Battlestar Galactica: Season One
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Free Music Notes for Battlestar Galactica: Season One
Free Music Review: even better than Gibbs' miniseries/pilot score
Hit: 5 Stars
First off, let me say that the new BG is arguably the best science fiction series ever seen on TV. The acting, design, and plot is orders of magnitude better than those of the 1978 series. There is really no comparison--and no need for die-hard fans of the original series to feel threatened by this one. They are apples and oranges. Admittedly, the new show would not have resonated as it does in a pre-9/11 world. But I think the sense of paranoia that permeates BG harks back to the Cold War mood of the B scifi films made in the US in the 1950s, to great effect.
That said, the other great thing about BG is the music. This is not the grandiose, orchestral SF score we're using to hearing from John Williams or the late Jerry Goldsmith. It breaks new ground, with its mix of Middle Eastern woodwinds, Japanese taiko drums, and heavy use of chorale pieces, both wordless and in Gaelic and Sanskrit. And again, not to denigrate Williams. It's simply that Gibbs/McCreary go in a totally different direction, and they do it brilliantly.
I first bought Gibbs' score of the miniseries, which thankfully became the pilot for a series I follow with great enthusiasm. It stands on its own very well, yet establishes a deep, textural mood for the post-holocaust remnant of the human race, as well as for the Cylons, whose "plan" seems to be to join with their human creators by creating a hybrid race, fulfilling their destiny in a kind of apotheosis. These are certainly not the "toaster" characters from the Glen Larson series, though I still have a fondness for Andy Probert's centurion design.
Getting back to the Season One score: This music really builds on what Gibbs had done, capturing moods from standout episodes and even coming close to establishing Wagnerian leitmotifs for some of the characters, or at least the relationships between them. The "Prologue" is a nice brief, ominous rendition of the Cylon cue from the pilot, that we hear at the start of each episode, and is a nice treat, as are the US and UK versions of the main title (variations on a theme, really), which serve as "bookends" to the CD.
Celtic flutes beatifully capture Adama's love for his son in A Good Lighter, and this is reprised with male chorale and is fleshed out in Wander My Friends. Two Funerals is a mournful, militaristic piece which recalls the US version of the Main Title, where Card Game and especially Two Boomers are more operatic tracks which seem to include some synth and/or electric guitar.
Some guilty pleasures can be found in Battlestar Operatica, The Dinner Party, and Battlestar Muzaktica, which make use of female vocals and are among the lightest of the tracks. The score would otherwise be unrelentingly heavy, I think, and not as much a pleasure to listen to.
For me, the masterstrokes of the score are Passacaglia and the similar Shape of Things to Come. These two tracks relate to a vision given by Six to Baltar of "their child." Passacaglia is a sweeping, requiem-sounding piece which moved my nearly to tears, and Things to Come is a briefer, more triumphant denouement piece. This passacaglia form is expanded upon further in Allegro in the Season Two score.
In sum, I think that the baton has been seemlessly passed from Gibbs to McCreary. Gibbs took on the formidable task of musical exposition for what would become a series, and McCreary's work builds on it nicely, is less monolithic, and takes the listener in ever-new directions as we continue to follow our intrepid heroes through the galaxy in search of Earth. I can say with confidence that the Season Two score is better still, and I only hope that a Season Three score becomes available soon.
Free Music Review: Season 1 indeed better than the miniseries even the music (quote from Edward James Olmos)
Hit: 5 Stars
Like the title the music has just gotten better and better..After a very well written score by Richard Gibbs and miniseries by Ronald D. Moore who knew what things were to come after 2003. After negotiating with Sci-Fi channel something has started with television never seen before. I've never seen viewer response either on the internet or just being at work quite like this before in television history. Every generation has a tv show that touches the heart and imagination for ages but this tv show is unheard of where unfortunately not appropriate for under the age of 14 yet it truely is a tv show for the ages in all walks of life. Sure this is a science fiction show but by reading reviews and hearsay I've joined the unofficial street team and recommending this show to people of all ages. Not only has the show gotten better in the first season from the mini series but also the music as well. Richard Gibbs introduced some music which includes some in the first and 2nd season but being former Oingo Boingo musician decided to go to feature films, Bear McCreary who assisted Richard has taken the baton and has visually turned this series into an epic just by the score itself. Not often where a tv show can rise to new heights or completely be critically acclaimed in the first season already. Where most tv shows still need for character develpment and story arc introductions where here not only did Ronald Moore turn the 1st season into new depths of television watching but also did Bear McCreary and I don't think that the first season would be quite as good as it is without this wonderful disc that comprises multiple music from the freshman season of show that sets new standards in television.
