: (Compilation)
The "Space and Beyond" series of film score re-recordings by The City of
Prague Philharmonic have been among the most enjoyable collections of
film themes ever produced for album. The series debuted with "Space and
Beyond" in 1997, followed immediately the next year by "Alien Invasion:
Space and Beyond II," and both albums were as outstanding as collections
of science-fiction film music can get, with astute arrangements and
robust, accurate performances throughout. Both products were critical
and popular successes, perhaps not of the same magnitude of the "Cinema
Choral Classics" albums also released by Silva Screen Records, but still
much to the appreciation of film score fans. In the case of both series,
the third entry would take slightly longer to hit the shelves, with
"Space 3: Beyond the Final Frontier" released in the summer of 2000. It
plays very much along the same lines, though, with the noteworthy
collaboration between The City of Prague Philharmonic and the Crouch End
Festival Chorus continuing. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this
third "Space and Beyond" 2-CD set is its selections from the genre,
stretching away from purely space-related scores and diving more into
the straight-forward action and fantasy genres to reclaim adequate
material for performance. With so many of the marketable sci-fi scores
already represented on the previous products, the producers may simply
have run out of relevant material; given that sci-fi fans are typically
also in tune with the adventure and fantasy genres, this question is
likely of little consequence. As with any of these compilations, its
success depends completely on the selections of compositions for
performance, as well as their arrangement. Having already released the
most commonly popular selections on the first two albums, this one
suffers mildly from the strain of finding good material for inclusion.
As expected, "Space 3: Beyond the Final Frontier" contains the most
recent additions to the sci-fi genre at the time (from 1998 and 1999),
but to round out the album, a more obscure selection of older scores is
also included.
Among the surprising highlights of the album are a few
performances of those obscure themes. By far the most impressive is the
opening volley of the second CD with
The Last Starfighter. Craig
Safan's cult theme always seems to record well, and it is performed here
with all the robust energy that makes it so enjoyable. Also worth noting
is the unexpected, but respectful performance of the opening to the
"Starfleet Academy" game by Ron Jones. John Addison's
Strange
Invaders is a welcome title that warrants its suite here as well.
Although they really don't all belong on this album, the time travel and
superhero sections are all well performed; the electronic touch in Basil
Poledouris'
RoboCop is captured with remarkable skill and serves
as the highlight of the first CD. The improved enthusiasm and resounding
power of Prague's performance of Bruce Broughton's
Lost in Space
confirms that the composition is not lacking anywhere near the degree to
which the original recording's performance would suggest. You have to
give the producers credit for hustling to record the suite from
Galaxy Quest so soon after its release; with a fuller choral
ambience and more moderate tones (the trumpet theme isn't quite as
grating), it's arguably superior to the original recording, too. Some of
the performances aren't necessarily more enjoyable than the originals,
but they're so different that they merit some curiosity. The material
from Don Davis'
The Matrix, Alan Silvestri's
Judge Dredd,
and Trevor Rabin's
Armageddon is of particular interest. This
album does proportionally contain, though, more flops than the previous
"Space and Beyond" albums. Performances of John Williams'
Star Wars:
The Phantom Menace were overexposed at the time, and these
renditions lack the same depth of power of previous re-recordings of
those suites found on the Varèse Sarabande label. Likewise, the
droning
Silent Running, the fluffy and poorly paced
Ghostbusters, and
Deep Impact, which has appeared numerous
times before on Silva albums, are all ones to skip. Many of the others
are decent, though not particularly inspiring. Overall, this third set's
selections are somewhat suspect, and its total lengthy is 20 minutes
less than its predecessor. Still, as with all of these compilations,
there exist a few absolutely fantastic performances.
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