|
Varese
Sarabande
Music Composed and Conducted by Basil Poledouris
Orchestrated by Steven Scott Smalley, Steve Bramson,
and Greig McRitchie
Produced by Basil Poledouris, Tim Boyle, Curtis Roush,
Eric Colvin, and Robert Townson
Release Date: 1997
Purchase this CD at:
|
This is the second Basil Poledouris score that I've
purchased (The Hunt for Red October being the first), and while it is
mostly standard action stuff, it does have it’s merits. This is one of those CDs to
listen too purely for the adrenaline rush it gives.
Starship Troopers has been compared to the more recent
Wing Commander in terms of content. The album is not very long,
being only around thirty-six minutes and most of the tracks are action cues. There are
some quieter cues in a couple of tracks, but like Wing Commander,
they are not anything special and are easily forgotten. In my opinion, Wing
Commander has a much better main theme. The main theme to Starship Troopers
is all right, but being just a generic march, is not all that catchy. In addition, it is
not incorporated very much at all into score. The action cues are better and a little more
complicated than those found in Wing Commander, but only
tracks 2 and 4 stand out for me. My biggest gripe is that this CD is just too short. Both
Wing Commander and The Hunt for Red
October are around the same length, but Starship Troopers has a more rushed
feeling to it. I never get any sense of completion out of it. Track 10 tries to tidy it
all up in the end, but it doesn't succeed as well as some of the other action scores I
have listened to. A special note does go to the very last track which is a horrible song
performed by Poledouris' daughter, Zoe. It goes a long way towards spoiling the end of
this CD even more.
When all is said and done, however, I did enjoy this score in parts.
It’s a good buy for any of you Wing Commander score fans,
or if you really enjoy militaristic trumpet music, but don’t pay top dollar. As a
used CD, or on sale at a dirt-cheap price, this would be a pretty good deal.
***
|
|
Track Listing
1 - Fed Net March (0:49)
2 - Klendathu Drop (4:29)
3 - Punishment / Asteroid Grazing (4:50)
4 - Tango Urilla (3:50)
5 - Hopper Canyon (2:44)
6 - Bugs!! (2:20)
|
7 - Dizzy's Funeral (1:18)
8 - Destruction of the Roger Young (3:27)
9 - Brainbug (3:59)
10 - They Will Win (4:01)
11 - Into It (4:36) Total Running Time:
36:26
|
