STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT
Rating: 
Original Review: I was actually a little disappointed with this score, especially considering the excellent music from the previous seven films. The new main title composed for First Contact, a dramatic, heroic piece played on horns with a marvellous string section in the middle, is the obvious highlight of the entire album, and Jerry knows it's good because he uses it generously thoughout the score. He also re-uses some of previous material, notably the 'Klingon' theme from Star Trek V, Alexander Courage's classic fanfare from the original TV series, and the famous theme Goldsmith originally composed for Star Trek: The Motion Picture back in 1979, but is now widely known as the music for the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series. The let downs are the action cues, which are mostly rather dull (although parts of 'Temporal Wake' are quite good), and Jerry's son Joel's efforts - 'Locutus', 'Retreat' and '39.1 Degrees Celsius'. Maybe its just lack of experience, but Joel Goldsmith is nowhere near as good a composer as his father is, and his cues are poor. Also, the inclusion of two pop songs by Steppenwolf and Roy Orbison seems a little unnecessary.
Track Listing:
- Main Title / Locutus (4:17)
- Red Alert (2:13)
- Temporal Wake (2:07)
- Welcome Aboard (2:40)
- Fully Functional (3:18)
- Retreat (3:59)
- Evacuate (2:19)
- 39.1 Degrees Celsius (4:44)
- The Dish (7:05)
- First Contact (5:52)
- End Credits (5:24)
- Magic Carpet Ride (written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve, performed by Steppenwolf) (4:25)
- Ooby Dooby (written by Wade Moore and Dick Penner, performed by Roy Orbison) (2:22)
Running Time: 51 minutes 26 seconds
GNP Crescendo Records GNPD-8052 (1996)
Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. Orchestrations by Arthur Morton, Alexander Courage and Jeff Atmajian. Additional music composed by Joel Goldsmith. Features music from the Star Trek television series, composed by Alexander Courage. Recorded and mixed by Bruce Botnick. Edited by Bruce Botnick, Ken Hall and Clifford Kohlweck. Mastered by Bruce Botnick. Album produced by Jerry Goldsmith.
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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1997. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.