Soundtrack Review: Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Posted by Jon Blough

May 7, 2009

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Star Trek First Contact This is a review of the motion picture score Star Trek: First Contact by Jerry Goldsmith.

“While slight, simple, ambient cues may hold parts back, the major musical identities are still exceptionally executed, and for the second time Goldsmith provides a fine return to form for the music of the franchise”

It is truly sad that Jerry Goldsmith is no longer around to save the day, because when he did, it was pretty awesome. Twice he did it with Star Trek, swooping in to save the series after two poor scores. Star Trek: First Contact would be that second time (albeit assisted by his son Joel due to a hectic post-production schedule), and what a welcome respite it was from the generic, unambitious tones of Generations, instead exploding out with primary focus in the same direction Cliff Eidelman went: the villains. Indeed, the Enterprise here is similarly minimal in its appearance compared to the varied, menacing ideas for the Borg. The main theme is built on a four note construct where the first three rising notes pave way for a menacing final drop, first unleashed in “Red Alert” and “April 4, 2068”. Most usage aims for the suspenseful and is quite varied in its performances, whether bells in “The Borg Queen”, deceptively light woodwinds in the second half of “Bridge Argument”, and light string menace in “First Sign of Borg”. Note also the superb integration into various styles, whether the soaring take early in “The Escape Pods” or the strings counterbalancing pounding metallic percussion in “The Dish”. Further mixed into this identity is a rolling, menacing theme for brass in “Retreat” and “Definitely Not Swedish”, as well as numerous grungy, metallic effects on percussion, electronics, and (best of all) bell clanging. It’s superbly dense and suspense without going overboard on the horror elements.

Sense of Danger

This sense of danger and unease would dominate most of the action. “Retreat” is a good example of how to transition seamlessly from suspenseful menace into jolting action. The action in “The Dish” (another fine example of buildup) would have the clanging metallic approach take over the rumbling quality to exciting effect. “Assimilation” and the end of “Fully Functional” sound like dark extensions of some action cues from ST5, though these are mere stylistic similarities, not blatant rip-offs. Only the final action cue would break from these oppressive sensibilities and unleash some exciting brass work between 1:30-2:30 and 3:20-4:20. None of this material is definitive or thoroughly memorable, but Goldsmith’s action music is still better than most.

While both the primary focus of both Eidelman’s and Goldsmith’s efforts would be on the villains, the similarities end there as Goldsmith leaves much more room for his heroic themes. Most prominent is be the four-note theme for adventure/friendship from ST5. The biting brass in “The Dish” is stylistically similar to the biting sections of “An Angry God”, but otherwise the approaches are fresh and much more intimate on strings, horn, and oboe, best heard in “A Quest For Vengeance”, “The Escape Pods”, and “First Contact.” Goldsmith’s new Enterprise theme in the main titles is also superb, a flowing noble horn solo that is a fine exercise in perseverance. What sounds isolated in “Welcome Aboard” and “A Quest For Vengeance” becomes nobler in “Evacuate” and the “Escape Pods” until it explodes with sweeping orchestral glory in “First Contact.” As I said with ST6, you wish this theme were more present because it’s so good, but a larger presence would have undermined the dark structure of the rest of the score. That logic also makes the few performances of the classic fanfare, heard on strings in the action of “Red Alert”, briefly to open “Approaching Engineering”, and excitingly on brass in the final action cue, excusable.

Conclusion

A number of commendable features exist outside these two identities. Worf’s character invites a number of performances of Goldsmith’s Klingon theme, mostly notably the exciting brass and clacking wood percussion instrumentation we all loved from ST5. Also good is the determined opening of “Temporal Wake”. There’s also a nice balance between uneasy brass and strings and light woodwinds in “39.1 Degrees Celsius” and “Approaching Engineering” that superbly hint at the coming of the Borg. Despite these numerous complements, there are quite a number of ambient and anonymous cues (e.g. most of “Fully Functional”) that fail to leave a major impression; they help with the claustrophobic atmosphere but don’t add much to the listening experience. If Goldsmith hadn’t written such fine suspense music before (the cohesive whole of fellow space horror film score Alien comes to mind), then maybe these would not register as a minor disappointment. While these tracks may hold these parts back, the major musical identities are still exceptionally executed, and for the second time Goldsmith provides a fine return to form for the music of the franchise, even if he needed some help getting there.

Album Situation: Commercial Album is decent, but missing several key cues that were released on the bootleg (final battle sequence is a biggie), as well as featuring two song cues that don’t fit in. Many variations on the bootlegs exist, including a break-up of the final action cue into four separate cues, and some 2CD bootlegs exist with numerous alternate takes that don’t add to the listening experience.
Best Album: Single-CD Bootleg

Original Album (53:40)
1. Main Title/Locutus (4:17)
2. Red Alert (2:13)
3. Temporal Wake (2:07)
4. Welcome Aboard (2:40)
5. Fully Functional (3:18)
6. Retreat (3:59)
7. Evacuate (2:19)
8. 39.1 Degrees Celcius (4:44)
9. The Dish (7:05)
10. First Contact (5:52)
11. End Credits (5:24)
12. Magic Carpet Ride – performed by Steppenwolf (4:25)
13. Ooby Dooby – performed by Roy Orbison (2:22)

Bootleg (72:00)
1.    Main Title/Locutus (4:19)
2.    The Enterprise-E (0:26)
3.    Battle Watch (1:10)
4.    Red Alert (2:16)
5.    Temporal Wake (2:10)
6.    April 4, 2068 (1:44)
7.    The Phoenix (0:40)
8.    First Sign of Borg (0:24)
9.    39.1 Degrees Celsius (4:48)
10.    Approaching Engineering (1:52)
11.    Retreat (3:59)
12.    The Borg Queen (1:33)
13.    Assimilation (1:02)
14.    Welcome Aboard (2:40)
15.    The Gift of Flesh (1:05)
16.    Definitely Not Swedish (1:25)
17.    Watch Your Caboos, Dix (1:33)
18.    Fully Functional (3:21)
19.    The Dish (7:09)
20.    Bridge Argument (1:55)
21.    A Quest for Vengeance (2:41)
22.    Evacuate (2:23)
23.    The Escape Pods (3:50)
24.    All the Time/Flight of the Phoenix/Resistance is Futile/Victory Over The Borg (6:25)
25.    First Contact (5:55)
26.    End Credits (5:27)