La-La Land Records Releasing a 3-CD Set of TNG Scores at Comic-Con!

[Joe_Atari]

TrekAlliance92 wrote:

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*The Child - Love, LOVE the opening cue with the Repulse shuttle--awesome.

Can't wait to get this one too; been waiting for it for years.

I just realized that two of my favorite TNG-era cues -- this and Ron Jones' "Double Star" -- both were the first cues heard in S2 and S3, respectively. My other fav is the closing cue from DS9 "Call to Arms".

[Christopher]

I finally got around to listening to some of this, just "Haven" and "Hide and Q" so far. Well, and the main title track at the start. It reminds me how much I dislike the TNG version of the Goldsmith theme. I mean, it's almost exactly the same arrangement, but it just doesn't sound as good to me as the versions conducted by Goldsmith for the movies. I don't like the trumpet performance -- it sounds, I don't know, cheesier somehow, less classy. I think it's a bit more staccato, and I don't like that. Also there seems to be less bass in the mix, and that makes the theme sound more lightweight, less rich. Maybe the orchestra is smaller?

But I really love McCarthy's "Haven" score. It's gorgeous and lush, and a lot of it (especially the romantic themes) is gloriously retro, reminding me of TOS or Twilight Zone music. I love how melodic it all is, and I really regret that Berman quashed that. Just imagine if Bob Justman had stayed as producer and Berman had left.

[Brikar99]

Christopher wrote:

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I finally got around to listening to some of this, just "Haven" and "Hide and Q" so far. Well, and the main title track at the start. It reminds me how much I dislike the TNG version of the Goldsmith theme. I mean, it's almost exactly the same arrangement, but it just doesn't sound as good to me as the versions conducted by Goldsmith for the movies. I don't like the trumpet performance -- it sounds, I don't know, cheesier somehow, less classy. I think it's a bit more staccato, and I don't like that. Also there seems to be less bass in the mix, and that makes the theme sound more lightweight, less rich. Maybe the orchestra is smaller?

There are a whole lot of variables that could have contributed to the different sound - smaller orchestra, different recording studio, different mix engineers, equipment, etc. I do get what you mean by it sounding 'cheesier,' though the word I would have come up with is 'cheaper'.

[Bad Atom]

Fred Steiner's "Code of Honor" score is even better than I thought it would be. Way too dated for TNG's sensibilities but excellent nonetheless.

[Christopher]

I listened to the rest of the McCarthy disc last night. I'd forgotten how much his Sherlock Holmes motif in "Elementary, Dear Data" was a pastiche of Bruce Broughton's Young Sherlock Holmes theme.

The problem with the disc is that the good stuff is at the beginning. Once you get into the Berman-mandated "wallpaper" era, without any distinct melodies or leitmotifs, it all sounds pretty interchangeable (which is why it's so odd that Berman thought the opposite was true).

And why in the world is the final track in "All Good Things..." entitled "I Have a Gun"? Is that some kind of poker allusion, or a private joke of McCarthy's (maybe facetiously expressing frustration after seven years of hard work)?

I think it's great that we now have soundtracks of all of TNG's first six episodes, the entire set of scores written before Berman's "wallpaper" rule started to rein in the composers. McCarthy's "Farpoint" and "Haven," Jones's "The Naked Now" and "Where No One Has Gone Before," and Steiner's "Code of Honor" are all throwbacks to the TOS style favored by Roddenberry and Justman, making them some of the show's most memorable scores, and now we have all of them.

[Harvey]

I don't remember why "I Have a Gun" has that name. The track is also on the second volume of "The Best of Star Trek" that GNP put out a number of years ago. If it doesn't say in the liner notes of this release, maybe it says in that one?

[doubleohfive]

Harvey wrote:

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I don't remember why "I Have a Gun" has that name. The track is also on the second volume of "The Best of Star Trek" that GNP put out a number of years ago. If it doesn't say in the liner notes of this release, maybe it says in that one?

I just checked my copy of that album. It doesn't say anything about it. There is an overal summation of each composer's work by series ahead of the track listings, but no individual notes about the tracks themselves, beyond mentions when the Courage fanfare is included.

[TrekAlliance92]

Christopher wrote:

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I think it's great that we now have soundtracks of all of TNG's first six episodes, the entire set of scores written before Berman's "wallpaper" rule started to rein in the composers. McCarthy's "Farpoint" and "Haven," Jones's "The Naked Now" and "Where No One Has Gone Before," and Steiner's "Code of Honor" are all throwbacks to the TOS style favored by Roddenberry and Justman, making them some of the show's most memorable scores, and now we have all of them.

