Caprica: The Series (Soundtrack) by Bear McCreary - Review

Two Years, Two Hours, Two Discs

Review by Richard Buxton

With one thundering flash of might, the conniving snake was no longer of this world - its reign over the year of 2013 collapsing in an instant - and so began the year of the BEAR.

Released on the same day as Europa Report, CAPRICA is BEAR MCCREARY’S sixth-score release of 2013, putting him alongside MARCO BELTRAMI and JOE HISAISHI as one of this year’s most prolific composers. That said, the single season of CAPRICA originally aired in 2010, with the pilot episode’s original score being released in 2009. Coming almost two years after the airing of the show, was it worth the wait?

Perhaps to make up for such a long wait, CAPRICA’S release is made up of two discs, totaling almost 2.5 hours of BEAR MCCREARY’S score and original songs. This will no doubt please fans of the show and the score, but there’s a distinct feeling throughout that with a little more precision, CAPRICA’S running-time could have been drastically reduced without suffering any noticeable loss in quality. Listening to the series’ score after having heard the pilot score is something of a disappointing experience. Not because the pilot score promises particularly great things for the full season’s score, but because the majority of the second release offers merely more of the same, rather than reaching new heights as one would expect given how much more music there is to work with.

READ THE FULL REVIEW

So Unboxes Us All - Caprica (Bear McCreary) 2-Disc Limited Edition from La-La Land Records

So you say La-La Land Records' 2009, single-disc release of Bear McCreary's CAPRICA wasn't enough for you? Well, the prolifically terrific label is back with a 2-disc, limited edition release of the original score! Christopher Coleman gives you a peek at what's included.  (Confession.  Due to a bit of a negative-reaction to Season 4 of Battlestar Galatica, Christopher has not yet watched  the actual tv-show, so expect a wee bit 'o ignorance on some of the details. Still, this is about the CD release, not the show. OK?)

The music is from La-La Land Records release and no copyright infringement is intended but offered for informational purposes only.

Tracks used:

Track 01 - "Caprica Main Title" (Disc 1)

Track 11 - "Caprica Buccaneers Theme (from "Rebirth")" (Disc 1) 

Track 01 - Caprica Abides (Instrumental Version) (from "Rebirth" and "Apotheosis") (Disc 2)

Track0 8 - "The Cylon Whisperer" (from "The Heavens Will Rise" and "Here Be Dragons")

CAPRICA (THE SERIES): LIMITED EDITION
Original Release Date: 2013

Number of Discs: 2

Number of Tracks: 43

Label: La-La Land Records

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Available here: http://www.lalalandrecords.com/CapricaSeries.html

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Battlestar Galatica at The House of Blues with Bear McCreary

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA CAST REUNITES ON STAGE DURING

BEAR MCCREARY: THE MUSIC OF BATTLESTAR GALACTICA CONCERTS

AT THE HOUSE OF BLUES IN SAN DIEGO



Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 Soundtrack Debuts on Billboard Charts at #195

Burbank, CA – July 28, 2009– Universal Cable Productions presented Bear McCreary and the music from Battlestar Galactica for three nights at the House of Blues in San Diego from July 23-25th – during Comic-Con! Each of the nights was hosted by and featured appearances by members of the cast of Battlestar Galactica. The concerts celebrated the July 28 release of a special 2-CD set, Battlestar Galactica: Season 4, which reached the top 10 on Amazon’s Best Seller list for overall music sales, peaking at #4 and debuts at #195 on the Billboard Top 200. La-La Land Records is releasing the Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 soundtrack through a license agreement with NBC Universal Television, DVD, Music and Consumer Products Group.

The Thursday night concert was hosted by Edward James Olmos and featured guest appearances by Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Luciana Carro (Captain “Kat” Katraine), Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), and Katee Sackhoff (Captain Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace). “The highlight of the concert for me,” composer Bear McCreary described, “was hearing the audience explode as Katee Sackhoff and I sat down at the piano and kicked into ‘All Along the Watchtower.’”

Featuring a cast reunion on stage with a touching tribute to producer Harvey Frand, who recently passed away, Friday’s concert was a must-see event. Joining Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) and Grace Park (Sharon ‘Boomer’ Valerii) – the evening’s emcees – on-stage were Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh), Michael Trucco (Samuel Anders), Nicki Clyne (Crewman Specialist Cally Henderson), Michelle Forbes (Admiral Helen Cain), James Callis (Gaius Baltar), and executive producer David Eick.

Grace Park took over hosting duties for Saturday night’s performance which featured an appearance by Tahmoh Penikett (Captain Karl ‘Helo’ Agathon). The performance included fan favorites “Adama and Roslin,” “Pegasus,” “Prelude to War,” the theme music for the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica, and a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song.”

"Bear McCreary’s music was an integral part of the re-invention of Battlestar Galactica. Its complexity, depth, and breadth helped elevate the series beyond a simple ‘Space Opera.’ Seeing Bear play his music at the House of Blues, and having it serve as an impromptu tribute to Harvey, was a real honor," said Mark Stern, EVP, Original Programming, Syfy and Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions.

The emcee the first two nights, Edward James Olmos agrees. “The day has finally come when I will be able to experience live the sights and sounds of Bear and his friends. Wow.... what a privilege!"

