Battlestar Galactica: The Plan and Razor (Original Soundtrack)

Album Review

Having already assembled soundtrack albums for La-La Land Records for each of the four seasons of the 2000s cable TV version of the series Battlestar Galactica, score composer Bear McCreary wasn't quite done. In addition to the regular episodes, it seems, there were also two Battlestar Galactica "special events" (a term that, stripped of the marketing hype, means either "TV movie" or "straight to video"), "Razor," which ran on TV in November 2007, and "The Plan," a 2009 home video release. On this album, promised to be the final one in the Battlestar Galactica catalog, McCreary mixes up cues from these two spin-off films. It is apparent right from the beginning that his music for them is consistent with his approach to the series. On "Apocalypse (Theme from ‘The Plan')," he presents his combination of world music styles, particularly galloping taiko drums from Japan and heavy metal electric guitar riffs. It is, he writes in his liner notes, "The most important new piece written for" "The Plan," and it is typical of what follows. In addition to rock guitarists Steve Bartek, Ira Ingber, and Scot Ian, McCreary's most important musician is Chris Bleth, who provides the exotica, playing duduk, bansuri, and both concert and ethnic woodwinds. As he does, the music travels the globe from Africa to South America to Southeast Asia, always propelled by the thundering drum ensemble. Anyone who questions such musical choices as applied to science fiction stories simply hasn't been paying attention to this franchise. For fans (who can be heard cheering during the live version of "Apocalypse" that closes the disc), this album will bring the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack series to a satisfying conclusion.