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Composer Christopher Franke

As the original 5-year saga of Babylon 5 comes to an unfortunate end, Filmtracks will take you on a hyperspace journey this month through the years of fine contributions made to the series by former Tangerine Dream member and Sonic Images Records founder Christopher Franke. Babylon 5, a ground-breaking science fiction series on TNT, has made itself known world-wide through trademark innovations in special effects, make-up, and, of course, music. Franke's electronically creative scores for each and every episode --as well as the majority of films-- add another dimension of mystery, suspense, and excitement to the show, with an easily distinguishable character that separates Babylon 5 from other modern sci-fi television shows.

Many of the scores for the Babylon 5 episodes are available through Franke's record label, Sonic Images. This month, to celebrate Franke's unique music and pay tribute to the finale of the show, Filmtracks will review and analyze the episodic and compilation CDs currently available, and provide a look at the evolution of Babylon 5 music since the show first aired five years ago. Track listings and purchasing tips will also appear for some titles, as well as links to the numerous generous resources that can be found at the recently redesigned Sonic Images website. Also included at the bottom of this theme is a place for collected feedback from score fans regarding their opinions on favorite episodic CDs and thoughts on the music of Babylon 5 in general.

The unconventional music of Babylon 5 works so well in the show because of the fact that the show's production is also somewhat unconventional. Instead of building models for space sequences and contracting an orchestra to perform for each episode, J. Michael Straczynski has created a show that becomes more of a political space fantasy than a typical, technically interpersonal sci-fi production. In other words, the special effects are all computerized and so is the music... the imagination of the viewer/listener adds the epic proportion to the equation. Shows like Star Trek are inconsistent --they can go three or four episodes without a single impressive special effects shot-- and use a different composer for each episode. Babylon 5 offers spectacular imagery and a consistent music underscore for each and every installment. Some might consider the SFX and music to "fake" or "unoriginal" --and perhaps that's a conditioning of sci-fi fans who can, after all these years, accept only orchestrally driven scores to their favorite models on screen. But nobody can argue that the music that Christopher Franke produces for Babylon 5 is not perfectly suited for the show.

On CD, however, some of Franke's work for the show is more enjoyable than others. The music, interestingly, sometimes lacks when listened to without the visuals of the show... just as the show would definitely lack without the electronic music. Over the past three to four years, Sonic Images has been doing something that every television score fan dreams of: releasing nicely packaged CDs containing music from many of the individual episodes. The half-hour CDs are, for the devoted fans of the show, a delight. However, I believe that only those devoted fans could find the subtle differences in theme and style between each of the episodic CDs. There are those, along with the compilation CDs and the film scores, that stand above and beyond the rest in quality and length. The one major drawback of these CDs is their price --which is expected for such great treatment of the scores; the episodic CDs will cost you almost the full price of any other CD, running sometimes under 25 minutes, and the compilations and film scores often cost only a dollar or two more. When purchasing these CDs, I recommend visiting the Sonic Images website directly and viewing their prices there. In such stores as Tower Records and Blockbuster Music, the prices are elevated, and can run as high as $19.00. They also have a wealth of audio clips for each CD, in multiple formats, to assist you in making your choices.

From here, this theme will cover a variety of Babylon 5 releases in the order in which they were produced. Keep in mind that Sonic Images is still in the process of producing more episodic, compilation, and film score CDs as this is written.

"Babylon 5, Volume 1" (58:03) -- April 1995

1-4. Chrysalis* (18:22) 5-6. Mind War (6:14) 7-9. Parliament of Dreams (18:04) 10-12. The Geometry of Shadows* (15:14)

"Babylon 5, Volume 2" (57:30) -- February 1997

1. Main Title, 1st Season (Extended)* (3:17) 2. Messages from Earth* (10:05) 3. Main Title, 2nd Season (1:30) 4. Z'Ha'Dum (12:20) 5. Main Title, 3rd Season* (1:31) 6. Severed Dreams (15:37) 7. Main Title, 4th Season (1:29) 8. Voices of Authority* (11:26) * Highly recommended

The Original Releases, 1995-1997:

Surprisingly, some of the best releases of Babylon 5 music came at the very start of Sonic Images' history with the show. The two compilations serve as the very best means to get the music you want from the show without trying to pick and choose from the episodic releases. The original Babylon 5 compilation features music that is not available to this very day. The highlight, "Chrysalis," was, however, released in full in the third installment of episodic CDs. the music of this original volume is much more mellow as a whole than the aggressively sharp music that followed (as the storyline became more troubled over the years).

