Buy it... only if you one of the lingering fans of the cult series, for the cheesy, second rate sci-fi sounds of the 80's won't play well outside the context of the show.

Avoid it... on the Dennis McCarthy promotional album if you expect the episodic scores to maintain the same spirited character of Joe Harnell's original ideas.

McCarthy

V/V: The Series: (Joe Harnell and Dennis McCarthy) Bridging the gap between the Star Wars phenomenon on the big screen and the soon to come resurrection of Star Trek on television, V was the most popular sci-fi series on television from its premier in 1983 to its untimely end in 1985. The original pilot mini-series, alternately known as "The Final Battle," was, in concept, supposed to be a literal drama based on the rise of the Nazis in Germany, but given the popularity of science fiction at the time, NBC insisted that the Nazis be mutated into an alien race. That race advertised themselves as friendly, but in reality their own planet was dying and they needed the resources of the Earth and its humans to survive. The resistance was on, and so was a follow-up TV series. For two years and 19 episodes, V explored the aftermath of the human's partial victory over the aliens. But budget restrictions didn't allow for miniature models of the 50+ alien motherships to be made, and laser effects were limited due to their exorbitant costs. To save on make-up costs, aliens could also disguise themselves as human. The production, while worthy in some of its concepts, was a failure of its own restricted expenditures, and its inevitable cult following continues to hope for NBC to explore the series once again, which the network has expressed an interest in remaking for years. Some merit should probably be given to such rumors because the series did, after all, attract 80 million viewers for each episode (NBC's top show for two years) and gain a few Emmy nominations. One nomination was for Joe Harnell's score for the opening mini-series. Harnell's relationship with director Kenneth Johnson from the days of The Incredible Hulk would lead to only the score for V's opening story. His music has a spirited, albeit occasionally hokey feel perfect for the equally cheesy visuals, though his work isn't without its own merit. Several creative inspirations can be heard. For instance, the four-note motif used upon the arrival of the alien ships represents the letter V in Morse code, used, of course, during the resistance in World War II. It also owes to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and pieces of Wagner and Herrmann are evident in various parts of the score as well.

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Otherwise, Harnell tones back the intelligence and allows for a plethora of genuinely fun B-flick sci-fi music, complete with sparsely brassy marches and squeaky strings. Over one lengthy listen, Harnell's music has definite congruency, despite a title theme that barely registers with any memorable melody whatsoever. A re-recording of this title theme by The City of Prague Philharmonic for the Silva Screen label is among the least interesting pieces they have ever performed. Still, the now-antiquated spirit of the genre for that era is alive and well in V's score, and it'll be worth the investment for any fan of the series. The music for the concept would take a drastic turn with the arrival of Dennis McCarthy on the scene for the actual 19 episodes that followed. In his pre-Star Trek fame, McCarthy managed to retain only some of Harnell's flair with his music, taking the series further away from Johnson's vision. As the show became more of a character-driven soap opera (and less of a purely sci-fi action concept), the music began to shun all of the Harnell characteristics. McCarthy's music for V, apart from the show, doesn't sound much different than that of a regular Star Trek: Next Generation episodic compilation. His more memorable cues include "Dreadnaught" and "The Sanction," and they succeed because they exhibit a touch of synthesized choral accompaniment and even some light jazz to break the consistency. As the show neared its doom in 1985, the music also suffered a decline; the bizarre and unnecessary wedding, banquet, and reception music from "The Rescue" is quite irritating. The only time that any original music from the universe of V was released came in the summer of 1998, when the now defunct Super Tracks label issued two promos, one each for Harnell and McCarthy. On album, it is absolutely essential to place these two releases in perspective with the TV show and its plot. Outside of that context, it won't serve any digital age listener or more recent sci-fi fan well. Harnell's album is no masterpiece, but it embodies more of the spirit of the show than McCarthy's album, which still maintains some of the best individual moments on either product. They are both promotional items, originally available at a slightly higher cost than a usual CD, and both are completely out of print. If sampling on neutral ground, go with the Harnell promo.   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

V: ***
V: The Series: **