Enterprise Dennis McCarthy

All right, I'll admit it. There's two pieces on this album that stand out to me. The first is the polarizing theme song "Where My Heart Will Take Me." Some folks love it, some folks hate it. Me, personally? I really like it, as my wife and I have co-opted it as something of a family theme song as our recently realized quest to become adoptive parents was "A long road, gettin' from there to here." BUT - sentimentality aside...The music from the pilot episode that really catches me aside from the Russell Watson song is the the piece titled "Archer's Theme." This was used over the closing credits in the show, and quite frequently during episodes, usually during a scene showing Enterprise doing something majestic. Many fans have said this piece should have been the theme music for the series, and I can agree that it would have been a good mood-setter for what Enterprise was intended to be. It seems to conjure mental images of optimism and exploration for me - I've been tempted to use it for the Trek gaming our group tends to do from time to time.I initially wanted to click five stars, but what held me back was that I realized that while I love the tracks that include "Archer's Theme", especially the first flight of Enterprise, and of course WMHWTM, the remainder of the album is solid, standard Trek faire. Not terrible, not overly memorable. Dennis McCarthy has composed some of the best TV episode music for the Trek franchise, but unlike some of the more classic John Williams soundtracks his work has individual standout tracks, and some that fade from memory. This isn't a bad thing - not every composition can be start-to-finish smashing, like the soundtracks from Raiders, E.T., Close Encounters, JAWS, Star Wars... Perhaps I'm being too critical as a television soundtrack is composed and utilized under different parameters. But still, a solid four stars, this is the second time I've purchased this album. That should say something... (I hope that something isn't that I should have kept better track of my CDs...)

The music on this CD is everything it promises to be on the track listing. I don't especially care for the full version of "Where My Heart Will Take Me," but that's mainly because it's not the familiar version heard at the start of the show. Fortunately, the TV version is also present. The music is pretty much on par with other Star Trek TV show albums. "Where My Heart Will Take Me" (both versions) and "Archer's Theme) are the only ones that I think stand out; the others are nice background music but don't feel especially significant.The "Enhanced CD" feature is especially disappointing though. The user interface is really cheesy. They tried to make it look and sound futuristic but it's almost cumbersome, and the computer's voice is inappropriate since there was no talking computer on the show. The features included in the "Enhanced CD" include a music video of Russel Watson performing "Where My Heart Will Take Me" live on stage somewhere. If you're a fan of his I guess you can appreciate that, but I didn't feel like watching him walk around in a black coat while singing added anything to the music. Character biographies are also present on the CD, but these include a very brief description of each of the characters in out-of-universe point of view, and the rest is biographies for the actors. The character bios read like a press release and were probably copied and pasted from a promotion somewhere, and they seem to have been written before the show had even started because they talk about "UPN's upcoming series." You can do without these features and you won't miss out on anything worthwhile.

I bought it hoping for some good music, I wasn't disappointed. All but one of the selections were composed by Dennis McCarthy and are really not too bad. I found that for me at least most of the tunes would be better if accompanied by the scenes for which they were written. I can't remember any scene being over eight minutes long yet #11 Temporal Battle is 5 seconds over that length, surely much of that one must've been edited out.Some people cannot stand Russell Watson's "Where my heart will take me" as a theme song, I like the edited down TV version perhaps the best of anything on the CD.The enhanced features play just fine on my 4 year old Win 98 computer although I was disappointed that Watson's performance was of a live concert and not the Enterprise opening sequence itself (beware of this if that is the reason you're buying this CD)The cast bio's were interesting, I learned a little from them.

As a long time fan of Star Trek, I patiently waited for Enterprise, the "new" Star Trek series to begin. I was pleasantly surprised. The new theme song delivers, for this fan, a new sense of wonder to the Star Trek world. I am inspired by this 15 track CD. From Russell Watson's compelling "Where My Heart Will Take Me" to the thunderous "Archer's Theme," I am thoroughly delighted.It should be noted that the music was recorded on September 10 and 11, 2001. September 11 is a date no American is likely to forget. In noting that date, the entire genre of Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry's vision can be summarized in one word: Hope. Hope for the future, hope for our children and future generations. The music on the CD may not be our "Savior" but it stands for the spirit of hope that no event, however horrible, could ever dim.The music on this CD is truly inspiring to this Star Trek fan! Thanks to the musicians who worked that fateful day, I believe you've created a masterpiece!

I loved Enterprise, while others hated it. Sure, with Season IV it really started to get good and we had the future Romulan War stolen from us with cancelation....but here are the melodies, sounds that allow you to dream that Archer and the NX 01 Enterprise didn't stop their exploration and continued with the birth of the federation

Brings back memories of my son singing the title track when on TV.

The TV series may have had its critics, but Dennis McCarthy's music Wong as it beautiful, and don't just skip to the theme tunes or space battle stuff, every track is a winner.

A brilliant CD for Trekkies everywhere - old and young at heart. Very enjoyable. Recommended for all. Really great tracks.

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