For those that don’t know what the Music Challenge is I will tell you.  Go out and pick up an album or stream an album based solely off one of three categories…1) Album Cover, 2) Band Name or 3) Album Name.  Once you have listened to one, come tell me about it.

For my 5th one over the last year, I picked based on the band name and the album cover. The band name was Galactic Empire and the album cover was of space.  The whole thing had a Star Wars vibe to it, so naturally I was drawn to it.  What I didn’t know at the time was it was an album of John William’s Star Wars songs that were all done in a Heavy Metal format.  Interesting enough.

The album ‘Galactic Empire’ was released on February 3rd on Rise Records.

Here is the Track Listing:

1. “Main Theme”
2. “The Imperial March”
3. “Duel of the Fates”
4. “The Force Theme”
5. “The Asteroid Field
6. “Battle of Heroes”
7. “Cantina Band”
8. “Ben’s Death / Tie Fighter Attack”
9. “Across the Stars”
10. “The Forest Battle”
11. “The Throne Room / End Title”

What is strange is that this is actually a real band and they even dress as characters from Star Wars as you can see in the video for “The Imperial March”

And of course you can’t do Star Wars without doing the “Main Theme”.

The Band members are as follows…seriously:

• Grant McFarland (aka Boba Fett on drums)
• Carson Slovak (aka Stormtrooper on bass)
• Chris Kelly (aka Darth Vader on lead guitar)
• CJ Masciantono (aka Shadow Trooper on guitar)
• Josh Willis (aka Imperial Guard on guitar)

Grant and Carson are the individuals that started the band. You can check out this interview at nme.com with the band. To see them in costume makes wonder if Han Solo would tell them they have Delusions of Grandeur.  I think he would.

See more on the band at Teamrock.com and even check out their UK Tour Dates in February.  Man, the UK is so lucky!!

Overall, the album is enjoyable and the videos are great for a good laugh, but the songs are not quite as good as the original John Williams versions, obviously.  The songs lose some of the epic feel that you get from the original scores.

The “Main Theme”and “The Imperial March” are good enough, but watching the video it is hard to take them seriously.  Maybe I am not supposed to take them seriously.  The best song on the album is the “Duel of the Fates” which does capture a little of grandioseness of the original.  “The Force Theme” works perfectly on electric guitar and is one of my favorites.  The most fun song on the album is the metal version of the “Cantina Band”.  It took me back to the cantina where Han actually drew first. The rest are a little hit or miss and everyone will probably have their own favorite.

The big question is whether or not I will listen to it again.  Well, I am not sure as the jury is still out, but it does sound much better in the car turned up loud then it does at home where I can’t crank it.  You be your own judge and check it out. If you do listen to it, come back and give me your impressions of the album.  Until the next music challenge, enjoy the music.