Joel McNeely wrote this like he was scoring an actual Star Wars film and it shows. Shadows of the Empire was a full orchestral recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, which in 1996 for a game that also ran on the N64 was absurd.
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"Xizor's Theme" is one of the best villain motifs in the extended Star Wars universe, all coiled menace and false elegance. "Beggar's Canyon Chase" rips with this relentless energy. "Night Skies" slows everything down to something genuinely eerie and beautiful.
The whole album stands completely on its own outside the game. If you've never heard a proper orchestral Star Wars game score from the 90s, start here.