The advantage, however, goes to the second compilation of music. The "Messages from Earth" volume has some extensive re-workings of the music from a few of the original episodic CDs... creating an exciting and diverse sampling of the very best music from Franke. The album contains the main title music from the first four seasons, without dialog. One of the most refreshing aspects of Babylon 5's music is the fact that the title music, although consistent in style, changes in theme from year to year. It is a welcome change over those Star Trek shows that continue to push their original thematic orchestration year after year. The theme from season five, which doesn't appear in its own form here, was taken from the theme of "Voices of Authority." And rightfully so, for the brass theme at the start of this suite is excellent (the theme repeats strongly throughout the episode, which is something I really like about this particular entry). The opening track, as well as the latter half of "Messages from Earth" are extended versions of those that appear in the show --both of these are well worth your money. The "Messages from Earth" track shifts from the scene of battle at about 6:30 into the track to a scene between Delenn and Sheridan, and the minutes that follow are pure magic. Of all the Babylon 5 releases, this one comes with the highest recommendations.

The first episodic set of CDs came out in September, 1997, and offered expanded coverage of the popular "Severed Dreams" and "Z'Ha'Dum" suites featured in the second compilation. Although I'm not a big fan of "Severed Dreams," you might wish to explore "Z'Ha'Dum" in full form. Of the other first round scores, "Shadow Dancing" and "Walkabout" both have more bright moments than "A Late Delivery from Avalon."

The Ragged Edge -- Each episodic CD has a different shape and color, with no insert cover.

The Second Episodic Releases: April, 1998

These episodic CDs have one major curiosity, however. CDs have been released (by the last round) for episodes in all five seasons of the show. For some reason, all the season three episodic CDs contain Claudia Christian's opening dialog mixed with the music, as heard in the titles of the shows (purists, by the way, can find the season three music without dialog on the "Messages from Earth" compilation). What I don't understand is why none of the other opening credits on the episodic CDs feature the dialog from the other seasons. Personally, I'd love to hear the dialog and music together from season five, as it includes voice-overs from almost every cast member that has ever existed on the show. The issue of dialog as a whole becomes apparent with these releases; most of the people who are buying these episodic CDs are enormous fans of the series (those who know the plotline of every episode without looking at the one given in the space on the packaging hidden behind the CD itself) and would probably not mind having a bit of dialog and sound effects mixed into one or two of these CDs.

This second wave of episodic releases has numerous advantages over the first. The sound quality is noticably better, although the end credits often come on a tad bit loud on the fourth season CDs. The plot summaries on the packaging feature increasingly interesting information about the episode, including production notes by Joe Nazzaro about the show's making. Perhaps most importantly, fans of the show now have the fifth season opening credits on CD --a theme that came from "Voices of Authority"-- in the only season five episodic release thus far, "The Ragged Edge." I recommend this CD over the others, as it has some very good cues in the middle portions as well. The music in season four was very troubling --even moreso than that of the Shadow War. Since the season dealt with conspiracy and civil war, the music is less alien, perhaps, in the use of synthesized accompaniment to the Berlin orchestra, but it has more brooding, reflective moments of fear.

Second Release Episodics: (April 1998)

"The Fall of Night" (23:40) "Interludes and Examinations" (31:06) "Into the Fire" (35:43) "The Face of the Enemy" (33:41) "No Surrender, No Retreat" (31:38) "The Ragged Edge" (23:23)

Third Release Episodics: (August 1998)

"Chrysalis" (24:51) "The Coming Of Shadows" (26:00) "War Without End, Part 1" (32:04) "War Without End, Part 2" (32:41) "Whatever Happenend to Mr Garibaldi?" (28:41) "The Long Night" (24:32) "Lines Of Communication" (31:44) "Endgame" (35:25)

