"Star Trek" - Michael Giacchino

Star Trek

Composed by: Michael Giacchino

Release date: May 5, 2009

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Amazon users rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

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All About Soundtracks Review:
In the 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise, director J. J. Abrams turned to Michael Giacchino to recreate the music for it, something the composer had already done in the third movie of the Mission: Impossible franchise.
(Read more.)
In the same year that he won his first Oscar with the score for Pixar’s Up!, Giacchino delivered a score that has a parallel with David Arnold’s score for the reboot of the James Bond franchise. He employs a series of themes of his own, merging very subtly some motifs of other composers in the franchise with his music, and then, in the end, delivers a known theme for the fans, as a reward for all that the characters have gone through.
The result is a bombastic adventure score. Missing is the sense of fantasy that other composers added to the franchise. However, Giacchino’s score is a very solid one and can stand on its own for it has a moving and pompous main theme (Star Trek).
This theme is explored in the first third of the album with a very nice rendition at Hella Bar Talk, reaching climax in Enterprising Young Men (an extremely addictive cue).
Unfortunately, Giacchino employs this theme in nearly every cue, getting it a bit overexposed. The use of brass in this is very well developed, and makes sense for the continuity of the music in the franchise, however one wishes that Giacchino could have employed the chorus more times, thought it makes a great appearance at Nero Fiddles, Narada Burns.
The rest of the album consists of fast-paced, bold adventure cues. Standout cues like Run and Shoot Offense and Nero Death Experience (this one with a reward and exciting choral blast) keep the listening experience fresh and interesting.
The Giacchino’s theme is then explored in full again, in Back from Black and That New Car Smell.
Then, at the end, in To Boldly Go and End Credits, Giacchino brings the well-known theme for the TV series, composed by Alexander Courage.
Overall, this is another solid entry from Michael Giacchino, with a sense of adventure and lots of loud music, and a driving main theme. However, this strongly action-packed score may turn down some fans of the franchise, wishing to hear the great music that Jerry Goldsmith or James Horner created in the past for the Star Trek movies.

Ups: a fast-paced, bold adventure score, with obvious themes several highlights.

Downs: misses the sense of overbearing fantasy, present in other scores of the franchise; trying to put together Courage's theme for the TV series and Giacchino's theme for the movie doesn't actually result very well.

Noteworthy tracks: Star Trek, Hella Bar Talk, Enterprising Young Men, Run and Shoot Offense, Nero Death Experience, Nero Fiddles, Narada Burns, Back From Black, That New Car Smell, End Credits.

Score note: 8/10

Preview:
Track 5 - Enterprising Young Men


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