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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Seven Days: (Scott Gilman) In a career that includes many scores for television mini-movies and series such as Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place, Scott Gilman retains his largest following among the cult fans of the UPN science fiction show, Seven Days. Where I live, Seven Days was, for a while, immediately followed by Star Trek: Voyager, and being a Voyager fan, I often caught the end credit theme music for Seven Days. The difference between the music of the two UPN sci-fi shows is easily evident. Whereas Voyager is one of an elite few shows remaining that features an orchestral score for each episode, Seven Days is the responsibility of Scott Gilman alone. Gilman handles the time-crunching, low budget task relatively well. His underscore for the episodes is completely electronic, and his background in various rock venues drives many of the rhythms he uses for the show. Unlike some of the scores being produced by one-man scoring machines these days, Gilman's music isn't as simplistically annoying as the norm. Nor does it crash around without direction. At the same time, though, it really doesn't provide enough uniqueness to warrant much excitement. The synth rhythms are often militaristic in pace, with an abundance of abrupt cues that aren't long enough for Gilman to develop an interesting motif. The few stand-out tracks of enjoyable quality are often those more sensitive ones that represent the finale cues for his episodes. Tracks 13 and 23 are prime examples of cues that fold the usually militaristic attitudes of the show into a deeper, more readily listenable package. The undeniable highlight of the album (and for some, the show) is Gilman's main title. The first mix of the theme on the CD features dialog from Seven Days (including some heavy female breathing.... Olga?), but the end titles are a superb treasure. Like I said at the start of the review, I've heard the end title cue many times, and have really grown to love it. The theme is very heroic and optimistic, with a tint of orchestral might. Unfortunately, Gilman only uses hints of this main theme in his episodic scores (often at the start, to bridge the gap between the main titles and the start of the episode) --at least in the ones that I have heard. On the whole, for a sci-fi television show, it ranks merely average. It obviously can't compare with the caliber of the Star Trek scores, and it even lacks some of the creativity in personality that Christopher Franke inserted into his Babylon 5 efforts. On the other hand, Gilman's main titles for Seven Days elevates it beyond the plethora of second-rate sci-fi work being done recently (include that horrific music churned out for the TNT Crusade series). If you're a Seven Days fan, this CD will likely be a regular amusement for you, but if you're fan of mainstream film and television scoring in general, then it might be wise to obtain the title theme somehow and bypass this lengthy CD. Footnote: the packaging is somewhat suspect (see notes below). **
The insert notes, though my sleeve doesn't fit well into the jewel case provided, include a detailed explanation of the show and its creator/producer. Also included is a quick background of Gilman's talents and career, as well as one very creepy picture of Gilman's naked torso rising from a pit of fog. (huh? whose decision was this?) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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