Star Trek Insurrection
 
 

Album Review

The score for Star Trek Insurrection opens with Ba'ku Village, after a lethargic reading of Alexander Courage's famous fanfare, the music then breaks into an intimate theme for harp and later piano, carried by woodwinds and strings to convey the idyllic village life and the peaceful Ba'Ku. It remains an unusual start for a Star Trek movie and seems rather at odds with the sci-fi adventure franchise, but remains one of the composer's prettiest themes. The cue changes complete direction in the latter minutes as an unsettling motif for muted brass and piano reveal the Ba'Ku are being spied on by Star Fleet, behind an invisible shield. As the shield is disrupted by Data and the scheme revealed Goldsmith enters with electronics then explodes with an aggressive orchestral action piece, stylistically reminiscent of his work on U.S. Marshals. The track concludes with a short rendition of the theme to Star Trek The Motion Picture introducing the Enterprise.

In Custody, a short piece that deals with the capture of the malfunctioning Data, features dizzy strings and powerfully layered brass for Picard and Worf's shuttle chase. The score then focuses on the Ba'Ku people and the influence they begin to have on the Enterprise crew, namely Picard who falls for the charms of Anij (Donna Murphy). Children's Story and New Sight, introduce a softer tone, with elegiac strings supporting woodwinds as the planet's ability to make one feel younger begins to take hold. This theme easily stands as one of Goldsmith's finest love themes adding immense depth to these intimate moments.

Not Functioning, The Drones Attack, and The Riker Manoeuvre are a welcome change of pace for the listener with some Goldsmith action writing grounded in the Rambo series style. Goldsmith introduces his thunderous new action motif with Not Functioning and builds on this to a more elaborate setup in The Drones Attack as the composer mounts an exhilarating rhythmic set piece, menacingly lead by horns, while cascading electronic samples join Goldsmith's driving piano motif, replete with a welcome reprise of Goldsmith's Klingon theme.

The CD closes with The Same Race, No Threat, and The Healing Process, which showcase a blend of action with more emphasis placed on suspense, and in contrast moments of melancholy. Gone is the piano, but the horn motif is resurrected at the mid way point of The Healing Process, resulting in a build up to a powerful climax for the destruction of the Array and the rescue of Picard. The cue closes with a reprise of the gentile Ba'Ku theme before a clever synth motif leads us into the End Credits. This is of course the established arrangement of a new theme, namely the Ba'Ku piece, book ended by the legendary Star Trek The Motion Picture theme. Notably Insurrection was the first time Goldsmith recorded his arrangement and included the f to fff alterations during the third bar of the main theme. This technique would go on to be used by the composer in his subsequent concert performances, but would be more emphasised and remained terribly infuriating to his fans when they heard it.

Overall a solid score for the franchise made up of some contrasting styles, unusual for a Star Trek score, and notably with a good application of electronic colouring not heard since Total Recall. It's also well presented by the Crescendo label with a colourful booklet, notes and a dynamic 24 bit digital recording.