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Sorry for the corny subject title but it's meant to be a starting point for a issue which started to bother me since I listened to the Year of Hell score on the VOY Collection released by La La Land.
My main issue is the length that was given to this particular episode on the 4th disc.
Year of Hell is a classic episode with much excitement and drama and the music absolutely complements and enhances the images. But the listening experience on album was another matter.
Almost every single cue that I heard here sounds familiar since I've already heard it on dozens of other Star Trek Collection releases. The opening bars of 'Assaulted', for example, are the same as McCarthy's action material from Star Trek: Generations and the episode "The Way of the Warrior" from DS9. Not to mention the subdued string and brass writing for quiet moments or the Holst like rhythms for the action pieces.
Of course I'm familiair with the restrictions that McCarthy, Chattaway and all the others had while writing music for the Berman Era shows. But that didn't stop them from writing some memorable stuff within the boundaries that where laid upon them from time to time.
The second disc is a fine example for that. The episodic scores for 'The Q and the Grey' or 'Concerning Flight' are terrific and truly showcase McCarthy's moments of shine within the otherwise sonic wallpaper sound that he achieved on Berman's request.
The same can be said of Jay Chattaway but, in my opinion, in a more daring way. When I listen to ST music of Chattaway I get the sense that he knew exactly when to break the wallpaper rule and get away with it if the content of the episode would allow it. Episodes like 'Our Man Bashir', 'Call to Arms' from DS9 and in this case 'Scorpion' are occasions in which the subdued style is still evident but is given enough spice to set themselves apart from the wallpaper sound.
To make a long story short: Why bother to release 40 minutes of music that lacks a strong, sharp individual personality and leave off music (from either McCarthy, Chattaway, Baillargeon or Bell) that DOES stand out. Of course a second volume of VOY music is in the works and a Leftovers album is also on the way. But after those releases I guess there will still me be cues that shall remain unreleased.
Don't get me wrong, the VOY collection is fantastic. Since it's release I've been listening to it non-stop, but this issue was just something that I wanted to share with you guys here.
I'd love to hear everybody else's opinion on this matter.
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I personally would have trimmed Year of Hell a bit (the second part in particular has a lot of redundant material) and included some of the missing cues from Scorpion. That's not to say that Year of Hell doesn't have its merits. I firmly believe that "The Captain" is one of the best cues McCarthy ever composed and I've always felt he did his best work with the emotional cues. He just tends to get into a rut with his action music.
I don't think most of these sets sustain themselves as listening experiences anyway. The music is just too samey and undistinguished. I've been able to make a pretty decent one-hour playlist from each of them and that has mostly satisfied.
(Two hours for DS9 because that show tended to pull greater inspiration from its composers.)
I does have it's merits indeed. But listening to the same composition techniques - which are also employed on TNG and DS9 - gets tiring after a while and makes me wonder what good material from other episodes was sacrificed, just because Year of Hell is a fan favorite (the episode, not the music).
The irony is that I DO think that these sets sustain themselves as listening experiences as long as LLL doesn't do complete scores of an episode (except the DS9 ones, they are indeed fantastic). I really enjoy the 'best of...' material that they always put together for the single McCarthy and Chattaway discs for these collections.
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