Joel McNeely Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire: Video Game Soundtrack

Original Soundtrack for Classic '90s Game Available On Vinyl LP for the First Time; Featuring Original Music from Grammy-Nominated Composer Joel McNeely and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

The Original Video Game Soundtrack for Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is available on vinyl LP for the very first time! Fans of the best-selling '90s video game are likely remember its cinematic music, which was written by the Grammy-nominated composer Joel McNeely, and recorded with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was initially developed as a multimedia project that included a novel and a comic book, among other releases. The game itself was published by LucasArts for Nintendo 64 in 1996, selling over one million copies in its first year. A Microsoft Windows version followed in 1997, while subsequent reissues over the last two decades have continued to entertain fans. The third/first-person shooter game, which serves as a backstory between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, is centered around the mercenary Dash Rendar. Over the game's four chapters, players steer Rendar in his efforts to help Luke Skywalker and rescue Princess Leia from Prince Xizor.

Per the recommendation of John Williams, who scored the music for the Star Wars films, the creators of Shadows of the Empire tapped the Emmy Award-winning composer/conductor Joel McNeely to write music for the game. Short edits of the soundtrack, recorded with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra were used in both versions of the game, while the Windows edition featured many of the full tracks. Originally released in 1996, the soundtrack's album cover showcases the artwork of the legendary illustrator Drew Struzan (Blade Runner, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future) and features the main Star Wars characters.