Babylon 5: The Road Home – music by Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion & Lolita Ritmanis

“Hey, how did everybody like that Babylon 5 animated movie?” Now there’s a question that’s unlikely to bring about a casual discussion. You might as well ask for people’s opinions on the Star Wars sequel trilogy as a chaser. In both cases, you hear – often loudly – from those who hated it, or loved it, but very few saying “well, it was okay.” But for what it’s worth – nice to meet you. I’m the “well, it was okay” guy. I liked the funny bits. (If an entire hollow planet full of multiple instances of Zathras doesn’t make you laugh out loud, you clearly need to be reminded of the time Lennier quizzically repeated “woo…hoo?” to Sheridan, or the time Ivanova did the whole “boom-shaka-laka” dance.)

I think sci-fi fandom, whether it revolves around major franchises, cult classics, or things like Babylon 5 that teeter precariously between those two descriptions, tends to defend a little too vociferously the idea that My Show Means Something, And Don’t You Dare Make Fun Of It. And hey, yeah, I used to be that guy too, when I was younger and had fewer plates to keep spinning and thought that stuff was actually important. Now I can watching something like this, chuckle knowingly at the bits that I know will cause other people’s blood pressure to spike, and say “well, it was okay.” It entertained me. It was like a visit with old friends who brought along some new friends. It proved that – with all due apologies to his voice actor replacement – you can’t just go replacing the majestic, world-weary voice of Andreas Katsulas.

But can you go replacing the often-near-operatic sound of Christopher Franke? Should you even try? That’s the dance that The Road Home‘s score does for a little over an hour, positively drenching a 78-minute movie with 68-odd minutes of music. Sometimes it hits close enough for government work. Sometimes it’s pretty wide of the mark. And a lot of the time…well, it’s okay. I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that Franke was using a very distinctive, and very customized, set of orchestral samples. The composers here clearly know what they’re doing – we’re talking about the trio responsible for so much of the music of Batman: The Animated Series, the fantastic scores to the two direct-to-video Batman animated movies starring Adam West and Burt Ward, and countless other direct-to-video movies featuring DC Comics characters. I wouldn’t want to bet that the composers didn’t understand the assignment when they have clearly nailed so many other assignments. The folks working on this are some of the best, and most reliable, in the business.

But it puts me in mind of another animated project, Tron Uprising, whose score knocked it out of the park because Joseph Trapanese used the same sample library that Daft Punk developed for Tron Legacy. That makes all the difference. Franke’s samples were very distinctive: you instantly knew his blast of Wagner tubas, his apocalyptic choral samples, and his thundering drums. Melodically, the music fits very nicely within the Babylon 5 universe. But without those very specific samples used in endless combinations in the original live action series, it’s like a SpaceX rocket landing outside the painted circle on the deck of the recovery ship, but it still landed on the ship – the music lands in a bit of an uncanny valley, for lack of a better description. Despite that, it would be nice if fandom would go easier on these composers than the ridiculously xenophobic response that Evan Chen‘s music for Crusade drew.

And yet if you just close your eyes and listen and forget that this was a Babylon 5 project, it’s excellent space opera scoring, and really beautiful in a few places. Some fans will decide this is fitting, because they want to set The Road Home off to one side from what they consider “real Babylon 5“. Me, I’m kind of hoping there’s another animated feature in the works to give the music team a chance to stick the landing. They were so close this time, and it makes for a nice listen.

1. The Road Home Main Title (McCuistion) (01:10)
2. Interstellar Changes (Ritmanis) (02:54)
3. Delenn Love Theme and Tachyon Disturbance (Carter) (01:32)
4. Thank You (McCuistion) (00:31)
5. Good for Humanity (Ritmanis) (02:06)
6. Tachyon Overload (Carter) (02:34)
7. In the Future (Ritmanis) (00:40)
8. Consulting the Doctor (McCuistion) (02:04)
9. Amber Waves of Memories (Carter) (01:31)
10. Love Shows the Way (McCuistion) (02:36)
11. Shadow Lair (Ritmanis) (01:56)
12. Shadows Awaken (Carter) (00:41)
13. B5 Under Attack (Carter) (02:41)
14. Sinclair (Ritmanis) (01:18)
15. This Is a Standoff (McCuistion) (02:09)
16. Things Going Downhill Quickly (Carter) (02:06)
17. There’s Another Way (McCuistion) (04:10)
18. Activate (Ritmanis) (02:53)
19. Funny Chat (Ritmanis) (00:20)
20. Leaving Babylon 5 (Ritmanis) (01:18)
21. Meet the Zathri (Carter) (01:00)
22. The Big Silence (Carter) (00:52)
23. It’s Getting Closer (McCuistion) (01:04)
24. Someone Familiar (Ritmanis) (00:45)
25. The Approaching End (Carter) (02:14)
26. The End Arrives (Carter) (03:13)
27. Time Tunnel Travel (McCuistion) (00:29)
28. Consciousness and Love (Ritmanis) (04:57)
29. Back to the Wormhole (Carter) (01:06)
30. Sheridan Fever Dream (Carter) (00:33)
31. Unexpected Meeting (McCuistion) (00:26)
32. Dark Discovery (Ritmanis) (02:42)
33. Zathras Arrives (McCuistion) (01:49)
34. Love Is All (McCuistion) (01:59)
35. Converging Paths (Carter) (02:08)
36. Here to Stay (McCuistion) (03:12)
37. Babylon 5: the Road Home End Credits (Carter) (03:13)

Released by: Watertower Music
Release date: October 27, 2023
Total running time: 1:08:31