The worst thing in Trek.

[Arcanum]

Has to be the music?

You only start to see how important soundtrack is when you listen to some great ones like on BSG or some great movie music.

Trek movies had really good tunes and of course series had great opening theme, but the music in the episodes tended to be horrible, so bland that I would feel insulted sometimes. Still can't get the awful music from some VGR and ENT episodes outta my head.

Think that music was totally overlooked in modern trek.

 

[Geck]

I agree - one of my favourite things about TOS is the dramatic scores for each episode. The music was almost like another character on the show. The first three seasons of TNG were pretty good in this regard as well, but after that it's like the music kept getting toned down and scaled back to the point you could barely notice it. I can hardly recall any episodic music from DS9 or VOY, even when situations warranted something powerful.

 

[Arcanum]

TOS had great soundtrack that really sticks in your head for a long time.
It's also very iconic, no wonder why SP maked fun of the ''KirkSeesBeutifulWoman'' tune complete with that bluring camera filter.

Granted TOS could have a bit overpowering music sometimes but it fitted the heroic/romantic theme of the show.

 

[Lynx]

Hmmmm....must be the reason why I can't remember any soundtrack at all from Star Trek when I'm sitting here writing this post.

Being a serious music fan and an ardent fan of heavy rock, I have learned how to mentally switch off and ignore music I don't really like which is convenient in a world with so much crap music blasting out from radios or CD players everywhere.

The only Star Trek music I do have in my head are the opening themes which are actually good, especially the one for Voyager.

 

[Arcanum]

Yep, Voyager opening theme is fantastic, best intro music that a trek series had. While I am DS9 fan, I thought that the intro theme there was a bit bland esp after 4th season premiere.

But on the other hand Voyager had some of the worst in-episode music.
A real low-point is Once Upon A Time in 6th season, those ''impish'' flutes and Naomi-muzak made me wanna puke.

 

[Michael]

I have to disagree with you on Enterprise. The later seasons (especially the third) had some wonderful noticable scores. TNG's music wasn't that bad for the most part either. Ron Jones and (the early) Jay Chattaway wrote some memorable music. But you are right, the scores in DS9 and VOY were mostly forgettable and amounted to nothing more than background noise. (With the music for The Visitor being a notable exception.)

 

[erastus25]

I agree, the in-episode music for most of modern Trek is pretty forgettable but I think the theme songs for DS9 and VOY are very good.

 

[jealousblues]

-the fact that the movies just arnt all that great for whatever reason

-the whole style of the first movie

-the fact that two actors from seventh heaven have been in star trek

- Tuvok was a background guy in one of the movies, i think. That bugged me ;-)

 

[Michael]

-the fact that two actors from seventh heaven have been in star trek

How exactly is that a bad thing?

 

[CommanderRaytas]

It bothered you that Tuvok was a background guy in one of the movies? Why? You mean the actor or the character? I remember a VOY episode where Tuvok has these memories, but....hm.

Well, on topic... the music in Trek is mostly forgetable. I like the opening theme for VOY and DS9, though. The TOS-battle music reminds me too much of Futurama, that really ruins it for me.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Wow, the music would not be at the top of my list! Not even in the top ten. Sure, there are some shows with terrific music - BSG, Heroes, Lost and Dexter - but there are far, far bigger things to complain about in Star Trek. (Lost and Dexter are the only shows whose in-episode, not main, themes I could hum right now.)

My Worst Thing in Trek (meaning something pervasive, not individual characters or episodes) is the tendency towards episodes where the characters fly in, solve the wrongheaded aliens' problems, give them a lecture about the superiority of the Federation, and fly away.

Either that or technobabble. Or the abuse of time travel.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Being a serious music fan and an ardent fan of heavy rock, I have learned how to mentally switch off and ignore music I don't really like which is convenient in a world with so much crap music blasting out from radios or CD players everywhere.

I know exactly what you're saying there.
Also being a hack music producer, I can at least focus on the mixes. Why do they keep using the "Mr. Roboto" vocal effect on pop chart tunes? I've been hearing it for years now. There are so many vocal FX to play with but they keep using that same phasing synth effect.

There was a conscious decision with TNG to use non-theme, non-motif, non-instrusive I think was the rule of thumb for most of that series, and from what I see of DS9 and VOY that school carried through those shows at least. TOS and TNG had live orchestra tracks, except when it would get that funky synth thing happening in the early years.
So before we label it bad music, we have to get the context of how the composer(s) were being directed, and then reconsider it from that angle. Music was put in those shows as a harmonious element. So there aren't a lot of dominating themes, which I think, over the course of a series, could get tiresome.
But having just watched TNG this past winter I do think it would have been good to let the orchestra come to the fore more often.

 

[erastus25]

It bothered you that Tuvok was a background guy in one of the movies? Why? You mean the actor or the character? I remember a VOY episode where Tuvok has these memories, but....hm.

Tuvok's memories were from his time on Sulu's ship - not on the Enterprise B. It always bothered me that Tuvok assisted in hijacking the Enterprise D and DS9, yet didn't lose his commission. Maybe he was under cover with the maquis then too.

 

[Mr. Fergy]

Worst thing in Trek? It has to be "Spock's Brain" and "Pailer Shades of Grey".

 

[SFRabid]

Background music for TV shows is not supposed to be memorable. It is supposed to enhance the mood of the scene and be secondary to the images. I'd rather have music that I don't notice than music that distracts from the scene or overpowers the dialog.

 

[James Bond]

The music in Enterprise was pretty good, and at times it got away from the usual orchestral type.

The worst thing in Star Trek has got to be the crazed lunatic fans.

 

[SFRabid]

...

The worst thing in Star Trek has got to be the crazed lunatic fans.

Or maybe the anti-fans. Those people that hang around forums just to trash the series of their choice.

 

[erastus25]

Background music for TV shows is not supposed to be memorable. It is supposed to enhance the mood of the scene and be secondary to the images. I'd rather have music that I don't notice than music that distracts from the scene or overpowers the dialog.

I completely agree. Interestingly, on one of the commentaries in the first season of the Twilight Zone, Rob Serling says that he finds music quite distracting and wishes it hadn't been used on his show. And TZ had some positively excellent scores!

 

[CommanderRaytas]

It bothered you that Tuvok was a background guy in one of the movies? Why? You mean the actor or the character? I remember a VOY episode where Tuvok has these memories, but....hm.

Tuvok's memories were from his time on Sulu's ship - not on the Enterprise B. It always bothered me that Tuvok assisted in hijacking the Enterprise D and DS9, yet didn't lose his commission. Maybe he was under cover with the maquis then too.

Thanks for clearing that one up for me!

 

[Danoz]

Has to be the music?

You only start to see how important soundtrack is when you listen to some great ones like on BSG or some great movie music.

Trek movies had really good tunes and of course series had great opening theme, but the music in the episodes tended to be horrible, so bland that I would feel insulted sometimes. Still can't get the awful music from some VGR and ENT episodes outta my head.

Think that music was totally overlooked in modern trek.

Am I the only one who likes the opening song for ENT?