Thoughts on Bear's Season 4 soundtrack (my Amazon / iTunes review posted here)

As a composer myself, I am consistently in awe with the work Bear is doing. He has had considerable influence on my own writing, and I believe on scoring for film/TV in general. On a (relatively) shoe string budget Bear is writing/producing scores that rival the best work of Zimmer in terms of production quality, and exceed much of it in terms of musical content. The Season 4 score is no exception; production quality is stellar, and the musical territory covered continues to break new and inspiring ground.

I don't want to repeat the praise already flung at Bear from other reviews but raise a few more points. First, I've noticed a few comparisons to John Williams' Star Wars score - some are saying they are on par with eachother, some are saying Bear has "exceeded" Williams' work. This is ultimately an unfair comparison between what is essentially apples and oranges; BSG and Star Wars represent two distinct visions and approaches to Sci-Fi, with very little in common with eachother. Williams and McCreary's approaches are equally distinct. Therefore, the scores by Williams and McCreary ought not to be butted up against one another to determine which is "better," but held in equal regard as examples of high achievement in different areas of the genre.

The other point I wanted to make is basically a "thank you" to the producers of Galactica for "allowing" this music to be written. There seems to be a sense that McCreary is the only composer who ever wanted to take musical risks with a series or film, and I feel this perception discredits composers who simply weren't given the opportunity to let their talent fully show. Most composers do infact get into the business looking to take creative risks and cover new ground, only to have those ideals slowly squeezed out of them with extremely low pay, little to no desire to spend extra money on live musicians, refusal from production companies to work with the musicians union, and a general lack of knowledge/appreciation for the considerable added value a score can add to a production. This is not to say that some folks tried; I happen to know personally that Bear had to fight very hard for many of the creative strides that were made, and credit must be given Bear for having so much integrity and background. But ultimately, composers' work lives or dies at the whims of the producers, and we ultimately owe THEM a huge thank you for giving Bear the freedom to take so many creative risks.