SYMPHONIC STAR TREK
Label: Telarc International (1996)
Genre: Symphonic sampler w/ additional effects tracks.
Conductor: Erich Kunzel
Orchestra: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Sound Effects: Michael Bishop & Scott Burgess
This recording was not created, approved, licensed, or endorsed by any entity involved in creating or producing the Star Trek television series or films.
This is the second Telarc CD I’ve reviewed, and it is arranged similar to the first: Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra create symphonic works of pre-existing music. Additional tracks of digitally created “special sound effects” are intercut with the symphonic pieces and serve as themed equipment tests that can be used to measure your stereo systems resonse.
Before I get much further into a review I must again warn you that this is NOT a licensed or official Star Trek product, and there are many differences, musically, from what you might be expecting. None of the sound effects are the copywrit sound effects used in the various television series or films and some of the symphonic pieces themselves have had “creative liscence” taken with them. Many fans have spoken about how main title sequence from Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home [Track 11] has been extensively altered from its original score, to give an example.
With that being said, the Tracks on this album include:
Track 1. Into the Final Frontier [1:13] *
Track 2. Main Theme from Star Trek: The Next Generation [1:44].
Track 3. Warp One [0:15] *
Track 4. End Title from Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country [4:55]
Track 5. The Destruction of Praxis and Its Aftermath [1:03] *
Track 6. Main Theme from Star Trek: Voyager [1:42]
Track 7. Starship Flyby [0:14] *
Track 8. Main Theme from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine [2:01]
Track 9. Alien Probe [0:48] *
Track 10. Humpback Whale Song [1:27] *
Track 11. Main Title from Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home [2:42]
Track 12. Main Theme fromStar Trek [3:44]
Track 13. Tribble Trouble [0:38] *
Track 14. Main Title from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan [3:16]
Track 15. Epilogue from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan [3:04]
Track 16. End Credits from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan [5:41]
Track 17. Bird-Of-Prey Decloaking [2:03] *
Track 18. ”The Kilingon Battle” from Star trek: The Motion Picture [3:35] *
Track 19. Main Theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture [3:52] *
Track 20. Warp-Eight [1:06] *
Track 21. ”A Busy Man” from Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier [4:12]
Track 22. Genesis Project: The Creation and Evolution of TINSIS [2:58] *
Track 23. Suite from The Menagerie [7:34]
Track 24. Transporter [0:26] *
Track 25. Main Theme from Star Trek 3: the Search for Spock [6:08]
Track 26. Nexus Energy Ribbon [0:59] *
Track 27. End Title from Star Trek: Generations [4:08]
Track 28. The Borg [0:11] * (Bonus track)
( * ) = Denotes track(s) with digitally created sound effects.
About the Digital Sound Effects:
As mentioned before, the sound effects used on this CD are NOT the same sound effects heard in Star Trek television series and theatrical films. Telarc manufactured their 20-bit digital versions of Star Trek’s original sounds in a complex, all-digital process that included at least four computers, multiple hard disk editing machines, digital track filters, numerous outboard effects processors along with a Pro-Spatiializer and a Circle Surround encoder.
The digital effetcs, themed to some of the more famous (Transporter, Starship Flyby), and lesser known (Nexus Ribbon / Genesis Project), are all excellantly done. Left/Right panns and bass output seem to be what these effects want to test with your stereo system. And in particular, the laser-battle dogfight on Track 18 sound excellent when expanded, either through Dolby Pro*Logic or another proprietary decoder, from 2-channels onto a full surround-sound system. Unfortunatley the effects are painfully cheesy and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to listen to all of them more than once.
Even more distressing, at least in my opinion, is that unlike in Telarc’s earlier Chiller album that I reviewed, The special sound effects have not been confined just to their own tracks, but also infect two of the symphonic pieces [Tracks 18 and 19]. I’m sure someone thought that the effect would be clever, but in practice, hearing the stalking, building suspense of Jerry Goldsmith’s original “The Klingon Battle” unforgivably interupted by hokey “laser battle” sound effects ruins what the orchestra was doing so well.
About the Sound Quality:
Enough good things cannot be said about the sound quality of this album. Telarc delivers, once again, a stellar piece of sound engineering with excellant soundstage, dynamic range, Left/Right panning, and clarity. At all times every instrument is clearly heard, and i would be suprised if any “golden eared” audiophile is able to find fault with this album. Major labels (RCA, Columbia, etc) would all do very well to learn from some of the smaller labels likeTelarc.
About the Album:
First, and I’ll say this to get it out of the way; Telarc has, by far, the least competent art department of any recording label. With very few exceptions Telarc has the ugliest album art I have ever seen. This album in particular has a digital photo “soup” of lens flares and a UFO that suffers from serious digital fuzz. I’ve downloaded better album covers from MP3.com’s artist-created stuff.
That out of the way, this album also suffers from poorly aranged tracks. Instead of placing all the work chronologically, or even grouping tracks by series/movie/effects, everything is placed in seemingly random order. But on a good note: Telarc even gos so far as to list what monitoring equipment was used for this album if you ever wanted to try for the best possible reproduction of “what the sound mixer heard”.
Final Thoughts
More than half of the tracks on this album are of digitally created sound effects that the average person is not going to listen to more than a few times. The sound qualiy of all the symphonic work is good, and doubly so because unlike the original score because the earliest and the latest works are not seprated by different orchestras, conductors, or recording technology.
But Hardcore Star Trek fanboys (aka. trekkies) are not going to appreciate the creative lisence taken with the original scores and effects, Audiophiles and music enthusiasts who are not fans of Star Trek are not going to purchase an album based on its works, Average Joe’s are probably not going to want an album that is filled with hokey sound effects that could easily damage their loudspeakers (Sound Effects are recorded at extreme decibel levels), And honestly, Home theater/equipment enthusiasts who do want dynamic system-taxing sound effects are probably going to be happier with some of Telarc’s other works (example: the Great Fantasy Adventure Album). Despite the work put into this album, really the only people who would want to pay full price for it are people who are completists that want every Telarc album on the market.
In Very Few Words
A well done, excellant product of questionable market value. Like $23,000 speaker wire or a solid platinum toothpick.
