I've often felt that the quality of American television themes has generally been in decline. Horrible pop/synth mixtures are the order of the day and results that are, at best, unmemorable and at worst hideous. I think in the UK we are lucky to be blessed with some really quite wonderful themes from fairly unexpected sources - some of our news and current affairs programs have quite outstanding main titles. Unfortunately, this collection of TV themes and cues by Sonic Images is frankly a pretty mixed bunch, but the overall impression is not favourable. Several of the decent themes have been remixed with decidedly poor results. John Van Tongoren's Outer Limits theme is actually rather good and memorable, but sadly scuppered in the extended remix with lots of tedious samples of the opening voiceover. The remix of Jay Gruska's snazzy Lois & Clark theme is even more of a travesty, but the sprightly orchestral original is fortunately included and a reminder of what a jolly catchy tune it really is.
Many of the themes and selections are synth/pop variations which are honestly fairly unexciting. The selections by Christopher Franke (he formerly of Tangerine Dream and composer for Babylon 5) are mixed, but frankly still disappointing. Pacific Blue is a bland rock song, the Raven theme and See the Light cue just naff pop instrumentals, but perhaps most disappointing are the Babylon 5 selections. I'd always remembered the various Babylon 5 opening titles as being pretty good synth orchestral affairs, but in retrospect somewhat disappointing. The second season working is one of the best and its inclusion here quite welcome. The season five title, however just isn't very good unfortunately, although many fans seem quite taken with it. I'd almost favour Silva Screen's reworking of the various Babylon 5 themes over the originals; Mark Ayre's arrangements being more beefy and inspiring. The less said about Evan H Chen's dreadul Crusade music the better. All of the selections from the Poltergeist television series bar one are insipid techno/dance type efforts that aren't interesting on their own and I can't imagine are terribly dramatic in the show itself. The one exception is the lovely (albeit synthesised) Rest in Peace which manages a bit of respectable elegance.
A couple of more notable film composer provide some of the best material. Mark Isham's Chicago Hope theme isn't quite as good as James Newton Howard's ER, but is certainly a pleasing if not completely memorable effort. Whatever did happen to Chicago Hope? It's suspect it's disappeared under the ER juggernaut. Jeff Rona's New Hope, taken from the Chicago Hope underscore sounds similar to some of the quieter moments from The Rock and is a nice acoustic guitar instrumental. James Newton Howard's main theme from The Sentinal is unfortuantely fairly inconsequential and undistinguished. By far and away the best inclusion on the album is taken from Basil Poledouris' outstanding TV miniseries score to Lonesome Dove which is completely out of place amongst the other entries on this album. However, for five minutes it takes the listener out of the quagmire of TV music hell and into the world of gorgeous, understated orchestral composition.
The album seems more aimed at the world music/easy listening/trippy sector than the film music base, the irony being that Lonesome Dove is liable to be skipped in favour of the other tracks. The selections are far too eclectic to please most people and frankly not interesting enough to interest many collectors. This is, to be fair, more of a sampler than a decently selected compilation. As such I can barely recommend the album at all and suggest that most people will know what they like and buy the full albums instead.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 57:48