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The Best of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary
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Selections Composed by:
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Jerry Goldsmith
Dennis McCarthy
Alexander Courage
Jerry Fielding
Ron Jones
Jay Chattaway
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Release Date:
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December 17th, 1996
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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The Best of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary:
(Various/Compilation) One of the few enduring television concepts of our
time, Star Trek has consistently featured orchestral music above and
beyond the call of duty. There are few modern television shows that ever are
budgeted with orchestral scores in mind anymore, and the continuing standard
of significant orchestral music for all of the Star Trek shows is a
treat for all of its fans. On album, several of the scores for The
Original Series and The Next Generation have been released on
their own by the GNP Crescendo label over the years, leaving open the
possibility of expanding into the latter two series as they matured and
ended. The best of the music from The Original Series and The Next
Generation was released within ten years of the end of the latter show,
feeding the shows' fans with a considerable amount of music. Fans of Deep
Space Nine and Voyager have been disappointed, however, with the
lack of continuing albums featuring music from the best of those shows
(after the year 2001, GNP would largely cease their television music
production). In 1996, however, to coincide with the much hyped album release
of Jerry Goldsmith's First Contact, GNP Crescendo would offer music
from all four television series on one album. It was the first time that all
four themes could be purchased on one product, and it threw suites from all
four shows on as a bonus. Four years later, GNP would respond to pressure
from fans and release a second (and arguably better album, with more
interesting music from the latter series represented) compilation of a
similar kind. Titled "The Best of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary," this first
volume of Star Trek music would offer the initial music available
from the actual underscores of Deep Space Nine and Voyager. It
would also be a relatively early venture into the realm of enhanced CDs,
with much of the same material as the First Contact album.
Music from The Original Series goes largely ignored
by most modern, young film music fans simply because of its aged sound
quality. Here, Jerry Fielding provides an inspired suite from "The Trouble
with Tribbles," which varies from his trademark Western styles for the bar
fight scene to a wobbling brass effect for the sci-fi elements of the show.
The two suites from The Next Generation are the best on the album,
with Ron Jones' introduction of Klingon music in the series taking snippets
from both Goldsmith's theme and Horner's percussion in the feature films.
The lengthy suite is slightly muddled in sound quality, but still offers an
outstanding look into Jones' interpretation of the Klingons given limited
instrumentation. A suite of specially prepared material from Jay Chattaway's
score for "The Inner Light" provides the delicate flute performances so well
remembered from the episode in which Picard lives another lifetime through
the probe of an alien species. The recording quality of this suite is
superb. After a "popified" version of the title theme from Deep Space
Nine, Dennis McCarthy continues his presence with a suite from the award
winning episode "The Visitor," in which Sisko is trapped in a temporal
anomaly in the Defiant and an elderly Jake Sisko recounts his efforts
to save his father. The more typical McCarthy approach to the modern series'
scores can be heard here, with conservative themes and short cues. The title
theme for Voyager follows, and it has unfortunately been artificially
extended into its concert format. An exaggerated cut in the middle of the
piece is painfully obvious, and fans may wish to seek the CD single of the
theme if only interested in this Emmy winning Jerry Goldsmith theme. The
suite from Voyager by McCarthy is perhaps the most exciting of the
composer's work, and both it and the suite from Deep Space Nine show
a side of McCarthy that is equal to, if not more impressive than his Star
Trek: Generations film score. Overall, fans of Deep Space Nine
and Voyager are left still wanting more, and to that end, the second
volume of Star Trek music would be a better purchase. Still, this is
an interesting and enjoyable album. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Star Trek Original Series Main Title - Alexander Courage (1:03)
"The Trouble With Tribbles" Suite - Jerry Fielding (11:01)
• 2. Bartender Bit/They Quibble Over Quibble/Kirk Out/Barrel of Trouble/etc (5:19)
• 3. The Muzak Maker/The Scherzo Maker (1:37)
• 4. A Matter of Pride/No Tribble at All/Big Fight (4:05)
• 5. Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title - Jerry Goldsmith (1:49)
"Heart of Glory" Suite - Ron Jones (15:00)
• 6. Moment of Decision/Battle Signs/Geordi Vision/Looking for Life Signs/etc (8:29)
• 7. A Klingon's Feelings/Let's Make a Phaser/Heart of Glory (6:30)
• 8. "The Inner Light" Suite - Jay Chattaway (6:36)
• 9. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season IV Main Title - Dennis McCarthy (1:55)
"The Visitor" Suite - Dennis McCarthy (11:39)
• 10. Rainy Night (1:08)
• 11. Steve O's Cue/Freaked Out (3:07)
• 12. Dad Admonishes (3:12)
• 13. One Last Visit (2:58)
• 14. Second Chance (1:14)
• 15. Star Trek: Voyager Extended Main Title - Jerry Goldsmith (2:22)
"Heroes and Demons" Suite - Dennis McCarthy (12:25)
• 16. Last Hope (2:31)
• 17. Dr. Schweitzer (1:20)
• 18. Armagonnen (1:48)
• 19. Where's Freya/To the Rescue (6:45)
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The insert includes extra information about the scores or series. For those of you who
can't view the "enhanced" part of the CD, it includes trailers for Star Trek: First Contact, a games, and some material from the original First Contact website.
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