“I was thrilled to be able to bring the Music of Battlestar Galactica to the House of Blues during Comic-Con,” said McCreary. “All three evenings were magical in their own way, and I'll never forget them. The cast members who jumped on stage thrilled the crowd, and many fans that approached me at the signings afterwards had lost their voices from screaming all night…and yet, despite the intense energy coming from the audience, when I played my intimate, quiet piano compositions the hall was respectfully silent. It was all the energy of a rock concert combined with the loving attention of a symphonic concert audience.”

Season 4 composer McCreary was recently called one of the top 10 composers “that make space adventures epic” by www.io9.com. His work on the television series Battlestar Galactica has been described as offering “some of the most innovative music on TV today,” by Variety, and his blog www.bearmccreary.com/blog, which features in-depth inside looks at the process of scoring Battlestar Galactica, was called "one of the best blogs in the business. It's a fascinating look at the process of making music for film and television and the care he takes with aligning the score with the twists and turns of each character's plot lines," by The Hollywood Reporter.

McCreary’s feature film credits include Wrong Turn 2 and the Rest Stop films. He also scores the series Eureka and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and will be scoring the upcoming Syfy series, and Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica and the Capcom video game Dark Void. McCreary was among a handful of select protégés of late film music legend Elmer Bernstein and is a classically trained composer with degrees in Composition and Recording Arts from the prestigious USC Thornton School of Music.

Read more about composer Bear McCreary here

Bear McCreary Concerts and Caprica Soundtrack Release

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA COMPOSER BEAR MCCREARY TO RELEASE TWO RECORDINGS AND ANNOUNCES LOS ANGELES AND COMIC CON CONCERTS

Taiko Drums To Start Summer With A Bang -- SO SAY WE ALL!!!

(May 27, 2009- Burbank, CA) – Battlestar Galactica and Caprica composer Bear McCreary will have a busy summer, with the release of two soundtrack recordings and concert performances. On June 13 the music from Battlestar Galactica will kick-off the 2009 Grand Performances Series at California Plaza. Three days later, on June 16, La-La Land Records will release the soundtrack for Caprica.

Bear McCreary will again conduct the music from Battlestar Galactica for three nights at the House of Blues in San Diego from July 23-25th – during Comic Con! The concerts will celebrate the July 21 release of a special 2-CD set, Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.

Battlestar Galactica began as an original SCI FI Channel mini-series in 2003. Billions of human lives were consumed by nuclear fires as the Cylons, intelligent robots created by man, rebelled against their makers. A small, rag-tag fleet of survivors escaped and fled into the outer reaches of the universe in search of the mythical, lost "13th colony" — Earth.

The SCI FI series celebrated its finale in March of 2009, having received boundless critical acclaim and awards, including the prestigious Peabody Award as well as special recognition from the United Nations. A few weeks later, the prequel Caprica, set 50 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica, was released on DVD by Universal Home Entertainment. Caprica will begin airing in early 2010 on the SCI FI Channel. The series chronicles an astonishing scientific breakthrough taking shape on the planet Caprica. The rapidly evolving spheres of human and mechanical engineering have collided, along with the fates of two families. Joined by tragedy in an explosive instant of terror, two rival clans led by powerful patriarchs, Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) and Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) duel in an era of questionable ethics, corporate machinations and unbridled personal ambition as the final war for humanity looms.

On June 16, 2009 La-La Land Records will release the soundtrack for Caprica, composed by Bear McCreary, one of the top young composers working in Hollywood. His work on the television series Battlestar Galactica has been described as offering “some of the most innovative music on TV today,” by Variety, and his blog www.bearmccreary.com/blog, which features in-depth inside looks at the process of scoring Battlestar Galactica, was called "one of the best blogs in the business. It's a fascinating look at the process of making music for film and television and the care he takes with aligning the score with the twists and turns of each character's plot lines," by The Hollywood Reporter.

Bear McCreary’s feature film credits include Wrong Turn 2 and the Rest Stop films. He also scores the series Eureka and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and will be scoring the upcoming SCI FI series Caprica and the Capcom video game Dark Void. McCreary was among a handful of select protégés of late film music legend Elmer Bernstein and is a classically trained composer with degrees in Composition and Recording Arts from the prestigious USC Thornton School of Music.

In 2005 La-La Land Records released the soundtrack for Battlestar Galatica: Season One, which quickly became the top selling release by the label. One year later, the second season was released and was celebrated with Bear McCreary’s first sold-out concert performance in Los Angeles. In 2008 the concerts moved to a larger venue selling out two nights at the famed Roxy on the Sunset Strip. The two-CD Season Four soundtrack will be released on July 21st. The first disc features music from seasons 4.0 and 4.5, with the music from “Daybreak”, the stunning series finale, featured on the second disc.

The Caprica original soundtrack will be available in stores or from www.lalalandrecords.com on June 16, 2009. Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 will be available on July 21st.

The Music of Battlestar Galactica Performances:

Grand Performances 2009 Summer Series at California Plaza

June 13, 2009 at 7PM, Downtown Los Angeles

Free concert

Comic Con

The House of Blues San Diego (1055 Fifth Avenue)

July 23, 24 and 25

Ticket information visit www.bearmccreary.com/blog