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Release Date: June 20, 2006 Label: La-La Land Records Related Sites: · Battlestar Galactica Official Site · Bear McCreary Official Site Grade: A-

Collecting the very best musical moments from the second season of the Sci Fi Channel's daring re-imagining of the late 1970's series Battlestar Galactica, this soundtrack delivers a rich score that covers vast emotional territory. The young Bear McCreary builds upon his accomplishments from the previous season to scale new heights with this impressive mix that works well on its own, apart from the visuals it was geared toward.

The packaging includes an eight-page color booklet featuring scenes from the year's offerings, plus liner notes from Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore and composer McCreary. Both are quite informative as far as revealing the difficulties and struggles inherent in producing a weekly series. McCreary relates an encounter with Stu Phillips, who composed the original theme music over twenty-five years ago, along with memories more bittersweet: "(The fourth track) was performed by the Supernova String Quartet, led by a talented young violinist, Ludwig Girland. Tragically, within a month of this recording, his car was struck by a drunk driver, leaving him in a coma, from which he has yet to awaken... The original title for this piece was 'Saying Goodbye,' which no musician who ever worked with Ludwig is ready to do. Watching 'The Farm' again, I realized that Kara is not saying goodbye to Anders, but actually giving her word that she'll come back, against all odds. So, 'A Promise to Return' seemed a more fitting title for this piece, which I have dedicated to Ludwig's recovery."

"The first season soundtrack introduced an arsenal of Japanese taikos, Middle Eastern woodwinds, Celtic world percussion and symphonic orchestra," McCreary explains in the liner notes. Expanding upon that base, "season two's score introduced even more instruments and styles" including Indian tablas, sitars, and twangy ethnic guitars. McCreary was fortunate to mentor under renowned movie composer Elmer Bernstein to learn how to fashion music into a storytelling tool. The military snare drum cues so prevalent in the music for Season One are still present, but now are joined company by somber synthesizer textures with touches of electric guitar and bass.

As a huge fan of the original series (a touchy subject when comparing it to this new incarnation, which I expound upon in my review of Season One), I was more than pleasantly surprised to hear the disc open with the familiar "Battlestar Galactica Main Theme" penned by Phillips and Glen A. Larson (with a little piece of "Exploration" toward the end, also from the original series' soundtrack). McCreary conducts a sixty-piece orchestra to showcase the only brass-heavy track in this new take on an old favorite. From there, the musical diversity runs the gamut from thundering percussions ("Scar"), to emotive march ("Reuniting the Fleet"), to warmhearted waltz ("Roslin and Adama"), to creepy reed instrumentation ("Escape from the Farm"), to ethereal ("Baltar's Dream"), to something you might expect to hear from an Alan Parsons instrumental ("Pegasus").

The two lengthy inclusions, "Something Dark is Coming" and "Prelude to War", really highlight McCreary's ability to take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotion. Esoteric vocalizing is employed on "The Cylon Prisoner" (featuring McCreary's brother Bt4) and "Lords of Kobol" (featuring Raya Yarbrough). The latter track also utilizes some up-front drum sampling which was the only segment that felt out of place of any of the music presented. The final track begins innocently enough before transforming into a sprawling, gritty wall of sound featuring the guitar work of former Oingo Boingo member Steve Bartek.

Improving on his achievements for Season One's soundtrack, Bear McCreary expands his musical palette to complement the story complexity presented in Battlestar Galactica's second season. As McCreary notes, he can't wait until he can begin scoring again for the third season. He joins the show's many fans in anticipation of the continuing adventures with a hearty "so say we all".