match the 2004 Star Wars Trilogy DVD set. It's musically complete but lacks liner notes.

The Star Wars Trllogy Soundtrack Anthology: in 1993, Arista Records hired Nick Rodman to reconstruct the 1977-1983 original soundtracks to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and expand the musical content somewhat, especially for the last album, which was released at the twilight of the Vinyl Era as a one-record set instead of the double-LP format which had been used for the first two soundtracks. 

Redman kept most of Williams' arrangements (known in the trade as "concert hall" versions) pretty much intact, but by adding unreleased "cues" and expanding a few existing tracks, he came up with a four-CD box set that matched more closely the music to the scenes in which it was used.  For purists who don't like the Special Editions or the Prequel Trilogy, this now out-of-print box set is like the Holy Grail of Star Wars music.

Star Wars Episode I - The Ultimate Edition: . As in the Special Editions of the Classic Trilogy, this two-CD collection contains every note composed by John Williams for the first Star Wars prequel.  It has wonderful selections and it's all presented chronologically, and it includes the audio track from the video which was shown on MTV in April of 1999.  However, Sony Classical didn't include any liner notes, choosing instead to do a booklet with illustrated track listings.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Original Soundtrack Recording: Although it's an abridged edition like most of the one-disc soundtrack albums, Williams' final Star Wars score shines through anyway, and Sony Classical added a bonus DVD: Star Wars: A Musical Journey.


Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes: Cantina Band #1 and #2 One of three "singles" of tracks from the Special Edition,, this short gem includes both Cantina Band pseudo-jazz tracks from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.