The action sequences often contain some of the most unlistenable music, while the few hopeful rays of light in the show (and they're getting fewer and fewer!) involving romance provide some relief. Each episodic CD has about three or four minutes of great music, as well as a few minutes to skip. "The Fall of Night," for instance, ends season two with a spectacular scene and magnificent music for Kosh's much anticipated appearance outside his encounter suit. It may only be two minutes total in length, but it is very enjoyable, and I surely hope that it is included on another compilation of Babylon 5 music. At the same time, "The Face of the Enemy," which has some of the most psychotic imagery of any episode I've seen in the series, has the very annoying bar song (and beating scene of Sheridan) right in the middle. Some of the best combination of traditional orchestral, choral, and electronic music appears in "Interludes and Examinations" at the height of season three. Franke uses varying levels of orchestral and electronic combinations in his work, and all of the vocals are real --with no originally synthesized voices. The biggest disappointment of this batch of episodic releases is "Into the Fire," the episode which finally ends the Shadow and Vorlon conflict in a beautiful array of special effects. With so much involvement of the First Ones, and the hundreds of ships on the screen at once --as well as the final negotiating showdown at the end-- I was expecting something a bit more grand and uplifting. As this group of releases stands, however, I'd recommend "Interludes and Examinations" and "The Ragged Edge."

The Third Episodic and Film Releases: August, 1998

The third set of episodic releases increased to eight strong, and again, there was a heavy emphasis on the music of season four. Also released in August, 1998, was the score for the first film of the series, "In the Beginning." This film stands along side "A Call to Arms" as the best film in the series involving a few of the major original characters. It also presented Franke with the opportunity to score what essentially was a superlong Babylon 5 episode. J. Michael Straczynski asked Franke to compose a score that would "break our hearts," and I was similarly expecting a score with a strongly identifiable theme, such as those heard in "Messages from Earth" or "Voices of Authority." Unfortunately, no overwhelming theme becomes noticable throught the score. Instead, it proves to be more of a underscore, occasionally switching between the militaristic and religious tones of the film. The music that results is adequate, if not good in parts, to have on in the background while working. Sadly, there are only a few tiny hints of the main theme music that wrapped the regular TV shows together so nicely (look for a hint of it, though, about ten minutes into track two). A nice touch, however, was the Irish influence combined with the Minbari motif in the final track.

The episodic CDs sound equally as good as those in the second release. "Chrysalis" was perhaps unnecessary, as much of it was available on the opening compilation. On the other hand, "Lines of Communication" is one of my favorite episodes, and contains good music to portray the evil Shadow agents called Drakh (who will eventually poison Earth). "Endgame" and "Coming of Shadows" are not as diverse and enjoyable as the two "War Without End" episodes, which bring together bold the old and new motifs of the show (and on which Ivonova's narration still exists over the opening credits, since it's a season three release), and "The Long Night," in which the fear involved with the Shadow planet-killers and the Centauri emperor's assassination effectively continues to build toward a climax.

* NOTE: We received at Filmtracks an episodic CD for "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," (28:06) which doesn't appear to be commercially available yet. This is unfortunate, because it is by far the best of the newest batch of CDs. Fans of the show will remember this as the episode in which Lord Refa is finally captured, with the help of G'Kar and Vir, and killed in a spectacular counterpoint scene. As Refa is mobbed by a group of angry Narns, a scene of gospel celebration is simultaneously shown --and only the music can be heard. The effectiveness of this scene is very high. The following scene offers one of the most orchestrally enjoyable moments of the third season, as Delenn reveals to Sheridan the new fleet of White Star ships. The two and a half minutes that comprise this final scene and the end credits are a few of the best that Franke has produced for the show thus far!

So What is the Future of Babylon 5 on CD?

As of the start of 1999, Sonic Images and Christopher Franke show no signs of slowing down with the release schedule of more Babylon 5 CDs. On January 26, 1999, the second film score for Babylon 5 by Franke will be released: "Thirdspace" (this was also fatefully Ivonova's last appearance on the show). They also plan to release "River of Souls," which was the poorest film in the series, in another few months. The most recent film, "A Call to Arms," which will usher in the new "Crusade" series by J. Michael Straczynski, did not feature the musical touch of Franke. Evan Chen, who scored "Call to Arms," will likely also be the composer for the upcoming series as well. Unfortunately, to my great dismay, Chen's score for "Call to Arms" was beyond the realm of hideous, and a very, very unfortunate replacement for Franke. Thematically null, and lacking all the diversity and creativity of Franke's music for the show, Chen provided consistently dry underscore that piddled along without any regard for the change of scenes or emotions of the characters. So is Franke's association with Babylon 5 at the end of its line? I certainly hope not, although it appears that may be the case.

What are your thoughts on this, or anything else related to the music of Babylon 5? If you have an opinion or review that you'd like to see posted here, feel free to e-mail it to me at tyderian(at)filmtracks.com.

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