Star Trek - The Next Generation: Music From The Original Television Soundtrack, Volume Two (The Best Of Both Worlds)

Each track complements the scene it plays in almost perfectly. One good example is Hansen's Message, which plays through the end of the scene in Part One when the crew sees the Borg ship for the first time. The moment itself is chilling, but with the music, along with the crescendo at the climax, it becomes even more suspenseful! Another great tune to complement the moment is Intervention, heard in Part Two when Worf and Data sneak into the Borg ship to rescue Picard (now changed into the Borg Locutus) and get him back to the Enterprise.

Thanks to the synergy between the music and the scenes, The Best of Both Worlds becomes a whole lot more than the sum of its visual & musical parts!

'Late


A MUST HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!   March 16, 2002
I LOVE it it is so very relaxing to listen to on occations when you need a dose of Star Trek.


A Great Score For A Television Show   April 22, 2001
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Without comparing this TV score to that of a film, I would consider this an excellent TV score. Hearing the Alexander Courage's version of Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek theme really opens the album up. It is really a shame that it appears only once or twice in minor situations because then it would mean this score has some trace of thematic development like film scores do. The Borg theme, played by a synthesized chorus, sounds very mysterious yet somewhat hostile and threatening. You have to have seen the show to know what's happening because there's barely any thematic music to base what's happening on. The strings and celeste playing on the tracks before the borg encounter adds the sense of mysterious but foreshadowed danger. The battle tracks between the borg and Enterprise aren't upbeat like scores from John Williams or Horner but sound much more suspenseful and average-paced like on Crimson Tide. Ron Jones seems to back off on fast-paced string and brass parts and prefers edgy brass and percussion coupled with electronics. Away Team Ready is a haunting, military-like cue as some people prepare to board the borg ship. An unused cue for the exploration of the borg ship sounds very far and dissonant like on The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi, and Aliens. Both are very original sounding. Let me admit that the music on the second and final fight between the Enterprise and Borg ship heats up but leaves more to be desired. Of course, this is a TV score scored under a period of a week so forget what I just said for any film score fan. After a bittersweet ending stopping with an afterthought, the brilliant Star Theme comes up for the credits and draws this score to a close. I recommend this original score for anyone who has seen the borg episode of TNG but don't expect a Star Wars score here for any film score collectors.


Stirring score for an epic tale   January 29, 2001
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Fans of the syndicated television show "Star Trek: The Next Generation" may remember the two-part episode "The Best of Both Worlds" as a high point for the series, and for science fiction television in general. This cliffhanger and its resolution constituted the third season finale and fourth season premiere. In the story, the United Federation of Planets faces an invasion by the Borg, a seemingly unstoppable cybernetic race that "assimilates" whole civilizations into its insect-like "collective." Captain Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise represent the Federation's only hope against this relentless enemy.

Such an epic tale calls for an epic musical score, and composer Ron Jones delivers. His music pounds with excitement during the thrilling space battle sequences. He makes brilliant use of eerie musical effects to capture the alien nature of the Borg Collective and its dispassionate "drones." He also brings out all of the emotion of the heroic struggle of the Enterprise crew to save the Federation from conquest and assimilation. But it's not all big, bombastic space opera music; Jones also pays attention to more intimate moments between the crew.

Yes, "The Best of Both Worlds" was a landmark in the ongoing, multigenerational "Star Trek" saga, and Ron Jones' superb score is an integral part of the story. This is an essential disc for fans of science fiction soundtracks.