Buy it... only if you are completing your Star Trek set of
scores and you can forgive the badly outdated elements of the album.
Avoid it... if you, like most Star Trek fans, prefer the serious
drama, the serious action, and the serious scores of the franchise.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Rosenman
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: (Leonard Rosenman) When
you examine the first ten Star Trek films, it's interesting to
realize that Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was the franchise's most
prolific fiscal blockbuster of its era. Despite your opinion of the film's
merits, it came at a time when the series was heading down a dark soap-opera
path that was partially corrected by the previous installment. With Leonard
Nimoy at the controls, the film gave in to pop culture comedy and provided a
circus-like atmosphere for our otherwise heroic science-fiction crew. Part
of the film's popularity also stemmed from its nonstop insults of primitive
20th Century human behavior. To provide a more classical approach to the
comedy score, Nimoy would chose the classically-inclined composer Leonard
Rosenman for the project. The lighthearted orchestral score would achieve
the series' final Academy Award nomination, seemingly proving that audiences
prefer their science-fiction to border on the mainstream by utilizing more
friendly scripting and scoring approaches. In the context of the other nine
franchise scores, Rosenman's composition is the weak link, often residing
near the bottom of film music collectors' rankings of Star Trek
scores. And rightfully so. The score may have been carried by the enthusiasm
for the film in 1986, but it is dated and out of place now. The blame for
this lack of historical legs isn't due solely to the strict, 1986 setting of
the film, but rather Rosenman's disregard for the attitude of the entire
series. Instead of offering dramatic music consistent with the genre during
the space and technology scenes, Rosenman scores the film as though it had
no connection to the Star Trek universe, save the short statements of
Alexander Courage's television theme.
The "happy" composition isn't poor in and of itself, but
rather it is a poor fit for any Star Trek film, regardless of the
comedy elements. The scenes involving the future Star Trek universe
are mundane and underdeveloped, and scenes of chases in 1986 San Francisco
are saturated in cheesy rhythms and motifs that lose their integrity when
reminded of the genre. The title theme, an adaptation of Rosenman's work for
the animated Lord of the Rings film, is too strikingly upbeat and
comedic for the genre, and is embarrassing when heard as the Klingon Bird of
Prey sinks in the San Francisco Bay. The music for the Probe, the Vulcan
sequence, and the time travel are lacking in basic excitement and
science-fiction instrumentation. The series had been carried with creativity
at the forefront of its musical approach, and Rosenman's score is often a
strictly-orchestral piece straight out of a B-grade or television 1970's
film. As a final insult, the introduction of the new Enterprise at the end
of the film is scored without any of the majestic fanfare necessary for the
event (if you want a much better fanfare, see McCarthy's Star Trek:
Generations opening). The use of the pop tracks, performed by the
"Yellowjackets" is understandable, and even excusable, but it further dates
this score and places it in a separate realm from its peers in the
franchise. The album suffers from several bad edits of multiple cues into
single, lengthy tracks. Overall, Rosenman's effort is too upbeat and too
cheesy without rooting itself first in the genre. An excellent example of a
comedy score that holds well in the genre is David Newman's Galaxy
Quest, which balanced between science-fiction and comedy to a much
better degree than Rosenman's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Nimoy's
choice for the score failed to live up to Trek standards, and the series
would react (or correct itself) by going to the only logical choice for the
next score: Jerry Goldsmith. For fans of the Star Trek franchise, the
fourth score is easily the last one to consider purchasing. **
• 1. Main Title (2:39)
(Contains TV Theme by Alexander Courage)
• 2. The Whaler (2:01)
• 3. Market Street (4:37)
(Composed by Leonard Rosenman, Russell Ferrante, and Jimmy Haslip
Performed and Arranged by The Yellowjackets)
• 4. Crash-Whale Fugue (8:16)
• 5. Ballad of the Whale (4:59)
(Composed by Leonard Rosenman, Russell Ferrante, and Jimmy Haslip
Performed and Arranged by The Yellowjackets)
• 6. Gillian Seeks Kirk (2:42)
• 7. Chekov's Run (1:20)
• 8. Time Travel (1:28)
• 9. Hospital Chase (1:14)
• 10. The Probe (1:16)
• 11. Home Again: End Credits (5:38)
Contains TV Theme by Alexander Courage
Notes and Quotes:
Insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
