Michael Giacchino's Star Trek Into Darkness

[crocodile 8,012]

Spock Drops, Kirk Jumps is definitely one of the best tracks on this album. I like that Giacchino does so much with his Spock theme in this score. It's the most satisfying aspect of this work. From the grand s-f statements in that cue, to the soft and emotional statements in the Buying the Space Farm, to the frenetic action version in the final action scene.

As an album it is a much better representation of the score as heard in the film. As compared to 2009 score, that is.

Karol

[Jay 37,361]

I dunno, a lot of others who have seen the film say a lot of the highlights are missing

[crocodile 8,012]

Well, obviously. But that's not what I meant. If you were to pick 44 minutes to represent the film, those 44 would do very well. Previous album wasn't as well-balanced. Here you get a stronger sense of the film's thoroughline and that's also thanks to better development of the three principal themes on the disc. But that's my opinion.

Pity there's no other Spock theme from An Endangered Species track on Star Trek 2009 Deluxe album, which makes an appearance as well.

Woo-hoo. 10 000 posts.

Karol

[Jay 37,361]

I think both OSTs are structuraly similar. They give us most of the opening cues and most of the ending cues, and then only a smattering of the middle of the score, skipping over many important tracks to get in as much "highlights" as you can in the roughly 20 minutes you have left after including so much of the opening and ending.

ST09 benefited greatly from the complete presentation, and I'm sure STID will too.

Congrats on 10,000 posts!

[Jay 37,361]

This score is now for sale digitally in the USA at:

Google Play [320kbps MP3] ($9.49): https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Michael_Giacchino_Star_Trek_Into_Darkness?id=Bihmbp4np2yfkoujysy6g5xlvbu

Amazon [?kbps MP3] ($9.99): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CRR5YA0/jwfancom-20

iTunes [256kbps AAC] ($9.99): https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/star-trek-into-darkness-music/id646878163

All of which contain the digital-only bonus track "The Growl" performed by Conway. I guess this bonus track is available in Canada too, but supposedly that's it. I dunno.

Don't forget, the release date for the physical CD (which does not contain "The Growl") is May 28th, and that is available to pre-order on Amazon right now for $11.88!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C7O8MJ8/jwfancom-20

[JoeinAR 1,949]

who or what is Conway?

[Jay 37,361]

No idea, but if you looked at the picture I posted on the last page, the "group" shares its name with the last name of one of the writers

Anyway, it's the techno stuff in the middle of this video:

[airmanjerm 78]

Ehh. It's source music, which I guess is good to know. Won't end up in my playlist, but I guess in future edits it'll be one less thing people have to search video game files for...

[Damien F 1,742]

For those who want to know, that Growl song is source music that is heard

in a scene with Scotty in a nightclub.

[Jay 37,361]

Yes, I posted a video of the scene above

[Damien F 1,742]

That "dark side of Starfleet" theme has really grown on me. It is a shame it only appears once on the OST. It's treatment is very similar to that of Mola Ram's theme from TOD. It appears significantly in the movie but is almost ignored on the OST.

[Jay 37,361]

Damn, I need to see this film!

[Damien F 1,742]

It is a little odd that such a major movie is released in the UK so far ahead of the US. When will you be seeing it Jason.

[Jay 37,361]

Well, there's a showing tomorrow night at the IMAX in Providence at 8pm but it's a super busy week for me so I dunno. Maybe Thursday but if not then, it won't be until Tuesday cause I have to go away all weekend

[Damien F 1,742]

If you can, I'd recommend IMAX. The movie does look stunning. We have a new "IMAX" screen here in Dublin but it is only really pseudo-IMAX because it is only marginally bigger than a large standard screen and nothing like the proper IMAX screens. I saw it in that screen and it still looks excellent. Unfortuately, there is no option for me to see it in 2D IMAX, which would be my preference.

[Jay 37,361]

Yea this is a real (normal-sized) IMAX. I saw Jurassic Park and An Unexpected Journey at it (both in 3D) and it all looked great

If it wasn't such a stupidly busy week, I'd be at the IMAX screening tomorrow night no question, but sometimes life gets in the way of my hobbies

[Damien F 1,742]

I know what you mean. If you recall, I posted a score survey last month but I've had a crazy busy schedule over the last four week I haven't had the time to compile and post the results. Hopefully I'll do it this weekend. I got 222 responses so I'm happy that it is a significant enough portion of the community to validate the findings.

[airmanjerm 78]

I've given this a single listen, and have to say one of the things that was nice to catch in "Kirk's Enterprise" (although I almost missed it) was....

