Doctor Who (Season 4)
Murray Gold
" Season 4 is not as good as what came before it "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Considering the success of the shows and Cd's, another season of Doctor Who couldn't fall behind. Murray Gold is now one of those beloved names you seek for when soundtrack titles are acknowledged. It is fair to say his success led to the Torchwood CD. But nothing stands as beloved as his music for the Doctor himself. In Season 4, we were willing to love it again.
Strangely absent in the Season 3 soundtrack, the main theme performance opens and closes this album here in a lightly beefed up version. Yet, it is not what I came for. I came for the toying of ideas in such a developing way. And here is where Season 4 is different from 3. The playful and thundering development is still here, but the brassy form is but partly present, and the playful build up is more absent than not.
However the upbeat playful "A Noble Girl About Town" is still pleasant, the emotional "Life among the Distant Stars" lovely, "Corridors and Fire Escape" propulsive in the Gold manner (yet too short) and "Song of Captivity and Freedom" captivating.
But where Season 3 started with a roller coaster, Season 4 needs a bit of warming up. It is all simply wonderful and fetching material, but the quality of the first CD is more and more missing, while the build up of Season 3 doesn't receive the time to equate it.
Several tracks do show already presented material, like "The Doctor's Daughter" while the jazzy "The Unicorn and the Wasp" show Gold's versatility at work. Luckily the wait finally pays off. That enchanting material that revokes back the quality of the first 2 Cd's is now showing its wonderful appeal in the choral "The Doctor's Theme Season 4" and the large first part of the mammoth "Voyage of the Damned Suite".
The James Bond like explosion in "The Song of Song" is powerful but not everlasting. And so we go from the awkward serenade "All in the Mind" to the masterful "The Greatest Story Never Told", which is all about glorious orchestral and choral writing. The mysterious vocal effect in "Turn Left", the John Murphy inspired "A Dazzling End", the change in tone during "Davros", the return to form with the choral battle of "The Dark and Endless Dalek Night" and the orchestral fight of "A Pressing Need to Save the World", it is sometimes all a bit hit and miss. The choral send off in "Song of Freedom" is a nice finish though.
Doctor Who Season 4 is a perfect example of Gold's thundering magical style mixed with various eclectic, upbeat ideas. It forms a somewhat disjointed album, if you consider the sheer massive potential which the previous 2 promised the listener in both material and listening experience. I'm not saying Doctor Who Season 4 is bad. I'm saying Season 4 is not as good as what came before it.
Tracklisting
1. Doctor Who Season 4 Opening Credits (0.45)
2. A Noble Girl About Town (2.12)
3. Life Among the Distant Stars (2.28)
4. Corridors and Fire Escape (1.13)
5. The Sybilline Sisterhood (1.53)
6. Song of Captivity and Freedom (4.03)
7. UNIT Rocks (1.11)
8. The Doctor's Daughter (1.37)
9. The Source (3.20)
10. The Unicorn and the Wasp (3.09)
11. The Doctor's Theme Season 4 (2.45) Excellent track
12. Voyage of the Damned Suite (10.21) Excellent track
13. The Girl with no Name (2.45)
14. The Song of Song (2.13)
15. All in the Mind (1.16)
16. Silence in the Library (2.56)
17. The Greatest Story Never Told (6.16) Excellent track
18. Midnight (3.07)
19. Turn Left (2.21)
20. A Dazzling End (2.14)
21. The Rueful Fate of Donna Noble (2.44)
22. Davros (2.03)
23. The Dark and Endless Dalek Night (3.43) Excellent track
24. A Pressing Need to Save the World (4.50) Excellent track
25. Hanging on the Tablaphone (1.04)
26. Song of Freedom (2.51)
27. Doctor Who Season 4 Closing Credits (1.07)
Total Length: 76.40
Strangely absent in the Season 3 soundtrack, the main theme performance opens and closes this album here in a lightly beefed up version. Yet, it is not what I came for. I came for the toying of ideas in such a developing way. And here is where Season 4 is different from 3. The playful and thundering development is still here, but the brassy form is but partly present, and the playful build up is more absent than not.
However the upbeat playful "A Noble Girl About Town" is still pleasant, the emotional "Life among the Distant Stars" lovely, "Corridors and Fire Escape" propulsive in the Gold manner (yet too short) and "Song of Captivity and Freedom" captivating.
But where Season 3 started with a roller coaster, Season 4 needs a bit of warming up. It is all simply wonderful and fetching material, but the quality of the first CD is more and more missing, while the build up of Season 3 doesn't receive the time to equate it.
Several tracks do show already presented material, like "The Doctor's Daughter" while the jazzy "The Unicorn and the Wasp" show Gold's versatility at work. Luckily the wait finally pays off. That enchanting material that revokes back the quality of the first 2 Cd's is now showing its wonderful appeal in the choral "The Doctor's Theme Season 4" and the large first part of the mammoth "Voyage of the Damned Suite".
The James Bond like explosion in "The Song of Song" is powerful but not everlasting. And so we go from the awkward serenade "All in the Mind" to the masterful "The Greatest Story Never Told", which is all about glorious orchestral and choral writing. The mysterious vocal effect in "Turn Left", the John Murphy inspired "A Dazzling End", the change in tone during "Davros", the return to form with the choral battle of "The Dark and Endless Dalek Night" and the orchestral fight of "A Pressing Need to Save the World", it is sometimes all a bit hit and miss. The choral send off in "Song of Freedom" is a nice finish though.
Doctor Who Season 4 is a perfect example of Gold's thundering magical style mixed with various eclectic, upbeat ideas. It forms a somewhat disjointed album, if you consider the sheer massive potential which the previous 2 promised the listener in both material and listening experience. I'm not saying Doctor Who Season 4 is bad. I'm saying Season 4 is not as good as what came before it.
Tracklisting
1. Doctor Who Season 4 Opening Credits (0.45)
2. A Noble Girl About Town (2.12)
3. Life Among the Distant Stars (2.28)
4. Corridors and Fire Escape (1.13)
5. The Sybilline Sisterhood (1.53)
6. Song of Captivity and Freedom (4.03)
7. UNIT Rocks (1.11)
8. The Doctor's Daughter (1.37)
9. The Source (3.20)
10. The Unicorn and the Wasp (3.09)
11. The Doctor's Theme Season 4 (2.45) Excellent track
12. Voyage of the Damned Suite (10.21) Excellent track
13. The Girl with no Name (2.45)
14. The Song of Song (2.13)
15. All in the Mind (1.16)
16. Silence in the Library (2.56)
17. The Greatest Story Never Told (6.16) Excellent track
18. Midnight (3.07)
19. Turn Left (2.21)
20. A Dazzling End (2.14)
21. The Rueful Fate of Donna Noble (2.44)
22. Davros (2.03)
23. The Dark and Endless Dalek Night (3.43) Excellent track
24. A Pressing Need to Save the World (4.50) Excellent track
25. Hanging on the Tablaphone (1.04)
26. Song of Freedom (2.51)
27. Doctor Who Season 4 Closing Credits (1.07)
Total Length: 76.40