Absoultely! These are among my favorites, really, with a few others from the Ron Jones collection ("1101001," "Where Silence Has Lease" being two spectacular examples). The combination of strong, powerful scoring, the use of themes (including truly wonderful use of both the Courage and Goldsmith fanfares), powerful and pounding action cues, and being emotive makes these great. I hope we get more of Season 1 soon (some that have seen no releases include "The Last Outpost," "The Arsenal of Freedom," "Justice," "Home Soil," and "Angel One")

[Bad Atom]

TrekAlliance92 wrote:

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Absoultely! These are among my favorites, really, with a few others from the Ron Jones collection ("1101001," "Where Silence Has Lease" being two spectacular examples). The combination of strong, powerful scoring, the use of themes (including truly wonderful use of both the Courage and Goldsmith fanfares), powerful and pounding action cues, and being emotive makes these great. I hope we get more of Season 1 soon (some that have seen no releases include "The Last Outpost," "The Arsenal of Freedom," "Justice," "Home Soil," and "Angel One")

Volume 2 absolutely needs to have "The Last Outpost", "Justice" and "The Arsenal of Freedom". Not to mention more from "Hide & Q", "The Big Goodbye" and "Conspiracy".

[TV's Frank]

Bad Atom wrote:

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Volume 2 absolutely needs to have "The Last Outpost", "Justice" and "The Arsenal of Freedom". Not to mention more from "Hide & Q", "The Big Goodbye" and "Conspiracy".

Since there is so much more music that has yet to be released at all, I doubt the LaLa Land crew will devote more disc space to episode scores already found on Volume One. And truth be told, is there really that much more music remaining in "Hide & Q", "The Big Goodbye" and "Conspiracy" that is worthwhile on its own? "Hide & Q" has variations on the French National anthem, "The Big Goodbye" has some brief dramatic cues and "Conspiracy" simply has more of the creepy suspense cues already found on this volume.

I agree, though, that more Season One music from McCarthy should be included, such as the aforementioned episodes, "The Last Outpost" and "The Arsenal of Freedom". After that, I would add "Peak Performance", "The Hunted", "Half a Life" and "Genesis", plus Chattaway's "Power Play" and "Preemptive Strike".

[Bad Atom]

TV's Frank wrote:

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Since there is so much more music that has yet to be released at all, I doubt the LaLa Land crew will devote more disc space to episode scores already found on Volume One. And truth be told, is there really that much more music remaining in "Hide & Q", "The Big Goodbye" and "Conspiracy" that is worthwhile on its own? "Hide & Q" has variations on the French National anthem, "The Big Goodbye" has some brief dramatic cues and "Conspiracy" simply has more of the creepy suspense cues already found on this volume.

I agree, though, that more Season One music from McCarthy should be included, such as the aforementioned episodes, "The Last Outpost" and "The Arsenal of Freedom". After that, I would add "Peak Performance", "The Hunted", "Half a Life" and "Genesis", plus Chattaway's "Power Play" and "Preemptive Strike".

I've heard the complete "Hide & Q" score, and yes, there's more material worth releasing. I prefer complete scores whenever possible (like the Ron Jones set), not just the cues the composers liked best. That way, no one can complain about what was left out.

And "Power Play" is a must.

[doubleohfive]

Meh. I don't need every score to every episode. As far as I'm concerned, the bevy of new STAR TREK-related albums and re-releases we've been getting over the last three years is more than a generous bonus to what was already available, so I will gladly support whatever LalaLand and the other labels decide to release next.

[asp7485]

Yeah, I'm not sure we really need another release of TNG music. This CD is a great sampling of very good work, but an earlier poster said its pretty interchangeable, and I agree with that. The McCarthy season 1 episodes mentioned had great scores, but some of the cues are heard in other places (some the action cues from "Arsenal of Freedom" are lifted from "Encounter at Farpoint", for example). I do love Chattaway's score for "Power Play" (and it does heighten that great scene where Troi, Data, and O'Brien make their way to 10 Forward). But on a CD, I think it will sound a lot like "Darmok" or "Silicon Avatar." Chattaway used those same three notes over and over in different variations - not sure how much more of that I really need to have. I'm really ready for a DS9/Voyager release now!

[Terengo]

I'm going to have to get this! My son was taking French horn when TNG first came out, and we would laugh with delight when the horn section goes nuts at the end of the intro music! He tried to learn it, and did a pretty good job for a single horn.

[Christopher]

asp7485 wrote:

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Yeah, I'm not sure we really need another release of TNG music. This CD is a great sampling of very good work, but an earlier poster said its pretty interchangeable, and I agree with that.

Yeah, I've still been working my way through the Chattaway disc, and a lot of it is pretty boring. Which is Berman's fault more than Chattaway's. Berman wanted music that wouldn't call attention to itself, which doesn't really lend itself to soundtrack album releases. It was frustrating listening to "The Perfect Mate" and hearing a theme try to assert itself but not be allowed to recur or develop the way musical themes should.

Now, there is some later stuff that could be worthwhile. In the later seasons, the restrictions on leitmotifs eased off somewhat. For instance, Chattaway established a strong Species 8472 theme in VGR: "Scorpion" and later episodes. And I really love his Irish music in VGR: "Spirit Folk." But Chattaway's TNG work has few such highlights. Basically there's "Tin Man," "Darmok," and "The Inner Light," but I'm not sure how much else is worth putting on a soundtrack album. (Although with the proviso that I haven't finished listening to Disc 2 yet.)

And I still say that if they're doing all these box sets now, they really should do one containing all the TOS music that hasn't been released yet -- and ideally as complete a reconstruction of the animated series' music as they can manage.