.....around 1:50-2:10 where there's a little musical allusion to Goldsmith's ST:TMP score, specifically "Ilia's Theme." It's mostly a little harmonic styling and a touch melodic, but it was fairly nice to hear.

[Jay 37,361]

Well That New Car Smell from ST09 comes close to being Ilia's Theme as well

[airmanjerm 78]

I spoilered this without realizing Blume had written about it in his review, which I just saw.

And yeah, it's just nice to hear again.

Edit: I'm admittedly not as familiar with the 2009 score as most of you. Just checked that out Jason, I didn't remember it from before and didn't realize the new one is basically the same little treatment, but again....it's nice to hear the allusion.

[crocodile 8,012]

Oh just got shipping notification from Colosseum.

Karol

[Jay 37,361]

LOL - Exclusive "first listen" of the Star Trek Into Darkness score!

Some cool new footage in there, at least

[Jay 37,361]

Varese has pushed the CD release UP a week, from 5/28 to 5/21!

http://www.varesesarabande.com/servlet/the-1103/Star-Trek-Into-Darkness/Detail

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

next tuesday cant come soon enough!

[Jay 37,361]

I ordered my copy from Amazon, I wonder if it will ship early from there too

[Ollie 1,059]

I've been playing this to death. I can't wait hear what was left off the CD.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Splurged for the iTunes one and physical?

[Ollie 1,059]

Yes, I'm weak.

[Jay 37,361]

Score featurette!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNWKDtvuO3A

[crocodile 8,012]

I ordered my copy from Amazon, I wonder if it will ship early from there too

Mine is on its way, yay!

Karol

[Jay 37,361]

Hmmm, my order at Amazon now says

Delivery Estimate: Thursday May 23, 2013 by 8:00pm

[Wojo 2,453]

SAE's Facebook says it's now shipping?

[Jay 37,361]

It does

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4926425437958&set=a.1079697552165.12647.1218067839&type=1

[luke905 18]

Here is a different version of the score featurette: at the beginning we can hear music from the prologue of the film not present in the OST.

[Offline 29]

Awesome Score featurettes!

I've actually started my analysis of the Film Score Vs. The OST score and even have begun matching up slate numbers (from the list of Slates and Times that Giacchino posted on twitter)

Here's my results so far, SPOILERS:

NOTE: The timings are from the partial slate list Giacchino posted, and the OFFICIAL titles are in quotation marks. "Missing" means not on the OST

OST 01a "Logos" = [1M01 V3] [OST might be Microedited, Film Version is either slightly Longer or Looped] (0:55)

OST 01b "Pranking The Natives" = [1M03 V3] [OST is Film Version, EXACT] (1:55)

OST 02 "Spock Drops, Kirk Jumps" = [slate Unknown] [OST is either MICROEDITED or Film Version is Looped]

XX Dive, Enterprise Reveal = [Possibly 1m06V3INS V3, about the same length] [MISSING]

XX Spock In The Volcano, If He Were Here and I Were There, Spock Prepares For Death = [slate Unknown] [MISSING]

OST 03 "Sub Prime Directive" = [1M07-8 V4] [OST is either edited or Film Version is Looped] (2:31)

OST 04 "London Calling" = [1M09 V3] [OST is Film Version, EXACT] (2:04)

XX Source Music, With Vocals (Jim's Bedroom)

XX Not Ready for the Chair = [2M10 V4] [MISSING] (0:51)

XX London Calling Reprise, Harrison Theme = [2M11 V4] [MISSING] (2:27)

XX Source Music, With Vocals (Jim at the Bar) = [2M12]

The titles for the source music are probably listed in the credits, but I haven't been able to stay until the end of the credits yet, from what i've heard though as I was waiting for people right outside of the theatre, the End Credits contain the following music:

1 1st Half of "End Credits" from Star Trek 2009 [Re-recorded, not tracked]

2 "London Calling" (Track 04 on STID OST)

3 2nd Half of "Ode to Harrison"

4 "Star Trek Main Theme" (Track 14 on STID OST)

The film was fantastic by the way. The score is too!

[Damien F 1,742]

I have been listening to the OST pretty much on a loop for the last few days and I'm just back from seeing the movie again with the intention of analysing the music and specifically what's not on the OST. I'm not doing an exact slate comparion like the post above, these are just my observations.

