GNP Releases Star Trek: First Contact Complete Score [UPDATED]

The series of extended and complete Star Trek soundtrack releases continues with a brand new issue from GNP Crescendo of Jerry Goldsmith’s score of Star Trek: First Contact. The brand new CD which includes the complete soundtrack, plus bonus alternative tracks, is available right now. UPDATE: Added exclusive images of CD artwork.

 

GNP Releases Star Trek: First Contact Complete Score

official announcement

Now available! Star Trek: First Contact Complete Motion Picture Score

April 2nd 2012 —GNP Crescendo Records, longtime home of new and classic Star Trek soundtracks, releases a long-sought limited-edition collector’s CD of Star Trek: First Contact (1996) featuring the complete score by Jerry Goldsmith (with additional music by Joel Goldsmith), newly remastered by recording engineer Bruce Botnick. Star Trek: First Contact (1996) was the most popular feature film starring the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation. When the Borg travel through time into Earth’s past, Picard and his crew must prevent them from altering a pivotal moment in human history—mankind’s “first contact” with an alien race (the peaceful Vulcans).

First Contact marked the much-anticipated return of beloved composer Jerry Goldsmith to the franchise. Goldsmith’s march from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (reused as the main title theme for The Next Generation) is instantly identifiable, and Goldsmith’s extraordinary gift for melody, thrilling orchestration and musical storytelling has made him the signature composer for Gene Roddenberry’s vision.

For First Contact, schedule constraints led Goldsmith to recruit another composer to write additional music—his son Joel. The resulting score by both men combines exciting themes from Goldsmith’s previous efforts with vital new material, including a “first contact” theme (nobly sounded by French horn) and an ominous motive for the Borg.

GNP Crescendo released the original soundtrack album to Star Trek: First Contact in 1996, featuring 45 minutes of score highlights. Since then, fans have clamored for both Goldsmiths’ complete work—particularly the thrilling “Flight of the Phoenix.” This expanded release (nearly 80 minutes) presents exactly that—including three alternate tracks—in sterling sound quality, mastered by Jerry Goldsmith’s longtime recording engineer, Bruce Botnick.

The accompanying 16-page booklet includes informative notes by Jeff Bond and John Takis and is lavishly illustrated with film stills. Star Trek: First Contact—Complete Motion Picture Score (GNPD 8079) is available solely as a physical CD from GNP Crescendo Records ($19.98 at gnpcrescendo.com).


First Contact Complete Score – Front Cover

Track Listing

Running time 79:13

1. Main Title/Locutus
2. How Many Ships
3. Battle Watch
4. Red Alert
5. Temporal Wake
6. Shields Down
7. The Phoenix
8. They’re Here
9. 39.1 Degrees Celsius
10. Search for the Borg
11. Retreat
12. No Success
13. Borg Montage
14. Welcome Aboard
15. Stimulation
16. Smorgasborg
17. Getting Ready
18. Fully Functional
19. The Dish
20. Objection Noted
21. Not Again
22. Evacuate
23. New Orders/All the Time
24. Flight of the Phoenix
25. First Contact
26. End Credits

Bonus Tracks

27. The Phoenix [alternate]
28. Borg Montage [alternate]
29. Main Title [alternate]

UPDATE: More images

GNP has provided TrekMovie with more artwork from the new score.


First Contact Complete Score – Back Cover


First Contact Complete Score – CD art



First Contact Complete Score – Sample pages from booklet

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My favorite score of any ST movie! My friend walked down the aisle to the First Contact main theme. I cried my eyes out!

We’re really being spoiled with all of these new soundtrack releases. I love this soundtrack and have mine on order now.

Great news! First Contact is my least favorite TNG film because, among many other problems, the characterization is entirely wrong, especially Jean Luc Picard who acts atypical through the entire film. However, it is a great soundtrack with beautiful cues. This a great tribute to Jerry Goldsmith!

I have the original soundtrack and only recently realized there was also a bunch of video interviews on the disc.

Really stunning music.

Goldsmith was my favorite of the Star Trek composers. I wonder if he was still with us, would Abrams had used him in Star Trek (2009). James Horner is a close second, but Goldsmith just seemed to capture the whole science fiction genre perfectly. And I always liked Goldsmith’s use of unusual instruments and cues. For First Contact, I loved his music for the Borg. It made those scenes that much more creepy.

I remember a lot of critics who panned Star Trek V: The Final Frontier noted the music score by Goldsmith was one of the few highlights of that film.

Already having the original release of the soundtrack, I’d be skeptical. Having said that, I picked up the extended STIV:TUC soundtrack to replace the older one I lost, and haven’t looked back!

Loving all the extended soundtracks.

And I keep hoping the sales will drive a project to re-record the full scores for both “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. The CD is great but the recording is lousy, so to speak.

So… no ‘Ooby Dooby’ or ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ on this CD? That’s fine, though it kind of means that this won’t be a complete soundtrack. A complete *score*, sure, just not a complete *soundtrack*. :)

@ #6 Michael Giacchino is Abrams composer of choice, so it’s unlikely Golsmith would have been used were he still alive. Personally, I couldn’t imagine Star Trek XI with a different score. It’s easily in my top three of the 11 soundtracks (the other two being Khan and First Contact).

