The Best Of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary Special

Various Artists | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: June 6, 2000
• Label: GNP Crescendo Record Co., Inc.
• Copyright: (c) 1996 Paramount Pictures
• Total Length: 1:03:40
• Genres:
• ASIN: B000QZYOOM
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,314 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)
  • #8 in MP3 Downloads > MP3 Albums > Soundtracks > Television Soundtracks

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's face it: Worth it mostly for the score to all 4 series, February 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Best Of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary Special! Original TV Soundtrack [Enhanced CD] (Audio CD)

My wife, Kitty, was not a Trekkie when we met four years ago. She's come around a bit... she still doesn't like frightening foam faces (e.g. Klingons, Ferengi), but she enjoys Janeway's combination of humility, empathy, and reasoning. She also sees some virtue in Tuvok's near-pure logic, while wrestling with inner emotions.

But despite the foam faces, whenever DS9 or Voyager airs, she is just like me: During the opening score, DROP EVERYTHING; unplug the phone, turn down the lights and raise the volume.

The Star Trek scores and orchestration goes way beyond the power and imagery of each television series. They evoke tears as sure as Paganini or Brahams. Which contemporaries can match the classical emotion and orchestral presence of Voyager and the hauntingly beautiful, deeply emotional DS9!... John Williams of Star Wars/ET fame? Andrew Lloyd Webber (JC Superstar/Cats/ Evita/Phantom)? Perhaps.

For more than 5 years, I have searched for a single collection of ALL Star Trek TV themes (even when there were only 2 or 3 shows). Still, the Boston Pops has not released all 4 themes on one CD. But now we have all four, and there are two CDs to choose from! (The other is Telarc 8038 - Cincinnati/Kunzel). But this 30th Anniversary Special is much truer to the opening season orchestrations - the ones still used by DS9 and Voyager. I'm not certain why it is not the EXACT performance used on the series, but it is certainly close enough (and slightly longer; after all there is no TV commercial to deal with).

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walked down the isle to "Orchestral Suite from the Inner Light", May 4, 2006

By 

lighten_up_already2 "lighten_up_already2" (Kirkland, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Best Of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary Special! Original TV Soundtrack [Enhanced CD] (Audio CD)

I bought this CD when I was engaged and in the process of planning the wedding. My wife and I were looking for a "walk down the isle" song that would be beutiful but not typical.

I was playing the CD in my Jeep when Orchestral Suite from THE INNER LIGHT came on and I just went slack-jawed at how beautiful and appropriate that would be. My wife agreed and we walked down the isle at our wedding to that particular selections. It's just long enough for that purpose, too.

Later in the ceremony my wife's sister read a story that she chose for a reading, and she knew nothing about the music my wife and I chose for the wedding. My wife's sister read a story called something like "The Inner Light" about a man searching for valuable rubies and being told by a jewler to look for the "inner light" in the stone that shows that it's genuine.

How's that for spooky-cool?

Anyway, this is a great CD full of a lot of music that stands on its own apart from the Star Trek context. Buy it and be surprised.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must for Star Trek fans., November 11, 2000

By 

D. Roberts "Hadrian12" (Battle Creek, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Of Star Trek: 30th Anniversary Special! Original TV Soundtrack [Enhanced CD] (Audio CD)

This is a compilation of ST music from the various TV series. Music from the movies is not included in this CD. It starts out with the incidental music from the original series. As ST fans know, this is not the most listenable music in the world (in fact, it can get down right annoying at times). However, it is a bit nostalgic (so long as you're a ST fan).

About midpoint, the themes become more "musical." The main themes from "ST: The Next Generation," "Deep Space 9" and "Voyager" are included. I did not like the version of the fanfare from "DS 9," however; it was apparently from the final season & had a superfluous drumbeat which I found tacky. Most of the remainder of the album is episodic music from "TNG."

The gem of this CD, however, is "Suite from the Inner Light" (you may listen to a sample of this). It is an elaboration of the "TNG" episode of the same name (and moreover just so happens to be my all time STepisode); Picard's lute playing accompanied by orchestra. I had a friend of mine who hates ST listen to it & she could not believe how beautiful it was.

I probably would not suggest this album for non-Die Hard ST fans. However, for those who are, it's an almost can't miss. The "Suite from the Inner Light" is worth the price of the CD all by iteslf.