Not quite often does a tv show capture the realistic imagination of audiences quite like this but after reading multiple reviews of the show and soundtracks it brings new life into a generation where television shows haven't been quite the same as before and the music alone is evidence of that where no tv soundtrack sounds quite this good until now..
Now as far as the review of soundtrack goes easily up there with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings plus Braveheart as one of the greatest ever made. Oviously Passacaglia is one of the favorites but there are so many to choose from that I'm not going to review each track rather here you definitely should watch the show first and then the musical experience is doubled because you can understand where the music is coming from by underscoring each event that is happening in the movie. Without being biased it's one of those that still sounds great without watching the show but again some tracks are understood more after seeing the show. The soundtrack starts with the prologue with the #6 theme from the miniseries and then goes into the US version of the Main Title and ends the cd with the UK version of the Main Title and in between some of the best underscoring in television history.
Back to the Main Title Us version--I can understand why it doesn't work in the context of the show but on it's own I still enjoy the theme very much having Bear put in so many hours of his time to write music for one of the greatest television shows in history. By no means should you compare this score to the original show at all it's entirely a unique piece of writing that stands on it's own. If you like tribal, ethnic, middle eastern style of writing you definitely are in for a real treat in this 78 minute 30 track package with great inner notes and pictures as well from the show.
Free Music Review: Great soundtrack to a great series.
Hit: 5 Stars
The new "Battlestar Galactica" just seems to go from strength to strength; it has garnered both critical success and high ratings, and it's music is of no less quality than its storytelling and its visual effects. To begin with, the music is memorable. Some of the music, such as "A Good Lighter", and "Wander My Friends", is hauntingly beautiful, and you will find yourself humming it over and over again. It sticks in your head. Some of it, such as "Passacaglia" and "The Shape of Things to Come" is sublime. This is music of great quality by ANY standard, and it is incredibly good for a television series.
The second thing about this music is that it comes as such as a refreshing change after a long, dry spell of lifeless, bland TV sci fi music, to which we have been treated since "Star Trek: the Next Generation". A few years after ST:TNG debuted, I realized one day how colorless the music was. The original "Star Trek" had a memorable score. There was music perfectly tailored to every mood: serious, lighthearted, humorous, suspenseful, bold, etc. Anyone familiar with the original series of "Star Trek" will recognize the music from it almost instantly. This is because the music was catchy, and it perfectly suited the mood of each episode and scene in which it was used. But try to remember a single piece of music from "The Next Generation" (apart from the opening title, which was, after all, just the recycled main title theme from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture") and you may find yourself hard pressed to do so. I myself cannot. TNG ran for seven years, and yet I cannot remember a single piece of music from its entire run. I learned many years later that it had been made a deliberate policy NOT to use music that was in any way striking. Apparently, this was thought to be a distraction from the story and dialogue. What followed was years of bland, dull "aural wallpaper", as one critic put it (another term used was "mumble music"). Other shows, such as "Babylon 5" and "Farscape" may not have made it a deliberate policy to make the score as lifeless as possible, but they also somehow failed to achieve much, musically speaking, whatever their other qualities.
With the "Battlestar Galactica: Season One" soundtrack, viewers are FINALLY treated to music of real quality. It truly surpasses anything in scif fi television, or indeed ANY television that has come before. It is, just as the original series "Star Trek" music was, dramatic and memorable, and perfectly tailored to each scene; but it is far more grand, and far more eclectic in its style. This it what happens when you get a really talented composer, and give him broad leeway to exploit his talent.
The "Battlestar Galactica: Season One" soundtrack is simply superb. I cannot remember any other series with music this good. Other series may have had catchy, memorable theme songs, some more so than this show. But no other show has ever featured such a high quality score for the scenes which play after the opening credits have finished rolling. this is GREAT stuff! My hat is off to Bear McCreary.
