Like its various galaxy-hopping protagonists, Star Trek has undergone a remarkable journey in its 30-year history, rising from canceled 1960s television ratings casualty to become one of the most successful and long-running franchises in history. A key to its success--and crucial human dimensions--has been the symphonic music of some of Hollywood's brightest film-scoring talents. Using Alexander Courage's venerable original theme as a starting point, those musicians (represented here by Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Leonard Rosenman, Jerry Fielding, Cliff Edelman, and Dennis McCarthy) have performed the musical equivalent of alchemy, both keeping a tradition alive and imbuing the films and television series with an ever-expanding vocabulary of wonder and emotional resonance. This CD captures the prime of that musical essence, from Courage's original theme, through Fielding's humorous Tribble-hunt, to the new thematic dimensions of Goldsmith and McCarthy. And fear not, Next Generation fans, the title's absence here does not equate to a musical shortcoming. Its theme is represented by Goldsmith's work on the first film adaptation, whence it came. --Jerry McCulley

2007-09-29 -- 4/5:: great star trek compilation
Very good performances by various orchestras. There are A LOT of star trek themes in this CD so it may be a little overwhelming to play this CD from start to finish. Tracks #2, #9, and #11 are my favorite. Jerry Goldsmith just does a fantastic job on Star Trek arrangements in general. #9 by Frederic Talgorn is probably the most unique of all the arrangements on the theme and I happened to like his the best. Very nice chord progressions with the high woodwinds and lower strings providing a good pulse to the piece. His ability to interweave the star trek theme towards the end of the piece was also expertly handled. The speed and general pacing of this piece is much faster than the original recording that is played in the end credits of "Generations." I happen to like this version much better.

2007-04-11 -- 5/5:: A very good collection of remade classics from many star trek movies
I really like this cd, it has many of the tracks you've heard from all of the classics. They all sound good and are very well made. Overall a great cd

2005-10-02 -- 3/5:: The Ultimate Star Trek
This compilation cd has chosen some of my most favorite cuts from the movies and tv shows. But because it is a compilation, it lacks the transition you would find in a sound track between cuts.

2005-08-17 -- 5/5:: This Is The Ultimate
I've been a hardcore fan of Trek for a while, but sadly, this is the only album of Trek I have. This album is for you people that are in my shoes. If I never get another Trek album again, I'm very satisfied with this.

On this record, you get the best of the movie scores. When you put this into your CD player, you will automatically remember these tunes. Not only are the movie tracks here, but all of the themes (besides Enterprise) are here. Which is a sweet addition.

True, these tracks can be found on the other soundtracks, but if you want the best of those soundtracks, you've found it in here. And like I said, if you don't have any other Trek album and your looking for one, this is the best to get.

2005-06-14 -- 5/5:: nice compilation
I love the re-recordings of the star trek themes, Telarc released one of Erich Kunzel and the Cincinatti Pops in 1996, Varese Sarabande released this one in 2000 and Silva America released "The Star Trek Album" in 2003. They are all great, and they all rival the OST. And in some cases are superior. This album: all of hte jerry goldsmith tracks are available on Varese's Goldsmith "Frontiers" album. The 2 steiner tracks are on Star Trek Volume 2 from the 80s when they re-recorded TOS episode suites. Everything else is new. The tracks by the seattle symphony orchestra conducted by cliff eidelman (who composed star trek 6's score) are great.

recommended.