I personally really love some of Michael Giacchino’s scores. I find myself listening to his scores for Up, Ratatouille and Tomorrowland from time to time. I have always thought that Giacchino would be perfect for a Star Wars film if Williams wasn’t going to do one for once. Now, with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, that little dream has come true. Just like with Jurassic World, Giacchino takes some of Williams’ themes and gives them a new spin. The result is a score that sounds both familiar and different.

Before Giacchino was assigned to the task of scoring Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Alexandre Desplat was the one to give us the first non-Williams Star Wars score. Desplat however, who worked with Gareth Edwards before on Godzilla (2014), left the project because of scheduling issues, and Giacchino took his place. Reportedly, Giacchino had only four and a half weeks to compose the score to the first Star Wars anthology film. Imagine what a daunting task that would have been: Giacchino not only had the challenge to compose the score to an entire film in such a short time, he also had to compose a score that would do the saga justice and wouldn’t stand in the shadows of all those iconic Williams scores, which have embedded themselves in pop culture for a very long time.

The album opens with the track He’s Here For Us, which sets a clear mood: a sense of danger and sometimes even urgency. Most of the tracks on the first half of the album have either or even both of those moods. However, sometimes you can hear short hopeful or heroic themes. The iconic Binary Sunset, which has become the theme for hope in the Star Wars saga, is heard a few times throughout the soundtrack, giving us the feeling that despite all the horrors of war, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. There’s no doubt that this fits this film, which has been described as a gritty war film which will directly tie into A New Hope. The story of stealing the plans for the Death Star is without a doubt one of danger and cautious optimism. After all, we know that (spoilers for A New Hope, a movie which you’ve probably seen anyway) they eventually succeed and the Rebellion gets to destroy the Death Star. However, we don’t know what sacrifices had to be made to retrieve these plans.

Binary Sunset isn’t the only iconic Williams theme we get to hear, however. The track Krennic’s Aspirations gives us a snippet of The Imperial March, which is without a doubt one of the most iconic pieces of music in pop culture, if not ever. It doesn’t sound as bombastic as the track in score to The Empire Stikes Back. Instead, it has that same feeling of dread the other tracks have. Even though we only hear a short sample of it, it’s a very good one, one that fits the intimidating image of Vader slowly walking towards you, as we saw in one of the trailers. The track AT-ACT Assault also contains a very familiar theme: the Rebel Fanfare, which sounds great in between the urgent and chaotic vibes a lot of the tracks seem to have.

As the score progresses, we get more and more of those glimmers of hope. However, near the end of the soundtrack, that hope is accompanied by a sense of tragedy. The track Your Father Would Be Proud mixes those moods and the result is quite beautiful. There’s a sense of loss, but there’s also a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s quite different from the tracks before it. The track after that, called Hope, starts of with a bombastic choir, which actually fills you with fear. After that, we hear The Imperial March, making a short but bombastic return. Finally, it ends on the Binary Sunset theme. This track is short, but quite climactic.

After Hope, there are only three tracks left: Jyn Erso & Hope Suite, The Imperial Suite, and Guardians Of The Whills Suite. These three tracks are the best tracks on the album. All three of them highlight Giacchino’s new themes. Jyn Erso & Hope Suite is probably the most beautiful track on the album. It highlights the theme in a beautiful way that is also really different from the rest of the album. It sounds hopeful, but with hints of tragedy. At some points, it actually seems to channel Across The Stars a bit. The Imperial Suite gives us the danger-filled and urgent themes we’ve heard in many of the tracks that have come before it. Guardians Of The Whills Suite is one that, just like Jyn Erso & Hope Suite, has a real sense of hope. In the middle of the track, it explodes with brass and a choir, which sounds great when you turn the volume up.

Listening to the entire album, it is actually surprising how sparingly Giacchino uses Williams’ iconic themes. There’s never a full-on Imperial March, but merely a few snippets of it. That’s not a bad things, of course. After all, we’ve heard them so many times that the introduction of new themes is welcomed. The new themes are quite solid. Although not entirely memorable, they succeed in conveying the emotions they’re supposed to convey.

But this score also has a weakness: it stands in the shadows of those incredibly memorable Star Wars scores. It’s a weakness that was, unfortunately, unavoidable. This is not just Giacchino’s problem, because even Williams couldn’t succeed creating another Imperial March when composing the score to The Force Awakens. Perhaps this is just too much to ask. Perhaps this is just a matter of expectations, which have become high in a franchise with such iconic music. Time will tell which tracks we’ll be humming in a few years.

Also, the first half of the album may be a bit forgettable. Many of the tracks in that first half all have the same feel and sound. It’s the second part, from Krennic’s Aspirations and beyond, when the score really becomes worth your time. It’s from that point when the tracks really start to feel indistinguishable. It’s from there when the tracks become really exciting.

With the soundtrack to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Giacchino tries to emulate the iconic Williams sound. The result, however, is exactly that: it sounds like someone desperately trying to emulate the sound and not succeeding completely, instead of actually nailing it. Compared to Williams’ other scores in this franchise, Giacchino’s is too bland at times to really live up to them. It’s not as complex as Williams’ scores. Perhaps this is a result of a lack of time, which is unfortunate. We can only guess at what Desplat would have brought to the score.

Giacchino’s score may stand in the shadows of those iconic pieces of music which have embedded themselves into pop culture, it’s still not a bad score, with some fresh new themes and some brief appearances of familiar ones. It tries to emulate the Williams feel, but it doesn’t fully succeed at it, which is a shame, because Giacchino does have it in him to create a good score. Because of this, the score feels both different and familiar. Still, to create a score like this in just four and a half weeks is quite the achievement. Perhaps, given more time, Giacchino’s score could have really shone.

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