Creative, complex, daring, smart, inventive, emotional… Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 (as well as the rest of the series) is one of the finest modern day scores I’ve heard in the past 10 years or so. I was at first dismissive of Richard Gibbs and Bear McCreary’s approach to scoring this series but once a fellow film music fan introduced me to “Storming New Caprica” I was instantly converted. In my opinion, it’s one of the greatest action cues ever composed! And to hear it in context is absolutely thrilling!
Gibbs and McCreary’s sound for this series was spot on. A percussion led series of scores that I never thought in a million years would have worked due to my love for Stu Phillips’ original Star Wars style scores written for the original series in the late 70’s. But for all of the banging and crashing of taiko drums and various other percussive elements there’s a plethora of instantly recognizable themes, motifs and melodies that have you coming back for more. For instance, McCreary’s adaptation of “All Along The Watchtower” is a stroke of genius. Again, if someone had told me that they were going to adapted this Bob Dylan tune into the Galactica universe I would have laughed and walked away. But now that I’ve heard the tune in context I couldn’t imagine any OTHER theme for the “final five.” Additionally, “Admiral and Commander” is about as perfect of a theme as you can find for Adama, his relationship with his son and the crew of the Galactica.
Not since Lost have I heard a finer TV score.
McCreary’s Season 3 score packs a walloping emotional punch. For instance there’s “Adama’s Theme” which I’ve mentioned above but then there’s heart-breaker’s like the “Refugees Return” adagio or the string led “Violence and Variations” which is probably my favorite theme from the entire series. It’s been a while since I’ve heard someone write for strings like this.
What really boggles the mind is that NONE of the Battlestar scores were nominated for a Grammy Award. We talk about Oscar and their blunders all the time but to not recognizing these series of brilliant TV scores is one of the biggest blunders of them all! It’s disgusting that McCreary had to wait until this year to receive his first Grammy nomination for Human Target.
If you are looking for TV scoring at its absolutely finest I don’t think you will find a more engaging or satisfying score than Battlestar Galactica: Season 3. This album is available on La La Land Records.
