Battlestar Galactica fans now have a great overview of music from this latest Sci-Fi Channel incarnation made complete with this release of nearly 70 minutes of music.  The new La-La Land disc features music from two feature-length “television events” that fans of Bear McCreary’s music hoped would be released.  That dream becomes reality here capping off one of the best television score series to appear in some time and completing the musical journey.   McCreary realized that even with the previous 2-disc set there was not enough room to do justice to these two scores and so they are combined here.  Essentially two-sides of the same story coin, listeners are given a chance to enjoy music that revolves around each of the main “races” in this universe.

The music comes from two different “films” released two years apart.  The disc opens with “Apocalypse” the “theme” from The Plan which features beautifully haunting vocals by Raya Yarbrough that are soon joined by an almost heavy metal guitar sound in a forceful and very dramatic original song.  As a bonus, La-La Land includes a live recording of “Apocalypse” from a Comicon performance with the “Battlestar Galactica Orchestra” which nicely bookends the two scores presented here.

Battlestar Galactica—Razor recalls what happened the day of the Cylon attack as understood through the eyes of the character Officer Kendra Shaw.  The film follows her story as she is shaped into a fine-honed “razor” under the forceful eye of Admiral Cain.  The story provides some chilling clues to the future in this back-story to the series.  The sound of this score recalls some of the ethnic musical sounds of the first two seasons.  Taiko drums and a variety of ethnic woodwinds create the primary fabric of the score.  A sad, almost Asian-like lyric theme follows Kendra Shaw in this score and appears first in “Arriving at Pegasus” with a more expanded character track occurring later in the disc.  This score recalls the use of both ambient design elements and electric guitar sounds that were part of the early seasons of Battlestar Galactica while adding to them the depth of orchestral support and lyric ethnic instrumentation.  The design effects tend to lend the music an extra level of creepiness alongside the more ethnic wind soli.   “Attack on the Scorpion Shipyards” starts relatively slowly, and is well-paced with incessant drumming patterns gaining in intensity as McCreary begins to layer thematic ideas and more sound from the ensemble.  Of special interest is the appearance of Stu Philips theme for the original Battlestar Galactica played in a minor key on a duduk (“Husker in Combat”).  The plaintive sound adds a fascinating interpretation to this memorable theme.  The Razor’s score feels often like it too is reminiscing, looking back through the fog of memory to discover the truth of what really happened through the eyes of one person.  It is a fascinating accomplishment.

Battelstar Galactica—The Plan recently aired in January.   This time we get to see the evolution of the Cylon attack on humanity through two of the Cylon leaders working toward the extermination plan.  The heavy metal sound is more prominent in the music for this telefilm.  McCreary notes that here he was trying to provide a “season one score with a season four spin” and this allows a more musical arch to occur that helps connect the series’ music.  The centerpiece of this score is “Apocalypse” which appears in two segments making up some 8 minutes of music that expands upon the vocal version.  Rather than an action cue, the music here has more of an impending doom and sadness that casts a pall over the thematic ideas explored here making for fascinating listening. 

Music from both episodes is presented in semi-alternation allowing the listener to hear musical connections to the two scores and providing a bit of variety to the disc.  The release is extra icing on the cake for fans of this series who can thank La-La Land for making these fine scores available.  McCreary’s music is truly some of the best science fiction scoring around.

The stark beauty of McCreary’s score strikes the listener from the very opening of Disc one which is a stunning performance of “Gaeta’s Lament” sung by Alessandro Julian.  Here is the heartbreak and sadness of storylines somehow encapsulated in this song.  The Taiko drums return in the fabric of this score as well as intriguing melodic ideas continue to weave their way through the textures.  The music for season 4, as selected here, always feels a bit more visceral than before, it has a decided edginess to it that makes for exciting listening even when things are somewhat paused for the moment dramatically.  Active harmonies help achieve this effect whether chorally or instrumentally.  Ostinato drumming pattern, in a semi-jazzy syncopation, set against chanting (unpitched) choral segments also create an almost primitive quality to portions of the score (sampled in “The Signal”).  A host of live (i.e. not digital samples) ethnic instrument performers also lends a distinct flavor to this score in very positive ways creating subtle nuances.  The slightly odd turns of melody heard in “Resurrection Hub” feel Middle Eastern but somehow communicate an otherworldly feel.  The choral and solo vocal writing on display in several tracks here is always fascinating to behold (texts are included in the accompanying booklet).

As with previous releases, aspects of thematic ideas return in often expanded ways with intriguing twists and orchestral support.  The Celtic-tinged “Farewell Apollo” (and the all too brief “Grand Old Lady”)  is just one of those beautifully written highlights that graces this disc.  The Taiko drums played an important role in Season Three and their return here mixed with a great variety of ethnic instrumental flavors continues to be a real highlight of the score (“Roslin Escapes”).  The first disc is organized to create a better musical flow with music from 12 episodes spread intermingled here.  There are a number of cues taken from the episode “Someone to Watch Over Me” including two tracks, “Elegy” and “Dreilide Thrace Sonata No. 1” featuring the performer at the piano.  Longer musical segments like “Among the Ruins” give a sense of McCreary’s dramatic underscoring over a longer period of time.  It is an example that, like each track on the disc, seems to highlight the best of the season’s musical moments in that particular underscoring intent.  Bringing the first disc to a close is the beautifully moving “Diaspora Oratorio” for chorus and orchestra.  The disc as a whole blends fine action scoring, great tension building segments, melodic variations, thematic development, and a variety of instrumental colors that contribute to a continuously fascinating musical universe that is often deeply moving as well.

Fans will no doubt appreciate that music for the series’ final episode, “Daybreak,” makes up the entire second disc of the set.  Now we get to have the bulk of this episode in mostly dramatic order allowing us to gain a true appreciation for how McCreary’s music shapes the dramatic flow of BG.  Somehow McCreary manages to revisit the important soundworlds that have been incorporated throughout the series in its final episode.  While many of the ideas tend to work in a more linear fashion, there are some flashes of fascinating harmonic writing that create intriguingly dense and quite active musical impact.  The highlight of disc two for many will be “Assault on the Colony” which plays out for some 15 minutes and which features vocals by Raya Yarbrough.  The music has a generally bittersweet quality to it as it plays here.  There are many solo lines that seem to yearningly reach out further and further almost to a breaking point in many of the tracks here.  The moving music for the episode is truly some of the best music for the series and its appearance here on its own is a marvel to behold.  There is a more rock guitar segment appearing here (“Kara’s Coordinates”) which stands out a bit from the other styles McCreary has included on these releases though it does not feel out of place as an alternate approach to a tension-laden action sequence.  Stu Philips and Glen A. Larson’s “original” theme for the older TV series even makes an appearance as well (“The Heart of the Sun” and even in “Earth”-though as a suggestion of the theme).

Who would have thought that the music for this sci-fi series would manage to take television scoring to such amazing complexity.  Fans of the Sci-Fi Channel original series’ know that budget could sometimes get in the way of great music sounding fabulous and fortunately this time out the budget was there to allow for a truly cinematic accompaniment to this series.  There is not much in the way of notes about the music itself, but La-La Land’s 100^th release is a true fan issue.  The booklet features notes from production staff to actors all commenting on the importance of the music and how it has moved them.  It makes for a compelling souvenir for any Battlestar Galactica fan.  Fans of near perfect television scoring are encouraged to consider adding this to their collection.  This is the BG set to own if you have to choose just one.