No. 1 Sci-Fi Album [Import]

V/A (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• ASIN: B000026PO5
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #492,135 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Star Wars

2. Independence Day

3. The Abyss

4. The Empire Strikes Back

5. Superman

6. ET

7. Blade Runner

8. Return Of The Jedi

9. Apollo 13

10. The War Of The Worlds - The Eve Of The World

11. Close Encounters Of The Thrid Kind

12. Jurassic Park

13. Batman

14. Dune

15. Dark Star

16. Capricorn One

17. Alien

18. The Black Hole

19. 2001: A Space Odyssey

20. The X Files

See all 40 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great compilation, September 5, 2005

By 

tjguitar - See all my reviews

This review is from: No. 1 Sci-Fi Album (Audio CD)

This CD is mostly tracks from the Polygram/Phillips library (John Williams/Boston Pops Orchestra) as well as tracks from the Silva Screen Records Library and a few tracks by the Barry Gray Orchestra. Disc one is devoted to some of the greatest science fiction movies ever and disc two is devoted to the television series of the same genre.

For disc one, the Boston Pops Orchestra perform: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Superman, E.T., Return of the Jedi, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien and 2001 under the baton of John Williams. The City of Prague Philharmonic performs Independence Day, The Abyss, Apollo 13, Jurassic Park, Batman, Capricorn One and the Black Hole under the batons of Nicholas Dodd, Paul Bateman and Nic Raine. In addition, there is some electronic tracks by Silva Screen's go-to men for synthesizers; Mark Ayres and Daniel Caine as well as Original SoundTrack tracks for Dune and War of the Worlds.

Disc two also included music performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra (Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Twilight Zone) conducted by John Williams and again the City of Prague Philharmonic (Star Trek Voyager). Appearing again on the synthesizers are Makr Ayres (X Files, Babylon 5, Blake's 7) and Daniel Caine (Buck Rogers, Star Trek The Next Generation). The Babylon 5 track is the same one as on The Cult Files which combines the season one theme with the season three theme, it is an excellent arrangement. In addition, Mark Lambert and Ian Hu perform Red Dwarf and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. For all of the Barry Gray tv series, there are recordings by the Barry Gray Orchestra (Thunderbirds, Stingray, Fireball XL5, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90) In addition, there is original soundtrack recordings for Dark Skies, Dr Who, The Time Tunnel and the Batman TV series. Finally, Lost In Space is performed by Neil Norman and his Orchestra.

All in all this is a good sampler combining the old Boston Pops recordings from the 1980s with tracks that Polygram could license for cheap. The Boston Pops Orchestra and City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra are first rate in performance and track selection, and the synthesizer work by Mark Ayres is excellent, often sounding exactly like the original.