Music CD or something else:

A Review of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

by Istvan Urcuyo

Unless you have been on vacation in the far reaches of the known universe, you probably already know that there is a new addition to the Star Wars world. Shadows of the Empire is the newest hype on this side of the galaxy. Ever since 1991, the captivating new Star Wars stories have been told through books, comics or video games. Shadows of the Empire, however, is the first one that is set in the time between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and that utilizes all three of this media venues (plus a soundtrack) to tell one story. Shadows of the Empire tells the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia , Darth Vader and introduces the new character Xizor.

The story will be sold with the help of twenty-five licensees. It will include books, soundtracks, a 64-bit Nintendo video game and even a comic book series. This enhanced CD is only one part of this multimedia endeavor. Shadows of the Empire enhanced CD features a gallery of artwork by well renowned Star Wars artist such as Ralph McQuirre and Drew Struzan. It also includes other Shadows marketing information such as toys, books, video games, biographies, pictures from the music recording session, in Glasgow, Scotland and examples of the "Imperial Language". This is the language that was created exclusively for the chorus in this CD. All of these you will find aplenty in this CD. Do not, however, expect to find interactive demos or high resolution graphics. Here is what this CD is all about: it's excellent music as performed by the 90-piece Royal Scottish National Orchestra and their 150-member chorus. I want to make it clear that I am not a professional music reviewer but like you, I know what good music should sound like, and believe me, there is quality music in this CD.

Varese Sarabande Records commissioned the composition of the first-ever orchestral score not inspired by a movie, but by a book. The musical selections offer over 50 minutes of listening pleasure and include the following tracks: Main Theme from Star Wars and Leia' Nightmare, The Battle of Gall, Beggar's Canyon Chase, Imperial City, The Southern Underground, Xixor's Theme, The Seduction of Princess Leia, Night Skies (which includes the Imperial March), Into The Sewers and The Destruction of Xizor's Palace. Almost all of these selections were composed and conducted by Joel McNeely. This is the same Joel whose credits include the musical scores for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and the new movie release Flipper. The music is not intended to be listened to while reading the book but, rather, it is meant to be an adventure unto itself. An adventure limited only by the bounds of your imagination.

The enhanced CD is at home in either your music CD player or in your computer CD-ROM drive. There is no hard drive installation involved as the program runs straight from the CD and I expect that this is the reason for the long loading time. Navigation through the menus is rather easy but a little in the dull side. There is not much variety between the different areas and I can understand how a non-Star-Wars fan (if there is such a creature) could consider this experience less than interesting. Due in part to the limited graphics capabilities of the program and mostly because of the small font size, be prepared to undergo a significant amount of eye strain as you attempt to read the numerous and lengthy on-screen descriptions. But don't despair, for your efforts you will be rewarded with some of the magnificent artwork used to illustrate Shadows. Then again, maybe by the time you get there, your eyes will be so tired that you will not be able to fully appreciate them. It's Ok, you can always close your eyes and listen to the wonderful music.

486-33 or higher running Windows 95 or Windows 3.1x,
5 MB of RAM;
Video display capable of at least 640x480 resolution with 256 colors;
Double Speed CD-ROM or faster;
Soundblaster or compatible sound card with Windows drivers.

Overall Score:

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