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Classic Album Review: John Williams | Star Wars: Episode 2 — Attack of the Clones Soundtrack

The space opera's latest score includes some darker, heavier and more urgent fare.

This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


If the score to George Lucas’s latest Star Wars instalment is any sign, Attack Of The Clones might turn out to be the action-packed adventure it purports to be. At least some of the time.

Along with the usual sweeping, swooping, neo-classical pablum you anticipate from John Williams, this 73-minute score includes a few fresh moments. The Force is strong in tracks like Zam The Assassin, Bounty Hunter’s Pursuit, The Chase Through Coruscant and Jango’s Escape, which are as urgent as their titles suggest. Darker, heavier and more intense than typical Star Wars fare, their propulsive percussion and stabbing strings make you wonder if Bernard Herrmann was Williams’ real father. That is, until you hear glop like The Meadow Picnic, Across the Stars (Love Theme from Attack of the Clones) — I kid you not — and the umpteenth recording of that damned theme song. Enough, already. That’s one clone we could all do without.

 

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