Music by Jerry Fielding was highlighted on the original with his highly amusing music from The Trouble with Tribbles, but this time a good selection of music by Fred Steiner has been included. The Corbomite Maneuver was the second show made, but the first featuring Captain Kirk. It was a pretty weak start to the series dramatically, but contained a score that is instantly recognisable and includes motifs that were no doubt recycled in other episodes, although this did admittedly give the show good musical continuity. In fact, this is evident when listening to Balance of Terror, where Steiner reworks one of the ideas into the threatening Romulan Theme. The Lounge Mix of the Main Theme is interesting to say the least, but doesn't sound nearly as naff or unlistenable as one might imagine. If it wasn't so famously connected with the show, I imagine it would make a good slow number in a jazz club. Nice.
Way of the Warrior was the episode (for my money) that marked the period when Deep Space Nine really came into its own and actually eclipsed even the best of The Next Generation in scope, drama and ambition. Another thing about this particular episode was the music which was strikingly dynamic and worked very well against the huge battle scenes that the show featured. However, it doesn't seem quite as exciting as I had remembered, but still has its fair share of exciting moments, particularly in "Yo!" which recalls the best of McCarthy's action music on the first Next Generation feature, Generations. The inclusion of both Fever performed by Nana Visitor (Major Kira) and the Medieval Harp Source seem a little redundant when an epic double episode must surely have contained some more exciting moments.
It seems ironic that Star Trek would feature/spoof predecessors in the science fiction genre, but as a twist to the typical holodeck malfunction episode (please, no more of them...) several episodes of Voyager have featured a Flash Gordon type serial with hissing villains and a leather-clad hero flying around in a Jules Verne style rocket ship. In a surprising move, the producers actually allowed David Bell to have a little fun and imitate the musical style of those old shows. Indeed, it is exactly like music from black and white serials to sound like, all over the top drama that appears to have escaped from a Wagner opera as well as copying the action beat for beat. The orchestration and mixing seem to have thrown the balance toward the bass end to further replicate the period appeal, so it is a fairly unusual sound at times. Like Way of the Warrior, I couldn't help but feel that the small-ish orchestra size was more apparent when the music is heard alone compared to when heard in the show, but that certainly doesn't hinder the enjoyment of some of best comedic music since The Trouble with Tribbles.
The album rounds out with a suite from the last ever episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation which was a cracking finale to what had occasionally been a less than inspired final season. Dennis McCarthy was rightly handed the task of providing a musical send off to a show that had rejuvenated Trek beyond anyone's exceptions. McCarthy was evidently allowed to pull out all the stops and actually break free from his typical soundscape to provide some quite stirring moments, first obvious in the brass filled Here Comes the Judge II. Primalosity features some tense string writing and Courage has some of the most dissonant music I've heard for a Star Trek television show. I am at a loss to explain why the final cue is called I Have Gun, but whatever the reason, it is filled with pathos and conjures up the rather moving final shots of the crew before moving to big screen stardom.
Listening to this disc and particularly in relation to the Original Series music, it is striking how much more interesting than it was than some of the music of other TV shows of the period. Much though I am a huge John Williams fan, I can't say much of his music for Irwin Allen shows ever inspired me greatly. Whatever your opinion of the music, the recording and production in a show made over thirty years ago is testament to how well it has lasted. The selections from the new shows demonstrate that they are not wall to wall string meandering but when the time calls for it, feature some quite stirring and moving music, as well as the odd bit of fun. A superior album of television music, that no Trek fan should be without.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 66:44