The most striking thing is that the major secondary theme that appears only once on the album (0:48 in Brigadoom) occurs 16 times in the film. I'm calling it the "dark side of Starfleet" theme although I suspect that may not be entirely correct. It is difficult to label this theme. In the second half of the movie, it certainly represents an adversarial force within Starfleet. Its usage during the movie's first half is more puzzling - we first hear a grand statement of it on brass during an establishing shot of Starfleet headquarters and soon afterwards a noble rendition is heard when we see the Enterprise in drydock. Its statements in the movie range from solo piano performances to full militistic brass with snare accompaniment. It is a nice little theme and it is a shame it has been practically ignored on the OST. However, I noticed a number of the cues featuring that theme are short in duration (that Starfleet establishment shot has a cue that is only about 10 seconds) which may explain its absence on the album.

The most memorable music from the prologue missing on album appears between Spock Falls, Kirk Jumps and Sub Prime Directive. That cue features three nice things - (1) a grand statement of the main theme when we first see the enterprise, (2) a quieter but tension-building version of the action ostinato heard in the latter half of Spock Falls, Kirk Jumps and (3) a noble yet desperate rendition of Spock's theme on horns. Again, a nice cue. Also, the opening track is not an album edit - the main titles transition into Pranking the Natives immediately. The only difference is that there is about 10 seconds of silence between the two in the film. Finally regarding the prologue, Spock Falls, Kirk Jumps starts immediately when Pranking the Natives ends. It could have been a single track on the OST.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the London Calling piano theme appears in two cues in the movie. The second of these is unreleased and it is probably my favourite unreleased cue. It starts again with that theme on piano but higher in its regiser, then it moves to the woodwinds and then the whole orchestral nicely morphs into the John Harrison material. The entire cue plays during a dialogue free scene, so it sounds great in the movie. It's a pity it was excluded from the OST as it would have fleshed out the London Calling theme a little more.

The OST features loads of action cues and most of the important quiter cues like Brigadoom and Buying the Space Farm. What is lacks are the tension building cues and therefore the listening experience suffers. There are two great tension/suspense cues I noticed that are unreleased. They both feature great little string ostinatoes. The first appears in the movie as the crew prepare to track down John Harrison (before The Kronos Quartet) and the second is for the scenes proceeding the Ship To Ship sequence. Both are great tension cues that contain permutations of the main theme. I think the album would have been a better listening experience had those two been included.

We have a track called Brigadoom but the movie actually has two scored scenes featuring the brig. The album track is for the second of those scenes.

I think the album actually does a good job of including all the main action cues. I didn't notice any glaring omissions in the same vain as Chute and Matter from ST09. The most puzzling and annoying album cut for me is that Gia's re-recorded rendition of Courage's original theme should have been included at the end of Kirk Enterprises. That track builds up to a dissapointing anticlimatic cresendo on album whereas in the movie it segues into a GREAT performance of the original theme.

So, had the album time been extended by an additional 10 minutes or so I could have been happy with it to the point that I wouldn't have been too concerned about an expanded edition. As it stands however, I can't wait for the (hopefully) inevitable deluxe release.

[Offline 29]

I have been listening to the OST pretty much on a loop for the last few days and I'm just back from seeing the movie again with the intention of analysing the music and specifically what's not on the OST. I'm not doing an exact slate comparion like the post above, these are just my observations.

The most striking thing is that the major secondary theme that appears only once on the album (0:48 in Brigadoom) occurs 16 times in the film. I'm calling it the "dark side of Starfleet" theme although I suspect that may not be entirely correct. It is difficult to label this theme. In the second half of the movie, it certainly represents an adversarial force within Starfleet. Its usage during the movie's first half is more puzzling - we first hear a grand statement of it on brass during an establishing shot of Starfleet headquarters and soon afterwards a noble rendition is heard when we see the Enterprise in drydock. Its statements in the movie range from solo piano performances to full militistic brass with snare accompaniment. It is a nice little theme and it is a shame it has been practically ignored on the OST. However, I noticed a number of the cues featuring that theme are short in duration (that Starfleet establishment shot has a cue that is only about 10 seconds) which may explain its absence on the album.

