Star Trek: The Cage & Where No Man Has Gone Before

The music on this album does not really translate all that well to just sitting down and listening. For the Trekkie in you, it may just be the prescription the doctor ordered, though. It definitely features a lot of music that is not found in many episodes of the series or on CD. A lot of it seems to show a wider emotional palate that much of the later soundtrack music featured in Trekdom -- witness the third track ("Survivors") for a quick example. One of the problems with the CD, however, is that the liner notes do not list the names of the tracks at all. The back cover goes into great detail about how the album came about, the fact that the original master tapes were used, and the credentials of the composer, Alexander Courage. The booklet features quite a few pictures from the show, but nowhere, other than printed on the CD itself, do you find the track listing. The only other complaint is that when they converted the tapes to digital, it would have been nice if they had bumped the volume up a little, as it is mixed way too low. However, other than the lack of proper documentation and the need to turn your volume knob up, this is a good disc. It is also one of the few examples of Alexander Courage's music in the world of Star Trek. His compositions are unique and of great merit, making this one a good disc to have. ~ Gary Hill