One of the best Star Trek scores.

This tells me that Paramount is doing more than the TOS films, and is doing all 10 scores complete.

This CD should also give Joel Goldsmith, who wrote many cues with his father Jerry’s material due to time and scheduling constraints, will get his due.

“The Flight of the Phoenix” and “Evacuation”. Nice !!!

@7
Hmm, let’s see.

ALL of the music, or SOME of the music.

Gee, I don’t know, what a tough decision. :p

#3 John- THANK YOU!! Given how most gush over this film, I thought my wife and I were the only ones to note its many flaws, plot holes, and out-of-character acting.
The score, however, is not one of my favs of Goldsmith’s. Actually, I prefer Insurrection’s (And of course TMP’s.)
And FC’s main theme sounds like a commencement march.
I have a FC “collector’s edition” bootleg with 25 tracks- quality is outstanding, but this release has more.

For the love of GOD, get onto TOS already… you’re skipping the best part of Trek music.

#13 Hello Dr. Image. Agreed! I am one to love almost anything Star Trek, but I can’t get on the First Contact bandwagon. There is much to like, such as the score or special effects. However, the creation of the Borg Queen and the out of character Picard and Worf moments are some of the major problems with the film. In fact, Picard is almost unrecognizable as a character in the film. It is okay for characters to grow and change organically. I am not certain, however, that Picard’s behavior qualifies as anything more than the character being rewritten to fit the narrative. I appreciate fellow fans who like this film. There isn’t much with the “A” story that is in the spirit of Star Trek, however. The “B” planet side story is somewhat better, however it really is the worst of the TNG films in my opinion.

Oh gee, you know, the reason why Picard was acting out of character was because he wanted revenge……for what the Borg did to him in “Best Of Both Worlds”. It actually made a lot of sense. And it was a nice change from the “humans are perfect” non-sense that Gene Roddenberry insisted during the early years of TNG.

#3 and #13.

I happen to disagree with you on the quality of the film, because there are usually plot holes of some sort in Trek movies.

Btw, I just ordered this soundtrack. I have the original, and love it!

Cool! My favorite TNG movie score, by far!

Don’t forget GEN’s soundtrack. Excellent. Better than the movie deserved! Main Title, Deck 15, The Nexus/A Christmas Hug, Jumping the Ravine, Kirk’s Death, To Live Forever… Just great!

^I’m sure they’ll get to the Generations score eventually.

I’m looking forward to the quiet mysterious music that plays when the Enterprise-B first encounters the Nexus. And the whole thing could use a good remastering. :-)

YES! Must have for me.
My favorite Star Trek movie and one of the best Trek scores…

#15

First Contact the worst TNG film? Worse than Nemesis?
Wow…

Jerry Goldsmith was a genius. “The Motion Picture” and “First Contact” are by far my favorite Trek scores. The “Overture” for TMP is the most beautiful piece written for Star Trek, in my opinion. I hope the “Main Title” alternate” gives us the First Contact main theme without the extended “Locutus” bit, which takes away from it, I think. Some of the shorter bits from FC were great too, especially “Evacuate”.

I loved James Horner’s TWOK score, but then I learned it was extremely reminiscent of his “Battle Beyond the Stars”, so I’ve downgraded it some since then.

I’ve never been a fan of Dennis McCarthy, whose music I think is an excellent cure for insomnia, but I do like “The Enterprise-B/Kirk Saves the Day” from Generations.

I always felt that the Borg just really knew how to push Picard’s buttons, really get under his skin. Also thought the Borg Queen was a great villain. Alice Krige did a great job blending sensuality with creepy.

I’ve gotten over plot holes in Trek a long time ago. Hard to enjoy any of it otherwise.

Nemesis was really not that bad to me, just not spectacular. Probably better than Insurrection.

3., I still consider FC the second-best Trek film, after TWOK. Sure it has plot holes… show me a sci-fi adventure movie that doesn’t. Picard’s characterization was deliberate, he was under extreme psychological distress because of his experience as Locutus and being able to “hear the Borg”. That’s what makes Goldsmith’s haunting score so perfect.

Added more artwork from the set.

And yes ST FC is IMHO (also expressed on the Blu-ray commentary that I did) the best of the TNG films. Tenuto and I have agreed to disagree on this point.

#25 And Tenuto respects that fellow fans disagree with good reason with him! After all, Tenuto likes Star Trek V and Insurrection!

Pascale can find something to like in any Trek, including STV and INS…but they are at the bottom of Pascale’s list.

wait how did you get me to talk in 3rd person?

I ordered the cd since I have all of the expanded scores, but I am a little nervous. I hope we aren’t going to see another “Expanded” First Contact Score from Lala land records or Intrada a year from now. Or is that not possible? Im not sure how the publishing rights work.