The most memorable music from the prologue missing on album appears between Spock Falls, Kirk Jumps and Sub Prime Directive. That cue features three nice things - (1) a grand statement of the main theme when we first see the enterprise, (2) a quieter but tension-building version of the action ostinato heard in the latter half of Spock Falls, Kirk Jumps and (3) a noble yet desperate rendition of Spock's theme on horns. Again, a nice cue. Also, the opening track is not an album edit - the main titles transition into Pranking the Natives immediately. The only difference is that there is about 10 seconds of silence between the two in the film. Finally regarding the prologue, Spock Falls, Kirk Jumps starts immediately when Pranking the Natives ends. It could have been a single track on the OST.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the London Calling piano theme appears in two cues in the movie. The second of these is unreleased and it is probably my favourite unreleased cue. It starts again with that theme on piano but higher in its regiser, then it moves to the woodwinds and then the whole orchestral nicely morphs into the John Harrison material. The entire cue plays during a dialogue free scene, so it sounds great in the movie. It's a pity it was excluded from the OST as it would have fleshed out the London Calling theme a little more.

The OST features loads of action cues and most of the important quiter cues like Brigadoom and Buying the Space Farm. What is lacks are the tension building cues and therefore the listening experience suffers. There are two great tension/suspense cues I noticed that are unreleased. They both feature great little string ostinatoes. The first appears in the movie as the crew prepare to track down John Harrison (before The Kronos Quartet) and the second is for the scenes proceeding the Ship To Ship sequence. Both are great tension cues that contain permutations of the main theme. I think the album would have been a better listening experience had those two been included.

We have a track called Brigadoom but the movie actually has two scored scenes featuring the brig. The album track is for the second of those scenes.

I think the album actually does a good job of including all the main action cues. I didn't notice any glaring omissions in the same vain as Chute and Matter from ST09. The most puzzling and annoying album cut for me is that Gia's re-recorded rendition of Courage's original theme should have been included at the end of Kirk Enterprises. That track builds up to a dissapointing anticlimatic cresendo on album whereas in the movie it segues into a GREAT performance of the original theme.

So, had the album time been extended by an additional 10 minutes or so I could have been happy with it to the point that I wouldn't have been too concerned about an expanded edition. As it stands however, I can't wait for the (hopefully) inevitable deluxe release.

Very good observations.

The Opening Logos actually is an album edit, the logos themselves were edited, not necessarily the transitions between the Logos and Pranking the Natives, which technically is an edit, because they were recorded separately and are presented separately in the film, therefore should be separate on the Album, but they're put together, so I count that as an edit. The Logos portion however is slightly longer in the film, I timed it, and compared. So there is a microedit somewhere, for some silly reason.

I'm not sure why on earth they left off the end credits. I two feel like they should've been there! They recorded the two cues separately, but it's no excuse to not include it, it would've been an awesome addition!

It's just sad, because they could've easily fit 75 minutes of music onto one disc and they just didn't, at least we have the choir though.

UPDATE:

Here's more of my FILM vs OST comparison, with Slate Numbers (Plus some updates to my previous list), MAJOR SPOILERS:

NOTE: Titles in quotation marks are OFFICIAL titles, the rest are just lame place holders.

Reel 1:

OST 01a "Logos" = [1M01 V3] [OST might be Microedited, Film Version is either slightly Longer or Looped] (0:55)

OST 01b "Pranking The Natives" = [1M03 V3] [OST is Film Version, EXACT] (1:55)

OST 02 "Spock Drops, Kirk Jumps" = [Possibly 1M04] [OST is either MICROEDITED or Film Version is Looped]

XX Dive, Enterprise Reveal = [Possibly 1M05] [MISSING]

XX Spock In The Volcano, If He Were Here and I Were There, Spock Prepares For Death = [Possibly 1M06] [MISSING]

XX 1M06V3INS V3 = [1M06V3INS V3] [MISSING] (0:25)

OST 03 "Sub Prime Directive" = [1M07-8 V4] [OST is either edited or Film Version is Looped] (2:31)

OST 04 "London Calling" = [1M09 V3] [OST is Film Version, EXACT] (2:04)

XX Source Music, With Vocals (Jim's Bedroom)

Reel 2:

XX Not Ready for the Chair = [2M10 V4] [MISSING] (0:51)

XX London Calling Reprise, Harrison Theme = [2M11 V4] [MISSING] (2:27)

XX Source Music, With Vocals (Jim at the Bar) = [2M12]

XX Emergency Session = [2M13 V4] [MISSING] (0:37)

XX One Man War, Kirk Examines the Scene, Just the Beginning = [2M14 V4] [MISSING] (2:21)

XX "Man Vs. Blaster" = [2M15 V4] [MISSING] (1:56)

OST 05 "Meld-Merized" = [2M16 V4] [OST is an ALTERNATE VERSION, The FILM Version does not use Harrison's Theme, something more Brassy with Snare Drums, then, The Harp that follows (I think the strings as well) is in a lower octave in the film versus the OST] (2:36)

Reel 3 [MISSING]:

