Star Trek TV Series Main Themes Review

Music is something that I consider important. When I play a game, I want a soundtrack that will pull me into the action. When I watch a movie, I expect a score that will accent the scenes, and not some crappy new age rock group playing forgettable songs that do nothing to enhance the scene. To that end, I decided to do a mini review on the Star Trek TV series' main themes, because these themes are part of the legacy of Star Trek, and the fond (or horrible) memories we may have of this epic space saga. So here I go:






Star Trek - The Original Series - Alexander Courage - 5/5
This is the series that started it all. This theme is wonderful, starting out very quiet as Shatner delivers the famous lines and then bam! You're hit with that energetic score as we watch the Enterprise fly by and the credits scroll. It really helps get you pumped for the show. Giving an air of mystery and wonder, which perfectly captured the nature of Star Trek in my opinion. I love this theme, and it set the tone for many of the themes to come in the future shows and movies.




Star Trek - The Next Generation -Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage - 5/5

I LOVE this theme. This is my favorite theme of the whole saga. Taking cues from the original series in a similar start, then after Patrick Stewart gives his version of the famous lines, you are hit over the head with the awesome epicness of the theme. Just wow. Powerful, bold, in your face. The only better version of this theme is the full version in Star Trek The Motion Picture (one of the actual positive points about that movie). This theme is my favorite, and the Next Generation is my favorite series. This is the peak of Star Trek here, taking what was started in the original series, and improving upon it in nearly every way.





Star Trek - Deep Space 9 - Dennis McCarthy - 3.5/5

Eh...this series was the start of the fall for Trek in alot of ways. Nothing more than a Trekerized version of Babylon 5, the theme deviated from the usual greatness of the themes, much like the premise of DS9 as well, a station instead of a ship traveling into the unknown, though they try to fix that some later. The theme is good, but it just doesn't seem like Star Trek to me. I enjoy the theme alot, but it's just not what I would come to expect from Star Trek.






Star Trek - Voyager - Jerry Goldsmith - 4/5

This theme, and the show itself, gets back to a more Star Trek feel to it. While Voyager was a rather average show and really, in the end, forgettable, but the good part is, the theme is good. It has that mysterious feeling that DS9's lacked, and have a more sweeping feel to it than the epic bold nature of TOS and TNG's themes. But I really liked it. It's relaxing and very enjoyable.





Star Trek - Enterprise - composed by Diane Warren, vocals by Russell Watson - 1/5

UGH! UGH! UGH! What did they do!? This theme is as far anything I've ever thought a Star Trek song should be (and that's counting Uhura's naked fan dance in Star Trek V!). This song evokes nothing of Star Trek, much like alot of Enterprise itself. This theme was a major let down and just sucked. There are a couple of episodes of the 'mirror' universe where they get a new theme, and those have a better Trek feel than this song, which suuucks! Enterprise in about every way was a major let down. It tried to re energize Trek and failed on all accounts. The final season, if I recall, a new guy was put in charge and the series started to get a little better, but alas, the ship was lost, and already going under, and nothing could save this series. If they make a new series in the future, I pray they have a proper theme and score to make Trek feel like Trek once again.


That's my take on the TV series of the Star Trek saga. For the most part, the series started out with great scores, fitting and well done, but as each new series came out, the music became forgettable and bland. The one saving grace in the newer series was Voyager's theme, as average as the show was, the theme was good.

But if I'm going to pick a theme to point to as the best Trek has to offer, it's TNG's theme. Listen to it, love it, this I command! :D