Customer Reviews

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Being the proud owner of all ten Star Trek soundtrack CD albums, I have to say that the contrast between all the other albums and this one is rather uplifting. The music on the album is generally cheery and delightfully energetic - very different than the often dark and ominous tones conveyed in many of the other motion picture scores. Leonard Rosenman did a nice job bringing Star Trek IV to life with this score. The majority of the music on the CD is fun to listen to, and some of the tracks even come off sounding comical. However, while the score does make the film all the more memorable, only a select few tracks on this album truly stand out. I also found that the Yellowjackets' co-produced songs clashed with the orchestral pieces on the CD, and I usually skip them whenever I listen to the album. You'll find the best parts of this CD in the title and chase themes (tracks 1, 7, 9 and 11).
The first thing I noticed when I played this CD was how short the music on the CD ended up being. At just over 36 minutes long, it's my shortest album. Seven of the eleven tracks are under three minutes in length, with four of those being under ninety seconds long. After I finished listening to the album, I felt as if I had just left the grocery store after I was shortchanged - I was just left hanging there feeling like I missed something.
As I was listening to the first track, the Main Title, I also noticed the first of several poor mastering artifacts in the audio. Instead of crossfading two audio segments together to make the transition between two cuts of music sound less apparent to the ears, there is simply a pair of cuts butt up next to each other. This happens often in the music. While generally not distracting from the overall enjoyability of the score, I did find that it would take my mind away from the music to the recording itself - thinking about the cuts of music used to patch the songs together. I also noticed that the end of each track fades out prematurely, not allowing the natural reverberation of the recording environment to ring in the air and fade away. The cover art and album insert are also fairly plain and boring, even for an early issue CD. With simply a few movie photos and a credits and track listing contained on the insert, I found that the liner notes lacked a bit of 'user friendly' material, like scoring information or movie notes.
Before you decide to spend the money for this CD, listen to the track samples and see if the CD holds enough material that you'd enjoy listening to. While not as big as the Goldsmith or Horner scores, this album's highlights are worth adding to any collection.

fantastic music for a fantastic movie. this monsterously catchy soundtrack provided the perfect backdrop for what is not only the best trek film but the most human and uplifting of all sci-fi. some of the other reviews here say that they dsliked it beacuse it strayed so far from the original trek model of the grand romantic score. i would like to argue that giving such a film as this such a score would be a terrible mistake and would clash terribly with the emotional landscape of the film.this lightly baroque score on the other hand augments it perfectly and makes the film that much more memorable

This one's an old favorite. The Voyage Home soundtrack is a good, but unfortunately short and hard to find star trek soundtrack. Rosenman is my second favorite star trek composer because the music so upbeat and different from the other star trek movie scores. (Horner is my favorite composer btw) I like all of the tracks except for Market Street, which sounds dated and sticks out like a sore thumb when compared to the other tracks. It has like a funky, computerized or synth quality to it. (Sorry I dont know the specific terms, play the sample to see what I mean) I have an old secondhand cassette tape of it but I recently bought the CD so I could play it anywhere I wanted and after about 20 odd years of existence and use, I was afraid my cassette might wear out some day. Some of the best tracks are Checkov's Run, Hospital Chase and the End Title. I also like the whale's theme which is beautiful. The track Ballad of the Whale sticks out too with a more synthesized sound to it. Its an extra featuring only the "whale theme"- the particular track wasnt actually in the movie. Too bad they couldnt have recorded that track with the traditional instruments instead of electronic ones. But I can forgive that because it was a particularly pretty theme anyway. I would recommend this soundtrack but considering the price you have to pay ($30 and up), I would recommend that you listen to the music in the movie first so you can determine whether you like it enough to be willing to pay that much for a soundtrack that is rather short and has a track or two that doesn't fit in with the rest of the music.

This was an ok soundtrack to one of my favorite Star Trek movies. It's light, funny, and cheerful giving the movie just the right touch. Track 9, "Hospital Chase" depicts the humor of the situation quite efectively. And the theme is very good. However, it's yet another Rosenman. What's with this guy? All his scores sound the same! If you like his music, buy this cd and you'll basically have all of them. At least he saves us money.

The music from the third of the trilogy of Star Trek movies lives up to its billing. My problem is its mix. I believe the movie soundtrack albums should follow the sequence of the movie. It seems as if whoever produced the album put each section together in a hodgepodge order which, in my humble opinion, takes away over the overall composition.

Probably the least interesting work of Leonard Rosenman. The main theme is nothing more than a variation of his Lord of the Rings-theme, and the other tracks don't really impress - with the possible exception of Time Travel. At 26 minutes (not counting in the poptracks) it's also very short - even for Rosenman standards.
Still it's far from a bad soundtrack, but you would probably only buy it to complete your Star Trek-collection - or (in my case) your Rosenman-collection.

The only good pieces in this score are the beginning and end titles, and Chekov in the Hospital!. Everything else is unoriginal filler. Three songs do not justify the retail price of this album! The only good thing about this score is, if you buy it, you won't have to buy any other soundtracks that this Rosenman fellow has written since they all sound pretty much the same. The other good point is that the score at least works okay in the movie, but is unlistenable in of itself unless this is your first time listening to Rosenman's works in general. Courage's, Goldsmith's, Horner's, Eidelmann's, and even McCarthy's symphonic renditions of the Star Trek films all kick this score's sorry @$$ towards the event horizon into "what they used to call a black hole."(ST:TMP) If you REALLY must buy this score, try your best to obtain one in the used bin. Beware of eBay, though. It almost seems like anyone will pay much more than what a particular item is really worth in many occasions there! - Reinhart

Rosenman lacks the slightest trace of inspiration. Everything he writes sounds like his tepid scores for "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" and "The Lord of the Rings," and this is no exception. This dull music actually detracts from the film...it would have been better off with no score at all.

For the best entry in the STAR TREK motion picture series, Leonard Rosenman's score for this film is banal, tired, unemotional, silly, uninspiring, recorded in mono, and an insult to the other film scores by James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith. I found it distressing that James Horner did not return in 1986 to score the fourth entry in the film series. Where Horner's scores are more sweepingly grand, moving, and nautically beautiful, Rosenman doesn't capture the humanly close and fun spirit of STAR TREK IV at all. Worst of all, this score was nominated for an Oscar (fortunately did not win) -- a direct insult to the Horner compositions which merit such recognition even more. If you're wondering if this soundtrack is a must-have to complete your STAR TREK soundtrack collection, please reconsider! Money doesn't grow on trees, and this CD should be put out of print. I also believe that amazon.com should have given me the option to give this horrible soundtrack a no-star rating.

Rosenman has delivered a powerful score to a wonderful movie! The opening theme is dazzling, The Whaler is a very suspenseful piece, and you can't resist the good jazzy feel of Market Street and Ballad of the Whale. This soundtrack isn't for everybody. After all, it's only 35 minutes long, which isn't long enough for some people to spend the money on. But, for any Star Trek music lover, this CD is a must have! One of the most underrated Star Trek soundtracks!