Customer Reviews

Quantum Leap: Music From The Television Series

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Composers Velton Ray Bunch who scores the series "Quantum Leap", and Mike Post whose familiar "Main Title Music" is totally recognizable all over the world brings to the listener a wonderful and enjoyable album. And then there is Scott Bakula, who, as Dr. Sam Beckett, sings his way into the series and by golly it works. This talented actor Bakula, makes each episode believable with performances calling for a song, and Scott hits the mark everytime as you will witness after listening to this CD.

GNP/Crescendo Records has once again come up with the perfect album for Score/Soundtrack Collectors, not to mention anything Neil Norman puts his signature too. Highly recommend this for all film and music buffs, and for this reason I give this a five star rating - a definite classic - "Quantum Leap"!

Total Time: 65:45 on 16 Tracks/ GNP-Crescendo Records - GNPD 8036 (1993)

I bought this CD on a whim after getting and watching Seasons One through Three DVDs of Quantum Leap. I'm glad I did. Lots of angst has been spent by QL fans regarding the exclusion from the DVD releases of certain period pop tunes included in the original episodes (notably, Ray Charles' "Georgia"). While this complaint may be valid, it overshadows the strong and beautiful original soundtrack of the series and the lovely collaboration between Velton Ray Bunch and Scott Bakula.
The vocal pieces are reworked versions of songs that appeared in the TV broadcasts. Most of us remember the TV version of "Imagine," which the character Sam sings to his sister, Katie. This CD contains a full version that is hauntingly beautiful. (Even my husband, a John Lennon groupie, was impressed.) "Somewhere in the Night," co-written by Bakula, gets a full background, while the three signature songs from Man of La Mancha ("Don Quixote," "Dulcinea," and "Impossible Dream") are smoothed into a nice (untheatrical) medley. Even "Fate's Wide Wheel," a glam rock power ballad, gets a sweet treatment, allowing you to catch the hidden meaning in the lyrics. (Thankfully, the CD does not include "Rock the Redhead.") Bakula sounds like he's having a load of fun singing in 50's-Elvis style on "Let's Play House" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky." The first time I played these two songs, I kept looking at the liner notes to confirm that it was Bakula, and not Young Elvis, singing.
On the instrumental side, the pieces are incredibly evocative. I'm amazed at the breadth of style here; essentially, Bunch produced a movie score for each episode, appropriate to the different time period and mood of each story, from the gothic "Bite Me" to the lonely and introspective "Sam's Prayer." The Suite from Lee Harvey Oswald (for which Bunch was nominated for an Emmy, and deservedly so) is by turns creepy, stirring, and pensive (like the episode), and the familiar haunting introduction that even the casual QL fan would recognize as Sam's Theme is done in such a poignant harmonica and strings combination in "Suite From the Leap Home" that it makes you homesick for your mom just listening to it.
The CD could have done without the interview with Bakula track; it sounds dated, considering what the actor has done since QL, and I would have preferred it being replaced by more music, maybe the gospelly, "He'll Be There," from Pool House Blues.
Of course, given the lush orchestration, the evocative original music, and the pleasure of a Broadway calibre voice singing Lennon and Elvis, it's probably ironic that my 4 year old insists on listening to Dean Stockwell's "Alphabet Rap" a thousand times. This version isn't as utterly awful as the episode version (kid voices carry it on the CD), but my CD player's next track button gets a workout when the 4 year old isn't around. Although, after about the hundredth time, it starts being more funny than annoying.
If you like soundtracks, this is a nice one to get. It's got a good balance of nice songs, done well. Even if you skip the spoken-word tracks (Saga Sell, Conversation, and Alphabet Rap), it's worth listening to.

Scott Bakula is a great actor and he can sing as well. He has a wonderful voice that's filled with emotion and I enjoy hearing that. Anyone who likes Scott Bakula will love this cd. I did.

I collect soundtracks from movies and tv shows, and this one is my new favorite. I loved the episodes where Scott Bakula sang, and the soundtrack has some great tracks from those episodes. I especially love the "Man of La Mancha" medley. I recommend this to anyone who likes "Quantum Leap" or Scott Bakula himself.

Unfortunately, there are only few CD's on which you can listen to Scott Bakula's excellent singing, so this one is an absolutely MUST for both Bakula- and QL-fans. My personal favourite is the "Man Of La Mancha"-Medley, three great songs from a great episode...

I have always loved hearing "Imagine" being sung by Scott Bakula. I still remember watching the episode when it orignally aired, and just being amazed by how beautifully Scott Bakula sang the song - and what a wonderful song it was. Until that moment, being just a kid then, I had never heard "Imagine"! It became one of my favorite songs after that. It is truly amazing how talented Scott Bakula is! Anyone that is a big "Quantum Leap" fan and a big Scott Bakula fan should buy this CD!

I love this album. excellent music composed by velton ray bunch and mike post. Scott not is only an excellent superb actor but an excellent singer with such an angelic beautiful voice. "Somwehere in the night" is such an example and Fate's wide wheel is a wonderful rock song he performs. There are no words to express what a great album this is. whether or not youre a quantum leap fan and/or of the actors this is a must have album to add to your cd music collection if you havent gotten it you got to get it. I highly recommend it.

I really liked the song "Somewhere in the Night" ever since I saw the episode where it was featured. The way it was played with Scott solo at the piano was haunting & powerful--just a great song. When I saw that there was a CD of it, I considered getting it and finally did. Unfortunately I didn't do my homework and was very disappointed to find that the CD version takes a sweet piano performance and turns it into a less touching and more forgettable "easy listening rock" song that doesn't do his on-screen performance of the song justice. And apparently the only place to get the piano-only version is on the episode :(

The rest of the CD is a mixed bag. Scott Bakula is definitely multi-talented, and it is enjoyable and fun to hear him play some of the different songs from the show--but nothing fantastic. The only standout vocal song on the disc would have been "Somewhere"--and that was ruined for me by the "easy listening" chorus. The instrumental tracks are okay--I'm admittedly not a big fan of instrumental music, so take my review with that grain of salt included.

As opposed to many reviewers, I quite enjoyed the interview clip. It was fun to hear some of Scott's background and what he enjoyed about working on the show. And how great is it to hear straight from the star's mouth that he would love to take the role up again in the future? As a fan, that's really nice to hear.

So my take is--if you're a QL fan, and you can get it used for a decent price, it's fun for a listen. Non-fans should probably look elsewhere.

I am a fan of Quatnum Leap since episode one. Scott Bakula is a wonderfull actor he along with Dean Stockwell. They made the show perfect and so believable and their hard work and talent rang true in what we saw and heard i lent my soundtrack to a friend and never got it back it took me like ten years to find somewhere to replace it at. I am a true die hard fan of this show my kids are watching it where i find the reruns of this wonderfull show thanks to all of you for this wonderfull show i miss it i can still see Scott Bakula in Enterprise so all is not lost there i am a trek fan as well lol bye and keep leaping fans and trekking trek fans

This is a wonderful CD. I call it my lucky CD, when someone busted into my car, this is the only CD they didn't take.
I love this so much, Scott Bakula has a wonderful voice and I can just listen to him all day. :)