2001: A Space Odyssey - Main Title - The Seattle Symphony
Star Wars - Main Title - National Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Gerhardt
The Empire Strikes Back
Return Of The Jedi - National Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Gerhardt
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Lost In Space (1965 TV Theme)
Lost In Space (1967 TV Theme)
Lost In Space (Film Theme)
Battlestar Galactica
Space: 1999
Buck Rogers In The 25th Century
Babylon 5
The Black Hole
Alien
The Abyss
Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea (TV)
Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Land of the Giants
Planet of the Apes
Time Tunnel
Fireball XL-5
Dr. Who
Stargate
Total Recall
Blade Runner
Tron
Strange Days
VR.5
Space Above & Beyond
Inside Space
Welcome to Paradox
Mission: Genesis
This first installment of Sci-Fi's Greatest Hits opens, appropriately, with two famous pieces, "2001: A Space Odyssey" (a.k.a. the prelude to Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra) and "Star Wars" (a.k.a. John Williams's varia... more »tion on Holst's The Planets), and further mines film and TV history for interstellar anthems. Much of this stuff is predictable; different selections from films like The Black Hole and Blade Runner would have been more interesting. Yet there are diamonds in the rough, including the eerily disjointed theme to Planet of the Apes, the psychedelic electronic swirl of Dr. Who, and the squealing strings of Alien (before such a concept became cinema cliché). This is a decent dedication to those brave souls exploring the furthest reaches of space. --Bryan Reesman« less
This first installment of Sci-Fi's Greatest Hits opens, appropriately, with two famous pieces, "2001: A Space Odyssey" (a.k.a. the prelude to Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra) and "Star Wars" (a.k.a. John Williams's variation on Holst's The Planets), and further mines film and TV history for interstellar anthems. Much of this stuff is predictable; different selections from films like The Black Hole and Blade Runner would have been more interesting. Yet there are diamonds in the rough, including the eerily disjointed theme to Planet of the Apes, the psychedelic electronic swirl of Dr. Who, and the squealing strings of Alien (before such a concept became cinema cliché). This is a decent dedication to those brave souls exploring the furthest reaches of space. --Bryan Reesman
There were some great songs on here and some so obscure even I didn't know them. ( And I am a HUGE sci fi nut ). But if you're looking to add to a collection or just want to revisit some o;d shows from the past here are their theme songs for you.
CD Reviews
Interesting !!....but beware
Lim Chong Eu | Singapore | 04/17/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Whoa !! When I first saw this on Amazon, I did not hesitate to grab hold of this as soon as possible. There they are.....all the themes from TV and movies from the 60s to 90s that I've always wanted. But sadly, halfway through the CD, I felt a bit disappointed as not all are originals (and I wonder why they could not get their hands on them, since this CD is priced at premium). So beware of the following :Track 1 : Space Odyssey to Track 4 : Return of the Jedi
These are NOT originals, but recorded by other orchestras.Tracks 5 to 25 : are originals, containing many interesting TV themes from the 60s and 70s, except that, the theme of Buck Rogers is so badly mastered that it sounds as if it was recorded with a microphone direct from the TV box. They should have just dumped this track if they could not get a better recording.Track 26 : Blade Runner is the recording by the New American orchestra, and NOT the original by Vangelis.Tracks 28 to 33 : they are originals from the TV, but most are too short and some merely contains snippets of sounds and voices, not really worth listening.But, overall this is a must buy, as you can only get all these themes together in this volume."
Disappointment.
Mikhail Barkovskiy | 06/30/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Disappointment. To tell the truth, I have purchased this CD mainly because of the "Alien" movie theme. Therefore was very disappointed - the theme was reduced, as it seems to me, on 70 %. The same is with the "Abyss" theme - you will hear drums only... Music from Blade Runner sounds strange - not like Vangelis. I regret, that has bought this CD."
Repackaged
Nik Ranieri | 10/07/2009
(1 out of 5 stars)
"This set is just another example of TVT repackaging a lot of their previously released material. Instead of getting originals, they get the next best (and cheaper) thing. If you like the movie themes on this CD, buy the originals and make your own compilation. You'll be happier. If you like the TV themes on this CD, you're pretty much out of luck, for rarely do the clean versions of these themes show up in commercial releases.
In TVT's favor, they are listening to their critics. This set was released before the NBC Must See CD and the 100 Greatest TV Themes CD set, which include all originals (and some actually from master recordings)."