Star Trek: Discovery

• Composed by Jeff Russo
• Lakeshore / 2017 / 53m

It felt like we were long overdue a new Star Trek tv show when Discovery was announced – there wasn’t some innate problem with Star Trek which led to ever-reducing viewerships in the previous couple of shows, it was just that they weren’t really very good.  I was very surprised that the creators decided to make it a prequel (rarely a good idea), but it’s turned out to be a success and much better-received than Enterprise ever was.  While the Star Trek films have always been well-served musically, that’s not really true of the tv shows – the original series had some great music of course but it was the exception rather than the norm during the generally bland scoring of the Rick Berman era.  With the modern way of things being generally for a single composer to tackle a whole season of a show, it felt like Discovery offered a real opportunity for a composer to make his or her mark; and I was pleased when Jeff Russo was announced as that composer, having been so impressed by his distinctive, brilliant work on Fargo in particular.

It was therefore a complete shock when his main title theme for the show was unveiled – bland, colourless and unmemorable except for the completely jarring insertion of the familiar Alexander Courage fanfare, it did not bode well.  It’s grown on me a bit (funny how repetition can do that to you) but I still couldn’t hum it to you.  Unfortunately, the rest of the score follows suit.  While Russo is able to develop pieces over longer durations than McCarthy, Chattaway and co were generally able to do, the style is disappointing – somewhat generic orchestral gestures dominate, melody does not.  There’s only one track of particular note on the album, which is the brilliant electronic-dominated “Persistence”, clocking in at just a shade over one minute.  There’s a bit of energy to some of the action music, but only a bit – the choppy ostinato style is so well-worn and without any tunes to go with it, it’s just boring.  I have to admit that Russo’s own style is certainly present throughout, but it sounds like he was told to dial it completely back, and the lack of any really successful attempt to create emotional connections is a big disappointment (“Watch the Stars Fall” is one track that shows there was effort made to do so, but it just doesn’t go far enough; “Weakened Shields” is easily the best, with the shackles removed a little from the action music before some real emotion is finally heard).  It’s a bland, completely inoffensive album and it provides gentle support to the show, but surely Star Trek could get so much more (and Jeff Russo is certainly capable of providing so much more).

Rating:
**
Bland, forgettable music is a big disappointment

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