Battlestar Galactica [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 18, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Soundtrack
• Label: Fontana Mca
• ASIN: B0000TAZVA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,222 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A little bit OVER-Remastered, May 3, 2004

By 

dep1701 "dep1701" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battlestar Galactica (Audio CD)

For the most part, this CD is a duplicate to the original released on vinyl in the 70's, but there are 3 exceptions.

The first is trivial: two tracks have been switched from their original album playing order. This allows the majestic "Exploration" theme to be heard immediately following the opening title theme. This change relatively unimportant, since the album tracks are nowhere near the order that they appeared in the film, and by programming your CD player, you can hear them in any order you like. The second is the addition of the "Disco Version" of the main title, which I actually like ( yes, it's cheesy, but then again I liked Meco's arrangement of the "Star Wars" theme as well! ).The third change is not as welcome however: Whoever oversaw the remastering of this album felt it was necessary to splash way too much reverb on all of the tracks to give them all, I suppose, a 'concert hall' feel and sound. At first listen I thought it sounded pretty good, but the more I listened the less enchanted I became. While the extra boom is nice at some points, the effect becomes overwhelming in the the more bombastic pieces, and muddies up the sound so that you lose the ability to hear the fine playing of various individual instruments... an effect I find annoying. This becomes very obvious if you compare this disc to the German release of the original soundtrack, which is an exact duplicate of the original album ( and sounds just fine without the tweaking ). Some may disagree with me, but I think retro-engineering like this is just as abhorrent as the fad of colorizing of black and white movies that was so prevalent in the 80's. Remaster -Yes! Tamper with -NO!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Score, But Bad Remaster, September 1, 2005

By 

Adamtron (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battlestar Galactica (Audio CD)

I would give 5 stars for excellent music, but have to give only 3 stars for a terrible remaster. It sounds like someone turned the Treble all the way up and turned the Bass down to zero! It has a very thin, metalic sound to it. Also, the reverb is way over done, as the other reviewers have mentioned. It's to the point where things are so blended together that you can't distinguish the individual instruments. My original vinyl record is better sound quality then this (if you overlook the clicks or pops). I would recommend the June 29, 1999 re-recording with Stu and the Royal Orchestra over this one. On the re-recording the horns blast through loud and clear and the bass blows you out of your seat. You can hear every instrument very clearly as if you are sitting right in front of the orchestra. The music is fantastic and I think the Battlestar Galactica theme is one of the best ever written. Also, the Exploration theme and Base Star (Imperious Leader) theme are amazing.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a ragtag soundtrack..., December 14, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Battlestar Galactica (Audio CD)

To a certain extent, I was surprised when I discovered this soundtrack on CD. Being a great fan of the television series back in the 1970s (when I was 12 years old, part of the key demographic Battlestar Galactica was aiming to attract), I bought the soundtrack on vinyl, and still have that copy. The vinyl and CD are duplicates, save that there is one more track on the CD that probably should have been left off -- that is the 'disco version' of the main theme. Sad...

Otherwise, this is a great soundtrack CD. Battlestar Galactica tried in many ways to be the 'Star Wars' of television -- it was trying to capitalise on the success of Star Wars in the theatres the year before, and in so doing even used the same special effects teams and other devices developed out of that film. However, when it came to music, they did not go with John Williams (who did so much with films and science fiction), opting instead for Stu Phillips, and having the music performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The original theme for the pilot (later released as a feature film) was modified for the rest of the television series; that theme is unfortunately missing from this collection. However, this original theme has the characteristics that Battlestar Galactica music was known for -- orchestral crashes at the introduction long before they became standard fare as a synthesizer sample, loud brassy sections that trumpet the main line of the theme, and full orchestra participation -- this is not a band or a synthesizer production, but a real composition.

The various pieces of music are moody and sombre, foreboding and dark as the backdrop of the destruction of twelve worlds of humanity; the music of the enemy, the Cylons, is ominous and imperious, in keeping with their 'Imperious leader' and forbidding presence. There is one song that perhaps the producers hoped might become a pop song -- the song that was sung by the singers on Carillon. One thinks of the jig performed by the band in the Star Wars bar as Luke and Obi-wan negotiate for a ride; this is a backdrop also to a casino/bar where people are trying to escape. This song was performed by the 'Space Angels', not a real group in a true sense of the word.

With one exception ('The End of the Atlantia') these pieces are presented in the same order as they would fall in the film. The music is fun and interesting, not a half-hearted attempt at filler sounds by any means.

The new miniseries on television has a very different look and feel, and that extends even to the music. However, for one brief moment, the brass-heavy and triumphant-sounding Stu Philips theme can be heard as the Vipers make a fly-by. A good tribute, but it reinforced how much I missed the music of the original, which is happily available here.