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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best BSG Sound Track yet., December 23, 2007
With each successive release, Bear McCreary manages to produce more and more complete soundtracks that not only tell the story of the series but can literally put you "In the moment."
The Season 3 disk is the best yet. There is almost NOTHING to skip here. Everything weaves together to tell the complete story of Season 3 and really places you back into the series with a vengeance. Bear has really come a long way with the soundtracks he is producing for the television series. Almost every track has a distinct feeling and ambience that calls into memory the exact moments in the series that they accompanied.
The whole experience kicks off with a bang as "A Distant Sadness" begins with the faint hints of what awaits us at the end of the series and the ushers in the desperation that filled the first two episodes of the third season and builds into "Precipice."
"Admiral and Commander" ushers in the first really familiar theme in this soundtrack, bringing back what has become Adama's theme from Seasons 1 and 2, and acts as a calm before the storm that is to come in "Storming New Caprica."
I defy ANYONE who has seen Exodus Part 2 to listen to this track without being immediately transported back the the phenomenal Episode and the single best Sci-If battle sequence every televised. This almost 8 minute long track that accompanied the battle sequence was/is simply perfect. Listening to it on this CD really does tell the story almost as well as the visuals did on the show. The soundtrack is worth it for this track alone.
Of course, season three takes a bit of a nose dive after Exodus, but the soundtrack really doesn't as it really just kind of skips things until the episodes "Hero" and "Unfinished Business." This is where things get interesting. "The Dance" is an odd track for this series as it's actually fun and upbeat.
The other highlights of this soundtrack also seem to mirror the highlights of the series as well, with notable stand out tracks being the returns of the Adama/Roslyn theme in "Adama Falls," the eerie "Battlestar Sonatica," the tragic "Kat's Sacrifice," the touching "Someone to Trust" and the mystery of Kara's fate in "Mandala in the Clouds" and "Deathbed and Maelstrom."
But the real jewels here are the final two tracks, "Heeding the Call" and "All Along the Watchtower," which usher in the final act of the series yet to come in season 4. "Heeding the Call" was a great touch in "Crossroads part 2" and builds slowly as four of the five final Cylons are revealed to the viewer and is a wonderful lead-in to the controversial inclusion of the Battlestar version of "All Along the Watchtower."
"All Along the Watchtower" is really a very beautiful bridge between our world and that of the series as it takes something very familiar to us and transforms it seamlessly into something that we can really feel would be very familiar to the characters of the series. It's not really a cover as much as it is a re-imagining of the song in much the same way that the modern series is a re-imagining of the original. And let's face it, this track is probably the reason you're looking at this product anyway. Rest assured that this disk is so much more than just "All Along the Watchtower."
I cannot recommend it enough...
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Go and get that Grammy, Bear ! You deserve it, October 26, 2007
If TV land is even slightly fair then Bear McCreary should get at least a Grammy and/or Globe for this magnificient achievement. With each passing score for "Battlestar Galactica" it gets better and better and this is the best score from the four that have been published.
I can't think of any series sci-fi, drama that publishes a soundtrack for each passing season but BSG does and for a good reason too. I don't know where to start. Maybe at the beginning.
Like the scene in the episode ("Occupation Part 1") the track "A Distant Sadness" gives you goosebumps. Raya Yarbrough sings Armenian lyrics that are beautiful and deeply sad and haunting. Interestingly enough the first few tunes are the ones from "All Along the Watchtower". Maybe a hint of things to come.
"Precipe" is a simple tour de force through percussions similiar to the track "The Olympic Carrier" from the season one score. "Admiral and Commander" is a beautiful rendition of the Adama father and son theme with Ulliean Pipes, a guitar and orchestra. It soars and is yet gentle. Off we are to "Storming New Caprica", which uses the percussions in the most furious and effective way ever. Heavy Teiko rythmns make it almost Japanese. It also mixes Ullian bagpipes to show that both Pegasus and Galactica under the Adamas have arrived and they won't give up without a fight, in the middle there is a moment of sadness and defeat. I remember that scene well. It seemed as if the Galactica had lost the battle and was doomed to a firey death. A very intense moment but then the percussions return with force.
