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PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Farscape (SubVision/Guy Gross)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... only if you consider yourself a die-hard fan of the show,
because this product offers a very fragmented overview of the less
interesting music from its first two seasons.
Avoid it... if you expect any sense of cohesion or adherence to traditional norms of television science fiction scoring.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Farscape: (SubVision/Guy Gross) For the Sci-Fi
Channel, the Jim Henson production of "Farscape" proved to be a popular
series in demand during its four seasons in the late 1990's and early
2000's. Along with many of the concurrent sci-fi series on television at
the time, "Farscape" was a darker, more seductive, and morbid edge on
the previous "Star Trek"-dominated genre. One area in which the two
franchises differed completely, at least at the start, was their music.
Through its unceremonious end on television later in the 2000's, the
"Star Trek" franchise always budgeted the funding to score all of its
episodes with a moderately-sized orchestra. Conversely, series such as
"Farscape" had to rely on the performing talents of just a few
individuals who had to use mostly synthetic elements to fill the
soundscape. And just like the more ambitious stories and characters of
the series, the music for "Farscape" takes a more contemporary and
electronically imaginative approach to its attitude and purpose.
Appealing to a younger generation of sci-fi fans, "Farscape"'s theme and
underscore continues to edge more towards new age, alternative, and
electronica realms rather than the commonly established methods of
scoring such shows in the past. Whether or not that approach to scoring
the genre appeals to you likely depends heavily on your appreciation of
each individual show. Many traditional "Star Trek" fans took a while to
grow accustomed to Christopher Franke's modern application of
synthesizers in the cable series "Babylon 5," and the trend towards even
smaller budget television scores continued to lead to more and more
bizarre results. The title theme for "Farscape" defied the traditional
majesty of space-inspired themes and instead opted for the alternative
rock genre, with a singular, repeating alternation of chords performed
by keyboards (and probably guitars) highlighted by various electronica
vocals that have been mixed to their tonal extremes. As for many of
these scores, mixing is really the key when you're confined to so few
resources with which to create an adequate volume of sound. In these
regards, the difference between the first and second seasons of music
for "Farscape" is not only noticeable, but represents a significant
change in attitude for the show.
The music by the group SubVision (which consists of Chris Neal, Braedy Neal, and Toby Neal) is an awkward cross between the styles of Chris Franke and experimental world composer Mychael Danna, merging harsh electronic loops and motifs with an almost East Indian or occasionally Arabic tilt and thus producing a sharper, more exotic sound. The music by Australian Guy Gross, starting in the second season of the show, represents a more standard use of electronics, resulting in a combination of Mark Snow's ambient underscores and Don Davis' synthesized action music for small budget films. Gross' contribution to the franchise would become dominant through the later years of its run, and he would eventually push to gain a budget for orchestral recordings when the spin-off "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars" series debuted several years later. Especially in context with those later scores, the music from the first two seasons of "Farscape" is difficult to appreciate in retrospect. The title theme, while simplistic, has a great sense of attitude and is by far the most interesting single track on the initial GNP Crescendo album of 2000. The SubVision cues from the first season often break into nonsensical electric guitar ramblings that do not form any cohesive whole, and the Gross cues, while highly listenable, are more subdued material that lack the bite that made the first season, at the very least, intriguing. As such, the GNP album remains a fragmented experience, with only the material by Gross appealing outside of the title theme. If you've never seen the series, then there's no reason to pursue the album. Fans of the franchise, however, embraced it thoroughly at the time. The album itself is very well arranged, with suites from a significant number of episodes and superior packaging. For fans of "Farscape," this would be the only early album to come down the pipes, and unfortunately, with the failure of the GNP label in the near future, the product became out of print and very difficult to find (sometimes fetching prices as high as $50). The La-La Land releases for the franchise in 2004 are a worthy alternative and offer, arguably, superior music. For non-fanatics, the music on this album will seem like just another fringe element in the spectrum of modern, cost-effective television scoring. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 69:23
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert notes contain extensive information about the series and its music,
including the following comment by Guy Gross:
Classically trained, I'm best known for my orchestral approach to film scoring albeit often created with samplers. My writing approach is very much dialogue driven. I really enjoy weaving in and around the ups and downs of the spoken word. And as the performances are so great it's a wonderful source of inspiration. I'm also not afraid to call upon the classic genre of science fiction scoring. I find when I deviate too far from the "expected" it draws the viewers attention away from the story telling which must be paramount in everybody's contribution to the film. I first got involved in 'Farscape' when I scored the original 3-minute U.S. trailer. The producers asked me to join the team a few episodes into the second series and I've been loving it ever since. I hope the fans enjoy my contribution and allow it to draw them into the uncharted world of 'Farscape'."
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Farscape are Copyright © 2000, GNP Crescendo Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 12/10/00 and last updated 9/29/08. |
