Soundtrack Review: Caprica (2009)

Posted by Jorn Tillnes

August 24, 2009

Welcome back! Have you subscribed to my RSS feed yet? Make sure you don't miss anything by getting all Soundtrack Geek posts by Email. Also check out Soundtrack Fans, a new social network for soundtrack fans. Thanks for visiting!

061709 0839 SoundtrackR11 Soundtrack Review: Caprica (2009) This is a review of the television score Caprica by Bear McCreary.

“His music captivates you at the right moments, and although Caprica is weaker than his BSG scores and Terminator: The Sarah Chronicles, right now I have a feeling that this will grow on me.”

Caprica is a prequel to Battlestar Galactica if you haven’t heard. Bear McCreary who did the music for BSG, is composing once more for Caprica. It makes a whole lot of sense to retain the style of music Bear McCreary has been known for. Battlestar Galactica has produced some great music in the 3 first seasons, all of which has been released on CD. I do expect more of the same since its based in the same universe, but also a few differences as well, as what we’ve already heard and come to love is yet to be established. Let’s see how Bear McCreary did shall we?

Track List

The Graystone Family (****)
Terrorism On The Lev (*****)
Grieving (****)
Lacey And Zoe-A (***)
Cybernetic Life Form Node (*****)
Zoe’s Avatar (***)
Daniel Captures The Code (****)
A Tauron Sacrifice (****)
Amanda Graystone (*****)
Joseph And Daniel (***)
Tamara’s Heartbeat (***)
Delivering The Message (***)
Monotheism At The Athena Academy (***)
Children Of Caprica (****)
Irrecoverable Error (***)
The Adama Name (****)
Zoe Awakens (*****)
Caprica End Credits (*****)

Percussion Frenzy

It’s easy to forget that Bear McCreary is only 30 years old, heck he is even younger than me! It seems he’s been around forever, but he’s only been active for around 10 years now. Most notable is his work for Battlestar Galactica of course and this sets up that universe nicely. It’s different that’s for sure, but it has elements which anyone can hear. I most like the cues where he goes on a percussion frenzy akin to the battle sequences in BSG. ‘Terrorism on the Lev’ is such a cue, that also features a stirring emotional undercurrent. It’s quite a powerful scene from the pilot episode and the music couldnt’ have been better. It’s suspenseful and exciting.

There are not too many highlights on this score, but there aren’t too many low points either. Generally it’s of high quality and I only wish Bear would use more percussion. ‘Cybernetic Life Form Node’ is another exciting cue in that mould. This score is unusually quiet when compared to BSG and recently, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Bear’s love for the flute and the oboe hasn’t diminished at all, and there’s plenty of interesting material here if you are a fan of the composer’s repeated use of these instruments. For me though, the biggest impact was the way in which he uses piano on ‘Amanda Graystone‘ and I wish there was more of that. It can be very emotional when used correctly and here he is hitting all the right notes.

Themes

So what about themes? Are there any? Well there’s the Adama theme in ‘The Adama Name’ although it’s a slightly altered incarnation. There’s also a theme introduced in the opening cue ‘The Graystone Family‘ which is nice, but not very memorable. It reminds me of ‘Sarah Connor’s Theme’ actually from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. This is really the album’s only other theme and I suppose it’s competent enough.

The end of the score is quite nice with the return of an old friend. I’ve already mentioned ‘The Adama Name‘ which touches the Adama theme from BSG. Then there’s ‘Zoe Awakens’ which is really exciting stuff. It starts off in standard Caprica fashion, a little slow, but then the suspense takes off with a slight percussion rhythm and a heavy drum hitting the right notes in-between.
Conclusion

Again Bear McCreary gets it right with the scenes of the pilot episode. His music captivates you at the right moments, and although Caprica is weaker than his BSG scores and Terminator: The Sarah Chronicles, right now I have a feeling that this will grow on me. I’m excited about this because it has the potential to grow into something really great if this series gets to live. The framework is in place, and I can hardly wait for more. Put some juice into developing some themes and bring back what I miss the most, the truly emotional pieces like ‘Roslin and Adama’ from BSG. Some small additions here and there, and it can be added to the greats in Bear McCreary’s already impressive cannon.

061709 0839 SoundtrackR21 Soundtrack Review: Caprica (2009)