"Refugees Return" is not as some would expect a joyful track but a very sad one. Everyone is tired, hurt and deeply sad. So many loved ones lost their lives on New Caprica. The face of Saul alone when he looks at Bill made me cry. "Wayward Soldier" is another wonderful percussion track and then comes "Violence and Variations". Bear McCreary writes a real symphony on a variation here. Each score has a track likes that. It started with "Passacaglia" in S01, moved on to "Allegro" in S02 and now has its third movement with "Violence and Variations". I already realized that when I saw "Unfinished Business" and was giddy to hear the track alone on the CD and it is as wonderful as I hoped.
"The Dance" is nothing else but a very cheerful and jaunty Irish dance song in the best fashion. =) "Adama Falls" is a short track but made my shipper heart happy because it is a short rendition of the theme for Bill and Laura!!!! She is after all there for him and holds him up when he leaves (and is probably also the one who cleans him up in his cabin). "Under the Wing" is again a short track and features the melody that we already heard in "Violence and Variations". It must be for Kara or Kara and Lee.
"Battlestar Sonatica" already stuck out in the series and Ron D. Moore explained that they used the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven as Temp Music while cutting the scenes and he wanted to have something similiar since he couldn't use Beethoven (his music is unlike the music from Philip Glass simply too recognizable and "earthly"). The track that McCreary composed is a wonderful, slightly modernistic piece with touches of Glass and huges touches of Beethoven. "Fight Night" - back to the percussions plus erhus for the mix which reminded me of a cue from the season two score but I can't think which one it was. "Kat's Sacrifice" boy did I cry at the end and I didn't even like Kat! This track stands out because brass is so very seldom used. Percussive elements join and make the theme very heroic and majestic. Lovely.
"Someone To Trust" is a slow piece in which the electrical violin dominates. the ending of the piece is rather eerie and disquieting. Like the memories Bill has of his late second wife. "The Temple of Five" begins with wind chimes tinkling and the strange sound that I also associated with the ruins from Kobol in which Baltar had the vision, which is fitting since D'Anna does have a vision of the Final Five. The music swells and percussive elements join. The whole track has as most tracks who deal with Kobol and Earth a middle eastern touch (the Duduk is to blame).
"Dirty Hands" is weird. It reminded me a bit "Cowboy Bebop" and I am not quite sure why. It is a dark, western style cue with percussive elements and a bass and some strange acoustic guitar. Refreshing because different. This is what I love about BSG. The plethora of styles! "Dirty Hands" is followed by a track that should have been featured earlier chronologicalywise but was probably added this late for best listening experience. "Gentle Execution" from "Exodus Part 2". The scene was very painful to watch. Like Kat, Elen had not been my favourite character but that scene hurt. Michael Hogan did an amazing job there. The track itself is the reprisal of the wonderful track "Worthy of Survival" with only slight use of percussive elements ("Worthy of Survival" had heavy Teiko drums).
"Mandala in the Sky" is nothing special. Heavy Teiko rhythms. "Deathbed and Maelstrom": That track was used for the flashback scenes in which we see the death of Kara's mother. The track is decidedly Asian flavoured due to the inclusion of the Ehru. What IS really intriguing is the short snippet of the theme we heard already in "Kobol's Last Gleaming". Why did McCreary add the theme there? Does he know something we don't? Why use a theme that was used for the foreshadowing of the Cylon future? "Heeding the Call" is just plain genius. It uses snippets of "All Along the Watchtower" and builds up more and more and leads into the song itself. I really like the version from Bear McCreary. So cool.
My final verdict: Buy it, buy it, buy it. You won't regret it. The score is just plain amazing!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yeah, what everyone else says!, October 27, 2007
Without a doubt, Bear McCreary's finest work to date, though I could sense that throughout Season 3 itself. I'm constantly amzed by the shear variety of arrangement, instrumentation and moods McCreary uses and conveys in his score, and this CD reminds us that his contribution to the show is as important as the SFX, the writing, production and acting. McCreary will be a force to be reckoned with for decades to come. I do have one minor complaint, but won't take away a star. Possibly the most important musical segment of S3 was that in the "Crossroads" finale. Although this adaptation of "All Along the Watchtower" is a remarkable piece, I too would have like to have had the mix as it was used in the show itself. As it stands here, it just doesn't have that same epic feel as it did in the finale.
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