Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Music CD

Varèse Sarabande Records is thrilled to announce the re-release of the music for Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire by GRAMMY®-nominated composer Joel McNeely. 

Alongside the Shadows of the Empire multimedia project, (which included a novel, comic book and video game), a full soundtrack was composed by Joel McNeely and recorded with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Samples of the soundtrack were used in both versions of the Shadows of the Empire game, with the Windows version containing many of the full tracks. The album art features the main Star Wars characters and was created by legendary illustrator Drew Struzan (Blade Runner, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future). 

The Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire game was developed and published by LucasArts for Nintendo 64 on December 3, 1996, and sold one million copies in its first year. A version for Microsoft Windows followed in 1997, and sold out reissues have kept the game alive amongst the Star Wars fan base since its release over 20 years ago.

In the game, which serves as backstory between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the player controls the mercenary Dash Rendar in his efforts to help Luke Skywalker and rescue Princess Leia from Prince Xizor.  The game was based on a book by Steve Perry.

Joel McNeely is an Emmy® Award-winning composer and conductor with more than 100 motion picture and television credits.  As a composer for film and television, McNeely has worked with such respected filmmakers as James Cameron, John Lasseter, Seth MacFarlane and George Lucas, among others.  McNeely received the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.” He was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction (“The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles”) and received a GRAMMY® nomination for Outstanding Classical Crossover Album for “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” 

Tracklist

1. Main Theme from Star Wars and Leia’s Nightmare (3:41)
2. The Battle of Gall (7:59)
3. Imperial City (8:02)
4. Beggar’s Canyon Chase (2:56)
5. The Southern Underground (1:48)
6. Xizor’s Theme (4:35)
7. The Seduction of Princess Leia (3:38)
8. Night Skies (4:17)
9. Into the Sewers (2:55)
10. The Destruction of Xizor’s Palace (10:44)