XX Harrison is on Kronos, Section 31, The Plan = [3M19 V3] [MISSING] (3:20)

XX Shuttle Lift Off = [3M20 V4] [MISSING] (0:41)

XX Scotty Resigns = [3M21 V4] [MISSING] (0:52)

XX Enterprise Warps Off = [3M22 V4] [MISSING] (0:49)

XX Kirk Speaks to the Crew = [3M23 V4] [MISSING] (1:15)

XX Admiral's Daughter, Drop Out Of Warp = [3M24 V4] [MISSING] (0:32)

XX Kronos Team, Sulu Takes the Chair = [3M25 V4] [MISSING] (1:10)

Reel 4:

XX Shuttle Takes Off, Message to Harrison = [4M26 V3] [MISSING] (2:15)

XX Spock Chooses Not To Feel = [4M27 V4] [MISSING] (1:15)

OST 06a "The Kronos Wartet [Part 1]" = [4M28 V3] (1:39)

OST 06b "The Kronos Wartet [Part 2]" = [4M28B V3] (3:18)

XX Kirk Beats Harrison, Harrison Taken Into Custody, Valuable Insight = [4M29 V3] [MISSING] (2:37)

That's all I took notes on and was able to compare to Giachinno's partial slate list, I might be able to compare some more at a later date.

So, if you wanted to label the OST with the Slates, I'd do it like this:

01A "Logos [1M01 V3]"

01B "Pranking The Natives [1M03 V3]"

02 "Spock Drops, Kirk Jumps [1M04]"

03 "Sub Prime Directive [1M07-8 V4]"

04 "London Calling [1M09 V3]"

05 "Meld-Merized (Alternate) [2M16]"

06 "The Kronos Wartet [4M28]"

The rest I don't know about though

[crocodile 8,012]

To my absolute surprise, the CD just arrived. Less than 2 days. Impressive.

No hidden bonus tracks, sadly.

Karol

[Offline 29]

To my absolute surprise, the CD just arrived. Less than 2 days. Impressive.

No hidden bonus tracks, sadly.

Karol

Dang, you'd think they'd release "Ode to Harrison" in a higher quality somewhere!

I guess they're holding out for the Deluxe Edition

[gkgyver 1,645]

Is the music for Kirk repairing the Warp core on the album entirely? I can't really remember it from the film. I guess it's Warp Core Values, but is that the whole thing?

[KK 3,307]

Yes.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Really?

I remember finding it a lot better when watching the film. What's the first half of Kirk Enterprises for then?

[KK 3,307]

The whole final montage with Kirk's speech.

Just watched the film recently. Will post thoughts later.

[Jay 37,361]

OK, having seen the film now, I can say this with NO question: This is a very, VERY good score!

I disagree with others who say the OST is a better representation of the score than the first. I sat there in the theater hearing cue after cue that was INCREDIBLY good and wasn't on the OST!!

The OST does a good job of covering the entire opening of the movie, and entire ending. But in between Sub Prime Directive and Ship To Ship there is just a lot, lot, lot of GREAT music there that the four OST cues for that section simply do not summarize them well.

I went from being excited about the score from the Colosseum samples and WQXR tracks, to being underwhelmed by the OST and thinking this score wouldn't end up being one of his best, to seeing the film and thinking this is one of his great scores!

I can't wait to see the film, to analyze all the music specifically, and then for the hopefully inevitable Deluxe Edition!

I'll post more about the great unreleased cues after I see the film again.

[Brónach 1,302]

I wish there was a Deluxe edition of John Carter.

[KK 3,307]

I found that there wasn't a lot missing from the album. The main highlights are there. There were some nice moments that didn't appear (like some statements of Spock's theme or that London Calling melody), but nothing that really changed my opinion of the score. I think the OST is a solid representation of the score.

[Brónach 1,302]

My conclusion after both of your posts is that the OST is not a good representation of the score but it's still an underwhelming score.

[Ollie 1,059]

I think this go around the album is put together much better than the first score.

My main gripe is no End Credit suite and Ode To Harrison being left off.

[KK 3,307]

My conclusion after both of your posts is that the OST is not a good representation of the score but it's still an underwhelming score.

A just conclusion. I don't think the missing music adds anything significant to the overall quality of the score. And I still think the album did get the best of the music on film.

I take it that you were underwhelmed by the score too?

[Jay 37,361]

I was underwhelmed by the score until I saw the film. There's a TON of great music in the film that isn't on the OST. Completely disagree with those if you who say otherwise. You just weren't paying attention!