Varese Sarabande’s handling of the soundtracks from the modern Star Trek movies has made me wise up: I didn’t even bother with Michael Giacchino’s score from Star Trek Beyond until the 2-CD Deluxe Edition was released. I’m just not in a position to fall for the double dip every time.
Sadly, the irony is that, while Beyond got the current iteration of Star Trek back “on message”, preaching the virtues of peace and compassion over the values of a violent, twisted being out for revenge, Giacchino’s third visit to the Trek well seems to be his least inspired of the three movies he’s scored to date.
That’s somewhat understandable: the after-the-fact heaping of criticism on the second movie, Star Trek Into Darkness, had to have a palpable effect on those involved in making it. (Ironically, Giacchino’s score from Into Darkness was one of the very, very few things I could find to enjoy about that otherwise lamentably derivative entry in the franchise.) It could be that his creative energies were sapped by the time he went to work on Beyond.
There are highlights, though. The appearances of Starbase Yorktown, a marvel of alternative-23rd-century Starfleet construction that would dwarf a 24th century Borg cube, are graced with a gorgeous fanfare, featuring a long melody line of the kind that seems like it went out of style after John Williams re-educated everyone about uses of the leitmotif. There are some nice cues covering the series of vignettes following the surviving members of the Enterprise crew trying to simply survive on the surface of the planet over which their ship was brought down, though those tend toward brevity.
The action scenes involving Krall’s attack on the Enterprise are frenetic and noisy, probably with the idea that they’d be competing with frenetic and noisy sound effects for dominance in the movie’s audio mix. As a listening experience with no accompanying visuals, they’re a bit much – compare to Giacchino’s more gracefully Williams-esque action scenes from Rogue One for an exercise in contrast.
Though I know some uppity Star Trek fans may recoil against the thought of including a track that could be even remotely considered R&B on their precious soundtrack albums – one can still hear the howls of protest over “Ooby Dooby” and “Magic Carpet Ride” 20 years after Star Trek: First Contact – I’m a bit disappointed to find that, even with a second disc worth of material and more breathing room – Rihanna’s “Sledgehammer” single wasn’t included here. I know there’s licensing, label politics, and yes, that whole blow-up among fans about whether the singer had any business dipping her toe into the world of Star Trek, a pointless
kerfuffle that, let’s face it, exposed some shocking racism among fans of a franchise that rails against racism at every turn. The song still belonged here, and I was disappointed to see it omitted.
At the time of this writing, there’s still no solid word on whether or not there will be a fourth movie with this cast, or indeed a fourth movie with Giacchino at the podium. In that context, it’s a bit of a bummer that he may well be leaving the Star Trek franchise on the weakest note that he had yet provided for it.
Disc 1
- Logo And Prosper (1:47)
- Trick Or Treaty (:45)
- We Come In Pieces (1:17)
- Thank Your Lucky Star Date (2:14)
- Night On The Yorktown (5:36)
- To Thine Own Death Be True (3:32)
- We Make A Good Team (:22)
- The Dance Of The Nebula (2:22)
- A Swarm Reception (2:30)
- Krall Hell Breaks Loose (3:04)
- The Evacuation Variations (2:47)
- Hitting The Saucer A Little Hard (6:10)
- Scotland’s Worst Cliffhanger (:23)
- A Hive And Kicking (3:30)
- Port Of Krall (:52)
- Jaylah Damage (2:50)
- No Enterprise For Guessing (:37)
- In Artifacts As In Life (1:51)
- She’s One Hell Of A Dish (1:26)
- Make No Escape About It (2:04)
- Eat My Thrusters (3:56)
- The Krall Of The Wild (2:10)
- Spock’s Vulcan Grip On Death (1:31)
- Captain On Ice (:42)
Disc 2
- Franklin, My Dear (2:50)
- Transporting Good Time (3:43)
- Krall Work And No Play (:37)
- A Lesson in Vulcan Mineralogy (5:17)
- The Cost Of Abronath (2:35)
- MotorCycles Of Relief (3:18)
- Mocking Jaylah (3:27)
- Jaylah House Rock (3:18)
- Bright Lights Big Velocity (Part 1) (:57)
- Bright Lights Big Velocity (Part 2) (2:59)
- Spock Speaks Hive (3:10)
- Crash Decisions (3:16)
- Krall-y Krall-y Oxen Free (4:23)
- Shutdown Happens (4:35)
- The Root Of Krall Evil (1:31)
- Cater-Krall In Zero G (2:17)
- The Dreaded Rear Admiral (2:02)
- Par-tay For The Course (2:46)
- Space, The Final Frontier (2:42)
- Jaylah’s Theme (2:36)
- Yorktown Theme (4:32)
- Star Trek Main Theme* (3:44)
- Krall Things Being Equal (4:25)
Released by: Varese Sarabande
Release date: December 12, 2016
Disc one total running time: 54:42
Disc two total running time: 1:11:18
