Barry mostly defied the influence of John Williams on audience expectations when it came to The Black Hole, playing much closer to his own comfort zone while making a few token nods to the genre's norms at the time. It is still a transitional score for the composer, taking morbidly waltz-like rhythmic inclinations in a dark minor mode from his classic The Lion in Winter and previewing a range of styles heard not much later in Raise the Titanic, itself a score that influenced much to come for Barry. The fact that The Black Hole sounds so stereotypically like the composer's music rather than any of the Wagnerian inspirations caused by Williams in that era is testimony to the composer's ability to bring a different dramatic sense to the picture, but it also opens him up to accusations of laziness and/or an inability to adapt himself for a new science fiction age. There are thus two angles from which to examine The Black Hole, first as the popularly remembered dramatic score that it is, but also as an underachieving and derivative bore. It is indeed extremely familiar to a dozen other Barry scores in its instrumentation and structures. The former is led by his usual palette on the orchestral side, though aided by intriguing synthetic sounds familiar to futuristic tones of 1970's "Tomorrowland," including the "blaster beam" effect most memorable in the first two Star Trek feature film scores. The constructs of The Black Hole won't sound remotely fresh in retrospect, Barry mostly sticking to his usual slow tempos, repeated phrases, and rhythmic churning. One major theme in the score is joined by a plethora of supporting motifs, all but one similar to a host of other Barry creations. The lasting identity of the score is the idea conveyed over the "Main Title" and "End Title." It's a clever theme when considering its arguably more famous underlying rhythm, the circular motion of that rhythm perpetually descending in the bass while the brass theme on top of it struggles to ascend out its depths. The theme itself is quite long in its lines, making it somewhat challenging to reference in shorter sequences, but the rhythm is conversely a very strong tool with which to remind of the perils of the black hole, varied in tempo considerably over the first four major cues. Unfortunately, while the combination of the theme and its underlying rhythm are the dominant identity in those early sections of the score and film, Barry abandons it later in the score despite the fact that the black hole itself never loses its muster. While the early portions of "Into the Hole" allude to the theme, the remainder of the climactic cues seem more concerned with the human battles rather than continued reminders of the hole's power, a substantial disappointment in the score.

Outside of the main theme in The Black Hole, Barry also addresses individual concepts and scenes with unique ideas as well. The telepathic element is served a whimsical, thoughtful violin phrase that also speaks to the wonders of space; this motif is expressed at the very outset of "Main Title" and "Zero Gravity." Its tone informs the better developed sense of empathy in the score's midsection as the truth about the army of robots aboard the larger ship is revealed. The most well known secondary idea, however, is the one with which Barry diverts the personality of the score to handle the action sequences involving laser fights. The bravado of the action fanfare in "Laser" and "Kate's O.K." is a bit tough to handle in retrospect, its snare, cymbal, and xylophone tapping over ultra-heroic brass layers creating a generic space opera march that Disney thought highly enough about that they made it into one of the last "Overtures" to ever grace a film. Smaller motifs in The Black Hole include one of dread highlighted in "Durant is Dead," its typical Barry progressions on top aided by a pounded baseline around key on piano to represent the sinister behavior of the antagonists. Later, in "Hot and Heavy" and "Hotter and Heavier," Barry writes another cyclical bass motif for the suspense of the chase at the climax of the story. This rhythm eventually devolves into a straight minor third alternation in the latter cue that becomes, in its last minute, extremely reminiscent of the title theme from The Lion Winter. In fact, if you've ever wanted to hear that classic 1968 theme with its chorus replaced by blaster beam, here's your opportunity. Hints of Barry's straight 1980's romantic drama tone are conveyed for the good robots in the film, "Bob and V.I.N.C.E.N.T." an odd preview of Out of Africa. A variety of stingers employed by Barry are consistent throughout the score as well, though none is groundbreaking. The "Into the Hole" cue is pivotal in the film because of the lack of dialogue in the mix. Barry arguably underachieved for this scene, offering fluid continuity rather than a truly climactic crescendo of fantasy that you might have expected for the visuals. After the journey into the hole, the alternate depictions of Hell and Heaven are handled rather tepidly. Generic rhythmic churning is aided by wailing synthetic effects for the odd scene involving the (literally) combined fate of the villains, followed by a dissatisfying cymbal-aided rhythm for the actual shot of pits of fire rather than something more robust (the choir from The Lion Winter might have been a brilliant choice here, given that the religious visuals aren't subtle either). The bright lights of Heaven interrupt at the 3:05 mark in "Into the Hole" and conclude the score on a brightly heroic crescendo that is itself a bit simplistic, especially with the prominent harp flourishes.

Overall, The Black Hole is a score with much for Barry enthusiasts to love, but one that is also fairly flawed in the development of its own motifs. On the bright side, the title theme and constant sense of rhythmic churning (in many ways inherent in Barry's writing) are perfect for the topic. The electronic accents are very well handled in almost every circumstance. The blaster beam's announcement the start of "That's It" is the sure sign of trouble to come, and its other performances are equally adept in creating the right tone for each specific instance. Barry also succeeds in underlining the human drama of the tale at the same time, another victory for his trademark style in this film. The downsides, however, mostly involve the derivative nature of the score and its failure to really form a cohesive narrative. The fact that so much of The Black Hole sounds like Raise the Titanic in retrospect is disappointing, especially given that the latter remains the superior work in most regards. The rhythms for the hole would be revived as the underwater exploration motif in the latter score, the somewhat cheesy action theme has phrases similar to the 1982 score's theme for the Titanic, and minor third descending jabs at about the 4:40 into "Zero Gravity" are also clear precursors to better expressions to come. The action theme really is out of place in this score, and the lack of the title theme and its rhythm in the latter half is a huge disappointment. So, in the end, The Black Hole is a mixed bag that barely earns four stars but will please most of the composer's diehard fans. Those collectors waited a long time for the score to be released on CD, too, using bootleg transfers of the LP record (and a few great re-recordings of suites) to suffice. Because it was the first score ever recorded digitally, the primitive method of storage of that music on tapes made it extremely difficult to extract it in top form. It took several years for the proper equipment to be assembled to transfer those original digital recordings onto hard drives, and in the interim (during the late 2000's), the master used to make the LP record and cassettes at the time of the film's release was cleaned up for a download-only release. In 2011, as the second entry in Intrada Records' distribution agreement with Walt Disney Records, the completely restored, full arrangement of The Black Hole was made available on a commercial CD limited to 10,000 copies. The album sounds fantastic and adds substantial new material to the presentation, including both "Hot and Heavy" tracks. Also provided is the intriguing synthesizer-only mix for the "End Titles" as a bonus track. The time that went into the assembly of music for the 2011 album is astounding, and praise has to be given to those dedicated efforts. Be aware, though, that the hype surrounding the legacy of this score may be a bit overwrought.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download