Call me crazy... (music contributions)

[JakeWasHere]

...but ever since I heard the original version of "Telstar," surf rock seems to be a vastly underrated potential source of scoring inspiration for science fiction films. I mean, I know it's generally fast and loud, but most of it also has an eerie, echoey sound and melodic sensibility that seems to have the right fit for outer space.

Ever since the theremin on the soundtrack to FORBIDDEN PLANET, pop and rock sounds have been unpopular for sci-fi - and John Williams' unabashedly bombastic score for the STAR WARS series more or less slammed the door on the concept of using anything other than orchestral pomp and electronic oddity in an SF movie. But seriously - have they ever listened to any of Man-or-Astroman's albums? For some reason, I was listening to a CD of theirs and I began imagining scenes from Rebel Cry...

I can imagine that speech of Tuck's right at the beginning of the film, and as the credits begin, panning over a lonely starfield, Track Seven from this album kicks in, sounding simultaneously exciting and ominous...

(If you want to hear what comes right after that snippet, go here and click Track Seven again.)

[Csadn]

[quote="JakeWasHere"]Ever since the theremin on the soundtrack to FORBIDDEN PLANET, pop and rock sounds have been unpopular for sci-fi - and John Williams' unabashedly bombastic score for the STAR WARS series more or less slammed the door on the concept of using anything other than orchestral pomp and electronic oddity in an SF movie. [/quote]

Granted, they're not the greatest film on the planet, but I'd direct you to
the soundtracks for _Flash Gordon_ (1980) and _Highlander_ (1986).
_FG_ sounds like it has a lot of synths, but that's mainly Brian May doing
his usual thing of making a guitar do things a guitar was not meant to do.

As for _Highlander_, four words: "Princes Of The Universe". :) (And
"Gimme The Prize" can clear a parking structure in moments.)

[MikeVanPelt]

A lot of people really despised it, but I liked the intro to "Enterprise" a lot. (The song "Faith of the Heart" as background to a montage of pictures of the history of exploration.)

Babylon 5 had Chrisopher Franke's syntho-classical, and "Crusade" had Evan Chen's more "out-there" modernist score. I really disliked Chen's music for the "Crusade" pilot, but it kind of grew on me for the series.

Then there's Firefly's western/cowboy music.

[Rokas]

Anyone ever listen to any of the music from the Halo series of games? Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori made this wonderful mix of orchestral, choir, rock&roll, tribal, and electronic/techno music that really feels unique to the franchise, as well as conveying that space opera feel... While at the same time, getting you pumped up for smacking down some alien scum buckets.

Generally, though, I've always been of the opinion that some specific rock songs make for good Sci-Fi stuff. I usually listen to them when I'm writing to help me establish the pace of a scene.

VanPelt: Bab5's music was awesome. I just got the second season collection, and I'm loving hearing the intro music to every episode. Also, the Enterprise "Faith of the Heart" I liked less than the original theme music, but at least it didn't suck and it actually grew on me to the point where I'll listen to it.