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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of seaQuest DSV (John Debney)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you desire a campy, low-budget preview of the
ambitious action rhythms and thematic progressions of John Debney's
classic score to the 1995 epic, Cutthroat Island.
Avoid it... on the available albums if you are a devoted "seaQuest DSV" enthusiast seeking an all-encompassing selection of the best music from throughout the series, the 2020 product alluring in its scope but containing only Debney's work.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
seaQuest DSV: (John Debney) With multiple "Star
Trek" series under production and receiving a loyal following, Universal
and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment decided to launch their own
futuristic science fiction series in 1993. The premise of "seaQuest DSV"
was that man would be colonizing the seas in the next century and that a
military force would need to exist underwater to police these new
civilizations. So instead of a starship crew at the center of the drama,
seaQuest DSV gave genre enthusiasts one for a glorified submarine
instead, and the producers and writers of the show took the opportunity
to throw some environmental messages to audiences along the way.
Unfortunately for Universal, audiences weren't as intrigued by
underwater adventures as much as they were about outer space ones, and
in the show's final attempts at survival, its scripts began to turn to
the more militaristic, alien and outer space route. The decision by NBC
to shift the focus of narrative, as well as the location of production
to Florida from California, caused a significant portion of the cast to
demand out, and the third season of the show was so reviled that NBC
pulled the plug partway through. What started as a promising Spielberg
concept became an embarrassing disaster. During its run from 1993 to
1996, the series' 59 episodes failed to earn much attention from the
Emmy Awards outside of its musical scores, which represented four of the
show's five nominations. The rotating composers for the series featured
veterans of the "Star Trek" shows, including names like John Debney and
Don Davis that would go on to brighter futures in mainstream feature
films. The title sequences and feature-length pilot episode were scored
by Debney, whose title recording for "seaQuest DSV" triumphed over Mark
Snow's theme for "The X-Files" for the "Main Title Theme Music" Emmy
award in 1994. Subsequently, Don Davis was nominated two consecutive
years for his scores for individual episodes of the show, winning the
"Dramatic Underscore" Emmy in 1995 for the episode "Daggers." Regular
"seaQuest DSV" composer Russ Landau would receive the final nomination
for the show in 1996 for his score for the episode "Brave New World." In
sum, these scores generated some of the finer fantasy material to come
from television during this era, Debney's contribution excelling in
particular.
For a long time, the only commercial album for the show's music was Varèse Sarabande's very short 1995 release of only John Debney's more notable contributions to the earlier episodes of the show. It included the title and end credits themes, as well as portions of the pilot score and small samplings of his music for two other episodes. Despite Debney's tendency to be hit and miss with television projects early in his career, his contribution to "seaQuest DSV" is undeniably potent. The budget of the show allowed him between 40 and 60 live orchestral players per episode, with electronic embellishments filling in nicely for the unwater fantasy realm. Spielberg was initially heavily involved with the direction and expectations of the music, inspiring Debney to write the most expansive music he had ever produced for the small screen. His rousing title theme puts to rest the debate over who re-invented the swashbuckling style of 1995's Cutthroat Island first (Debney or newcomer David Arnold), with the theme offering the seeds of the Erich Wolfgang Korngold-resurrecting spirit of the classic 1995 score but without the same powerful ensemble. The memorable theme, capable of being well quoted in one of its many sections, is skillfully integrated by Debney into his underscore for the "To Be or Not to Be" pilot. This episode's score is as engaging as many of the composer's feature work, hindered only by the synthetic nature of the choir and an occasional lack of depth. The action portions use rhythmic figures similar to James Horner's 1980's works, and occasional, expected hints of Alan Silvestri's The Abyss come into play during fantasy sequences. On the whole, the recording strikes a lush tone rarely heard on television outside of the "Star Trek" series. The rhythmically satisfying and bombastic action cues in the first episode ("Preparing for Battle" and "Dangerous Adversary") present much of the same kind of ambitious orchestral sound that the "Star Trek" producers would finally allow in "Voyager" and "Enterprise." The difference here, however, is that Debney embellishes upon the title theme material at will, often including satisfying statements of the entire theme during the lengthy, pulsating action cues. A handful of unique orchestrations, in some cases synthesized but still effective, offer an expected underwater atmosphere with accents like those utilized in the latter half of "Dangerous Adversary." The show's only recurring secondary theme, representing the talking animatronic dolphin character, is supplied on ethereal flute effects in "Darwin Speaks" and returns in later episodes. The 1995 album for "seaQuest DSV" also included brief snippets from two Debney-scored episodes from the first season. The visually spectacular episode, "Such Great Patience," is far more subdued, relying more heavily on synthetic elements that occasionally betray the majesty of the composition, especially with the cheapened choral effect. The album long remained a disappointment, however, with its 30-minute length not including more Debney episodic work or any of the acclaimed music by Don Davis for the show. Granted, Davis' name was not a selling point at the time, but the album failed to give a rounded view of the music. That problem persists on the label's 2020, 2-CD "Deluxe" album for "seaQuest DSV," the limited product providing the fuller Debney pilot score and a number of renditions of the title sequences on the first disc. The lengthier offering for "To Be or Not to Be" is the highlight of the set, the music functioning as one of the composer's more engaging listening experiences regardless of screen size. The second disc reprises some of the highlights represented in first season episodes on the 1995 album but expands that material greatly. The five episodes represented for Debney are not as robustly adventuresome and consistent in quality as the pilot score. Temp track referencing sometimes prevails, as in the Goldsmith influence on the "Brothers and Sisters" episode's music. The flow of the second CD is hindered by the disparate tone of the selections made by Debney himself for the album; while they represent a strong survey of music from the season, their sum is a bit haphazard. The Latin tones in "The Good Death," from acoustic guitar to ethnic woodwind, are intriguing but out of character with the rest. The expansion of the style of Darwin's theme in "The Regular" is notable. The better-rounded offerings from "Knight of Shadows" and "Such Great Patience" maintain their relationship with the pilot's score, including the Horner-like chord progressions and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan villain material in the latter. Sound quality is top notch on the product, though that clarity does tend to accentuate the presence of the synthetic elements. While the 2020 product is a good album concept from Varèse, fans of "seaQuest DSV" will be wanting more music from Debney, Davis, and Landau. Those die-hards may also be annoyed by misspellings on that album and shoddy artwork selections, photos from later seasons accidentally included despite this being essentially a "Season One" product. Still, Debney's work for the titles and opening episode are a blast on either album, serving as an ambitious preview to Cutthroat Island and remaining amongst the better music ever written for science-fiction on screen. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
1995 Varèse Album:
Total Time: 29:50
2020 Varèse Album: Total Time: 132:24
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 1995 Varèse album includes no extra information
about the score or film. That of the 2020 product contains extensive details
about both.
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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 seaQuest DSV are Copyright © 1995, 2020, Varèse Sarabande, Varèse Sarabande (Deluxe Edition) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 7/28/99 and last updated 4/16/21. |
