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The main "hope and fate" theme for Terminator Genisys bookends the album release nicely, though aside from its absence in the proper position where "Reese Going Back" should be, the album is also missing a brief piano reprise in "Flashback #2" and an important, massive statement with choir in "Sarah & Reese Into TDD," a necessary cue, even if brief, because of its pairing with one of the franchise rhythms. On the same end of the emotional spectrum is the "guardian theme," for which Balfe also writes three-note phrases, albeit with a more somber heart, for the relationship between Sarah and the T-800. Summarized in its late album suite, "Guardianship," this theme is defined by its lower piano expressions and makes its mark at 2:32 into "Come With Me." Pieces of it introduce "Alcove," but Balfe really saves this idea for the final cues, stewing with it at the start of "Sacrifice" and applying its spirit to the melodramatic, bittersweet triumph for the T-800 at 1:44 into that cue. The idea also opens "What If I Can't?" and closes the unreleased "Sarah & Reese Into TDD." Balfe's theme for John Connor is by far the most intelligently developed in Terminator Genisys, debuting with all the appropriate heroism of the character's expected future but literally distorting and disintegrating as the story reveals him to be a zombie antagonist. The "John Connor" suite on album, conveying the idea's solo trumpet nobility and later horn masculinity, is adapted into a really good rendition on screen in its natural introduction during the unreleased "Meet John Connor." It's a fantastic theme for the character, and the story sadly does not allow its heroic variations much airtime. It's applied at 2:24 into "Work Camp" but is already intentionally distorted on trumpet at the start of "I Am More" as the character reveals his new self. The theme is badly manipulated by 3:08 into "If You Love Me You Die" and the middle of the unreleased "Hospital Fight." A slower, melancholy version opens "Family." The final major theme in Terminator Genisys is a series of descending pairs of notes meant to represent Sarah and Kyle as a love theme. Electric strings dominate this melody, summarized in the "Sarah & Kyle" suite and heard in full at 3:15 in that track. In the film, it clarifies on solo strings by the second minute of "Alcove," shifts to resolute sadness at 2:16 into "If You Love Me You Die," and dissolves to chords only at 1:16 into "Family." It develops into a fuller identity early in "What If I Can't?" but returns to its original form at 3:16. In unreleased cues, the idea's resolute form contributes nicely to "1997 or 2017" and is fragmentary in "Sarah's Story."

While these four themes from Balfe for Terminator Genisys are functional, the new theme for Sarah and Kyle represents a terrible strategic decision by the composer. These characters already had a love theme in the form of the franchise identity, and the score would have been extremely well served if Balfe had applied it where he did his own. There has never been as easy of an opportunity to utilize that theme in an appropriate place in these later franchise scores. Instead, Fiedel's famous theme is badly marginalized in the score, opening the film at 0:10 into "Better Days" with faint string reminders of only the theme's first few phrases. The first minute of this cue was perfect for a more direct, lyrical, and powerful statement of the theme, a significantly poor spotting decision by Balfe and the filmmakers. A lightly synthetic version of the theme with slightly altered progressions and harmonics recurs at 0:33 into "It's Really Me." Three phrases of the theme from celli echo in the unreleased "T-1000 on the Prowl." Otherwise, the score withholds the theme until the obligatory end credits statement in "Terminated" that is a direct tribute to Fiedel's equivalent from the second score. This rendition is very well handled, even down to the original oboe lines, and beats Beltrami's attempt at the same tribute to stand as the best post-2000 recording of the arrangement. Faring far better in Terminator Genisys are Fiedel's two iconic rhythmic devices of metallic clanging, the original four-note thumping from 1984 and the better known five-note rhythm from 1991. Balfe and his team reference these two rhythms liberally in the score, sometimes masked in action and at other times at the forefront. Fiedel's work influences at 2:49 into "Work Camp" and is surrounded by the established T-1000 slurring effects at 2:18 into "Still After Us" and 2:27 into "Judgement Day." On album, the first film's static 4-note rhythm emerges to the forefront at 1:05 into "Sacrifice" but, in reality, most of the applications were left off the product. In unreleased cues, that four-note rhythm from first film occupies "1984" and "Griffith Park," the latter shifting to the five-note rhythm when the older terminator reveals himself. That longer motif returns briefly in "Meet Pops" and is afforded its crescendo format from the end credits during "Helicopter Chase." Oddly, the most obvious placement for one of these rhythms was missed by Balfe in another spotting error; the title card of the film uses none of these retro devices and instead applies a generic stinger. There's no excuse for not providing one of the rhythms here; it's like failing to state the James Bond theme during the usual gun barrel sequence in that franchise.

As a minor element, Balfe's final new motif for Terminator Genisys represents Cyberdyne and all the suspense associated with it. A descending pair of notes, the idea takes time to stew and churn in "Cyberdyne" and returns in cello chords only at 1:26 into "Fight." Listeners won't hear much of this theme on album, for its major performances are absent. These include "Hospital Room," "Cyberdyne Lobby," and the ominous credits scene, "System Online." Altogether, there's nothing flagrantly wrong about how Balfe applies these themes, though the new love theme is a truly bizarre choice when he had one of the best such themes of all time to access. There are too many new themes, however, the love theme and guardian theme complicating a narrative that could not state these ideas well in action sequences. The stereotypical, churning ostinatos and grinding Fiedel-inspired chase cues are adequate but tired and miss countless chances to express one of the themes in battle mode or in counterpoint to one another. There's no such complexity attempted in Terminator Genisys, though "Sacrifice" is a really good cue that strives for such appeal. The general lyricism of the dramatic portions of the score do compensate on album, a wholesome twenty minutes of highly engaging, tonal material ready for a suite of accessible music unlike anything before in the Terminator franchise. The John Connor theme in its heroic incarnation is a hidden gem reminiscent of a soldier tune that Brian Tyler would write when trying to emulate Jerry Goldsmith. But the relative lack of Fiedel's main theme is a major frustration; it's not as effective here as in Tom Holkenborg's Terminator: Dark Fate. The album experience for Terminator Genisys is good but not spectacular. A terrible crossfade at 2:53 into "If You Love Me You Die," as the love theme to shifts to a suspense rhythm, is an inexcusable mastering error. Balfe's habit of substituting the film arrangement of important cues with his concept suites hurts this album, as the film versions of the "fate and hope" theme for the Reese trip back to 1984 and the John Connor theme for his own introduction needed to be featured in the proper place in the presentation. The composer should consider placing his concept suites at the start or end of his albums as well. The score was widely distributed digitally, but a very limited commercial pressing on CD became a top collectible within just a few months. Fans took heart in the leaking of 90 minutes of the score, including the pertinent missing cues, and these longer bootlegs circulated widely. In any of its forms, the score's recording is generally dynamic, the synthetic strings, trumpets, and other soloists featured well against the ensemble. Expect to be pleasantly surprised despite nagging spotting issues.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Lorne Balfe reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.81 (in 31 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.86 (in 23,582 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 71:42