In case you were wondering if the made-up Star Wars “holiday” May the Fourth was still going to be a thing this year, with everyone pretty much preoccupied and stressed out by the global pandemic… yes, it was still a thing.

Far be it from Disney (and other merchandisers) to miss an opportunity to milk Star Wars fans. Still, some of the announcements and reveals were kind of cool. And if you missed our excitement on social for this particular announcement, well… we’ll forgive you. You probably have more important things to worry about in 2020 than Star Wars Day.

Nevertheless, here you go.

Star Wars fans who were around in 1996 (my hand is raised) probably have memories of the Shadows of the Empire event that rolled out across various media. At the time, when the so-called Expanded Universe was still fledgling, Shadows was billed as a “movie without the movie,” and it took place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Most often remembered nowadays as the storyline that gave us Dash Rendar and Prince Xizor, Shadows of the Empire was rather groundbreaking for the late 90s. Lucasfilm really put everything behind it, and the marketing and merchandising were certainly on par with what would accompany a summer tentpole film release.

There was a novel (by Steve Perry), comic books, toys and action figures, a Nintendo 64 video game, a poster painted by the legendary Drew Struzan, and even a full soundtrack!

There just wasn’t a film.

The original soundtrack release, notable for NOT having John Williams’s name attached (sacrilege at the time), was composed by Joel McNeely and recorded with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Because of Williams’s absence, the release quickly fell into obscurity among Star Wars fans, and it’s long been out of print.

I still have my copy (because of course I do), and I actually still return to and listen to it from time to time. It mixes some of the best Williams cues along with a totally new score, and – for me, at least – really evokes the “Wild West” of Star Wars (and Star Wars fandom) in the 90s.

It’s actually quite good, and – dare I say it? – it’s probably better than Williams’s scores for the sequel trilogy. (The music is definitely better than The Rise of Skywalker.)

Timed to coincide with this year’s Star Wars Day, Varèse Sarabande Records announced that they’re bringing the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack back in print!

So if you’ve spent the last 20 years pining for this particular piece of Star Wars ephemera, you’re in luck!

The soundtrack will be released for the first time on LP and reissued on CD on August 7, 2020. You can preorder for LP and CD now!