Goldsmith is one of my favorite composers. Added a lot of emotion to First Contact. FC is my favorite Next Gen film. The score is the best “character” in FC. I can’t wait for the Generations ST to be re-released.

Twitter Trekmoviecom said:

“GNP made the disk art look like Borg cube”

The correct term in Borg Sphere. Now the First Contact album that was released years ago? THAT took the details from the borg cube.

Ordered! – Oh and please Jesus don’t let them have skipped over Generations… I’ve been wanting a complete version of the score since the movie came out.

22–Horner also used one of the cues from TMP in his scores (the heavy bass used for V’Ger was used by Horner in a few places).

Don’t get me wrong, Horner was great too. A lot of what he did was based on feedback from Nicholas Meyer. Goldsmiths music just had an other-worldly quality that for me fit well with Star Trek. I’m a big fan of Goldsmith’s other scores as well (Alien, Planet of the Apes, Poltergeist also had excellent scores, among so many others).

27–Taking lessens from Mongo.

First Contact is the best of TNG films for me as well. I loved the Borg as a villain, which probably colored by opinion a bit. My second would be Nemesis. To this day, I don’t understand the hate on Nemesis. Not saying it was the best, it had it’s faults, but I thought it was a decent enough film.

no ooby dooby or magic carpet ride?
/sadpanda

#22: “The “Overture” for TMP is the most beautiful piece written for Star Trek, in my opinion.”

i agree; it still gives me chills when i listen to it. that score is in my all-time top 10.

my top three favorite trek scores:
star trek: tmp
star trek ii
star trek

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY THAT DOESN’T EXIST YET.

Also, I like First Contact. The plotholes are great, and its a mindless borg shoot-em-up. Picard acts odd, but I still like it.

I like Insurrection.

That’s all.

#27 Pascale list is good. Tenuto list is good. Why we speak like guys from “Omega Glory”?

@35
“The “Overture” for TMP is the most beautiful piece written for Star Trek, in my opinion.”

i agree; it still gives me chills when i listen to it. that score is in my all-time top 10.

I have to disagree – it’s comfortably in my all time TOP ONE!!

The blaster beam is an instrument, not a “cue”–Horner did not reuse any of Goldsmith’s music in his Trek cores. And no label’s going to put out an “expanded” First Contact down the line; there’ s nothing left to expand–this is all the music. The songs are not part of the score and are readily available elsewhere.

Really want to get my hands on this but already got a copy of the expanded bootleg edition and although the track names are different, thinking they might be the same.

Is there any difference overall?

24

First Contact is still one of the best Trek films. Hey the plot holes dont stick out like they do in the Abrams film though.

If anyone wants the full Generations score, I’ll give you a tip : go to Dennis McCarthy’s house and sit on a keyboard for 2 hours.

Honestly, the soundtrack was almost as comatose as the writing in that movie. Very occasionally it rose from ‘almost tuneful tinnitus’ to ‘dull award ceremony music’.

The bootleg has some things this doesn’t, a couple raw live tracks with chatter from Goldsmith and the orchestra before and after takes and the theme played live without any enhancement, but the whole thing is low bitrate mp3 and I’m buying this proper CD edition for the quality. I’ll only keep bootleg tracks that aren’t in this.

Hmm. First Contact is by far the best of the TNG films. I could watch it over and over, but I do understand Tenuto’s criticisms. Picard is really, really out of character. Also, the Borg Queen really diminished the Borg’s “cool factor” by giving it a central leader. The collective hive-mind was the coolest thing about the Borg from TNG, having a central figure-head or leader just killed that part of it. The Borg Queen herself, though, is freaky and makes for an interesting villain, but I chalk it up to lazy writing. I don’t blame Braga or Moore, though, since I don’t think she was their idea. It was either Berman or some studio exec that was like “ya gotta have a face for the villain!” or some other stupid thing.

Other than that, cool movie with some great lines: “The line must be drawn here! I will make them pay for what they’ve done!”…..”Assimilate this!”

@40

Thank you Jeff. Almost had a FSM-moment coming up.

43

I liked the music for Generations personally. Love The Nexus?Christmas Hug when Picard is with his ‘family’ in the Nexus, the one he wanted.

I love the battle music when the Duras sisters attack the Enterprise D.

Decided to order the First Contact Expanded CD after all. I had a copy of the bootleg but I have to say it does sound very low on my ipod compared to the original 1996 release. And the fact that it is limited hooks me to the purchase as well as the fact that it is still one of my all time fav Trek movies.

@15

I believe they were trying to show the deep emotional scars that Picard suffered due to the borg. Being around true borg for the first time since he was assimilated would be very unnerving and make anyone crazy. When i say true borg I meen not the lore gang of borg.

So is Expanded Generations on its way as well or did I miss it?

@49: “So is Expanded Generations on its way as well or did I miss it?”

We didn’t miss it, but whether it’s on it’s way or not most likely depends on how this one sells. Lots of good pieces missing from the original album, and having the film edits of the Enterprise crashing would be a cool addition. Kind of like having the film edit of Battle for Peace in Intrada’s The Undiscovered Country soundtrack that was recently released.