Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome soundtrack composed by Bear McCreary (album review)
Taking place in the midst of the First Cylon war, ‘Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome’, this prequel series introduces us to a young Bill Adama, a hotshot pilot with none of the experience that has helped him lead what is left of humanity. The series didn’t last very long but it helped sate BSG fans still yearning for their fix.
Composed by series musical fixture, Bear McCeary, the soundtrack balances classic BSG while adding something new to make it more than just a copy.
The first track, ‘Dear Dad’ contains everything that is good about BSG – it has a soft, sad beginning that builds up to a rousing crescendo. Featuring riffs on the musical elements of BSG that we already know and love, it’s a great opener to the album.
Other notable tracks include ‘Archeron’ which features plenty of percussion to get the heart rate going and just enough guitar to make it stand out from the rest of the album without sounding too much like the theme from an 80s detective show.
One of the longer tracks on the album, ‘The Last Battle’, starts off frustratingly slow but at a stonking 8 minutes 39 seconds it is given enough time to build up. About halfway through, it kicks up several gears and then you know have a real battle on your hands. A little bit of distortion adds an industrial feel to the track that is just so BSG.
After all that action, ‘Coker’s Interlude’ offers us a brief yet sad respite from the exhilaration. But then, of course, it’s back to the fight with ‘Ski Lodge Battle’ which allows Mr McCeary the opportunity to whip out his guitar again.
The final track, ‘Apocolypse: Blood & Chrome’ is one of two with vocals and while this will usually help it stand out on an album, it somewhat jars here when listened to in isolation from the show.
With no other BSG prequels in product or even planned, this may be the last soundtrack for a long time. Do you want to miss out on it? I certainly didn’t.
Aidan Fortune
April 2013
(pub: La La Land Records. 18 tracks, 68 minutes. Price: $19.98 (US). ASIN: B00BWX2IIQ)
check out website: www.lalalandrecords.com
