Sci-Fi in Hi-Fi (Neil Norman)

Produced and Arranged by Les Baxter, Neil Norman, Hall Daniels,

                                          and Charles Faris


Mastered for SACD by Steve Hoffman

 

Release Date: September 16th, 2003

 

 

                 Audio Fidelity
 

    

     What happens when you take some of the greatest musical moments of science fiction and distill them down into a format that can be played by a rock band? I have to wonder if Neil Norman ever asked himself this question when he set out to create his “Cosmic Orchestra.” Such is the case with the music presented on this “cutely” titled Sci-Fi in Hi-Fi album. That’s right, if you thought Neil Norman and his Cosmic Orchestra didn’t truly rock the house in their previous albums, you can be assured that those windows will shudder with this new Super Audio CD release of all those great hits!

      All sarcasm aside, you have to admire Norman for taking a truly out-of-this-world idea and staying with it long enough to see it through. And it’s not like the band is laughed out of every gig they get. It’s actually not that bad (I’ve heard much, much worse), and some of the pieces they choose actually benefit from the whole “sci-fi band” concept. The Star Trek Encounters track is nicely constructed and I would love to hear an orchestral compilation utilize this arrangement as opposed to the usual assortment of crap that we get treated to over and over again. It’s just that on here, the band doesn’t really do justice to Trek. Though it’s still not as bad as that Star Wars track, which is just laughable (especially when the geeky voice appears at the end saying “May the Force Be With You”).

     The tracks on this album run the gamut from mildly amusing to humorously bad. As can be expected, the more classically-veined scores such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Superman fare the worst, while other titles such as Airwolf, Space 1999, and Blade Runner, are more suited to the style of music here. Surprisingly, the Jurassic Park suite is orchestral, though so lackluster in performance that an otherwise good arrangement of the material is ruined.

     To put this album in perspective, if you didn’t pound your head into the wall for the pop remix of the Star Trek III overture at the end of that score album, then you might be mildly interested in this one. Otherwise, unless you’re a fan of Neil Norman’s previous works in this style and simply want the Hi-Fidelity version, steer clear.

Track Listing

1 - Universes (1:51)

2 - Star Trek Encounters (6:40)

3 - Star Wars (2:22)

4 - Space 1999 #2 (1:34)

5 - The Thing (1:21)

6 - UFO (1:23)

7 - Superman (2:17)

8 - Alien (2:36)

9 - Battlestar Galactica (1:32)

10 - Journey to the 7th Galaxy (2:06)

11 - The Outer Limits (1:30)

12 - Godzilla (1:32)

13 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1:22)

14 - The Adventures of Superman (0:56)

15 - The Prisoner (1:07)

16 - Buckaroo Banzai (3:30)

17 - Airwolf (2:49)

18 - Mysterious Island (Previously unreleased) (3:53)

19 - Blade Runner (4:13)

20 - Jurassic Park - The Lost World Medley (Previously unreleased) (4:51)
Total Running Time: 49:25