Free Music Review: Haunting, Often Tribal-like Music that Effectively Sets the Stage
Hit: 5 Stars
When the Sci-Fi Channel first announced back in 2003 that it was producing a miniseries version of the original 1978 TV series "Battlestar Galactica", I had many doubts about how successful it would be. However, my doubts were quickly washed away as the miniseries proved to be compelling, engaging, extremely realistic, emotional and well acted. It also had superb special effects, but a sometimes overlooked aspect is a soundtrack, which in the case of the miniseries proved to be very powerful in setting its dark and tense tone with its haunting, tribal-like drums and other percussion instruments, as well as a very melancholy score with vocals. Under the superb direction of Michael Rymer, the men who composed this original emotionally charged soundtrack were Richard Gibbs, Bear McCreary and Kevin Kliesch (who was not credited).
Due to the huge success of the 2003 miniseries, the Sci-Fi Channel decided to produce a TV series based upon it. The first season of the new "Battlestar Galactica" TV series first aired in January, 2005 with 13 episodes and showed itself to be just as exciting and well made as the miniseries thanks in large part to the same casting as the miniseries and the continuation of the same haunting soundtrack under Bear McCreary. (Richard Gibbs composed music for the second and third episodes of the first season of "Battlestar Galactica", but moved on to continue composing music for films for both the big screen and made-for-TV.) Bear McCreary's continued musical compositions have been just as dark, haunting, tribal-like and emotionally powerful as the 2003 miniseries and has contributed directly to make this new, updated version of "Battlestar Galactica" one of the most talked about and successful sci-fi TV series in the past year.
The first season prologue initially sets the dark tone, but the main title with its military-style percussion in the background and emotionally sad melody intensifies the feeling of just how desperate the small number of surviving humans is in their flight into deep space away from the Cylons. This pressing need for survival is also felt by Helo's predicament on the surface of Caprica where he believes he is alone with Boomer, and the three musical scores used are quite effective. Probably my most favorite piece is the symphonic "The Shape Of Things To Come", which is used when Six is showing Baltar secrets on the surface of Kobol in the final first season episode. It is a curious mix of a cheerful future, but with dark undertones beneath.
I applaud all those responsible for creating such a wonderful and darkly realistic sci-fi TV series as "Battlestar Galactica". It's success would not have been possible without an incredible soundtrack to help capture the imaginations of the viewers. Hence, I rate the "Battlestar Galactica: Season One Soundtrack" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars. As a side note, the soundtrack for the show's second season has evolved and is also equally appropriate for the events that occur there.
Free Music Review: BSG Season 1 Soundtrack - Excellent
Hit: 5 Stars
This soundtrack is very different from that of the original BSG series. The original series soundtrack seemed to have been inspired by the sweeping symphonic score of "Star Wars: Episode IV," which was still fresh in recent memory when the orignal BSG series was created. The old sountrack seemed to portray the quest for Earth as a grand adventure, but this new soundtrack gives perhaps a more realistic sense of a decimated population's desperate struggle for survival. I won't review every single track on this CD, but I'll just give a brief description of my favorites.
Track 1: Prologue - the opening sequence of every episode.
Track 4: The Olympic Carrier - From the episode "33". That episode was clearly based on the events of September 11, 2001. The music conveys tension and imminent danger as the grim decision is made to shoot down a civilian ship that seems to have been compromised by the Cylons and threatens the rest of the fleet, and also as Apollo and Starbuck find themselves in the agonizing position of having to execute the order to deliberately destroy a civilian ship, but only to save many more.
Track 7: The Thousandth Landing & Track 9: Starbuck Takes On All Eight - Both great tracks.
Track 22: Battle On The Asteroid - For me, this track alone justified the purchase of the CD. Pulse-pounding beats accompany the Colonial Vipers' assault on the Cylon asteroid base as well as Apollo's mad dash through the Cylon conveyor tunnel.
Track 23: Wander My Friends - Sung in Gaelic, but the CD booklet contains an English translation.
Track 25: Kobol's Last Gleaming - Another wonderful vocal piece.
Track 26: Destiny - The perfect accompaniment to Starbuck's desperate and lonely fight with Number Six.
Track 30: Main Title (UK version) - A real treat for American viewers. Reminiscent (to me, at least) of the opening title of the movie adaptation of Tom Clancy's novel, "Patriot Games."