With the demise of Galactica, it was inevitable that built on that show's success a new show would be commissioned. As Galactica had so thoroughly finished the story of the colonies of man, it was to Galactica’s past that the program makers looked and created Caprica. The show was short lived. In their desire to widen their audience, rather than create the militaristic show which was popularly anticipated, the show went even further back to the time of the Cylons initial creation and told the story of two families: the Graystones and the Adamas.

In a time when religious fundamentalism was on the rise Daniel Graystone loses his daughter in a train bombing, even though he is on the cusp of creating viable artificial life, the Cylons. Discovering that a copy of her exists in virtual reality Daniel turns all his money and ingenuity in bringing her back. This would lead him to deal with the Caprican underworld and a meeting with Adama.

Oddly enough co-creator Ronald D. Moore did not want Bear McCreary to score the new show, this was to be a completely different experience, although many fans felt that Moore had created a glorified soap opera and much of the fan base melted away before we even got to really see the Cylons.

That McCreary was eventually given the job of scoring the show was the most sensible idea, as his a score, whilst different in tone, at least had enough elements to join the two shows together.

Galactica’s score was both tribal and martial, whereas Caprica went for a more classical feel; the famous drums do make an appearance but are referenced in passing. Caprica’s score, once again used McCreary’s desire to use unusual instruments to lend a distinctive tonality to the show.

The score had already been released a number of years ago, in a truncated form which only contained eighteen tracks. This new two CD set, from La-La Land contains forty-three tracks, lasting 2:28:40 minutes. The release is restricted to only three thousand units, so fans of the show will have to be pretty quick off the mark to secure a copy.

The full listing is:

Disc 1: Caprica - Season 1

1. Caprica Main Title (0:52)
2. Caprica Abides - Rebirth & Apotheosis (lyrics Jane Espenson, vocals Steve Amerson (2:12)
3. Apotheosis - Apotheosis (6:36)
4. All of This Has Happened - The Imperfections of Memory (music & lyrics Brendan McCreary, performed by Young Beautiful in a Hurry) (5:30)
5. New Cap City - There Is another Sky (5:46)
6. Lacey and the Cylon - Rebirth (2:47)
7. Vergis' Dream - Know Thy Enemy (2:35)
8. Pact of Brothers - Dirteaters (1:52)
9. Grieving (Alternate Version) - Pilot (1:36)
10. Control and Power - Rebirth (2:54)
11. Caprica Buccaneers Theme - Rebirth (0:35)
12. Burlesque (Remixed by Jonathan Snipes) - Ghosts in the Machine (3:36)
13. Amanda's Forgiveness - False Labor (4:23)
14. Barnabus - Retribution (1:48)
15. Cerberus Dance (Demo) - Ghosts in the Machine (3:52)
16. Through the Paces - Ghosts in the Machine (0:52)
17. Lacey's Test - Blowback (4:49)
18. Clarice Willow - Rebirth / Reins of a Waterfall / Gravedancing (3:24)
19. Tauron Ceremony Song (Piano Sketch) - There Is Another Sky (2:06)
20. Lacey and Zoe (Expanded Version) - Pilot (4:41)
21. Capricoperatica - End of Line (lyrics Laura Kalpakian, vocals Elissa Johnston & Alessandro Juliani) (8:42)

Disc 2:

1. Caprica Abides (Instrumental Version) - Rebirth & Apotheosis (2:13)
2. The Differently Sentient - Apotheosis (4:39)
3. Amanda's Epiphany - Rebirth (5:20)
4. Rites of Passage - There Is another Sky (4:37)
5. New Cap City Theme (Demo) (1:51)
6. Voices of the Dead (vocals Brendan McCreary) - Reins of a Waterfall (2:36)
7. The Dive Bar - Rebirth (1:07)
8. The Cylon Whisperer - The Heavens Will Rise / Here Be Dragons (4:20)
9. Daniel Captures the Code (Expanded Version) - Pilot (3:28)
10. Dirteaters - Dirteaters (6:30)
11. Healing Wounds - Reins of a Waterfall (4:05)
12. Gemenon - Unvanquished (3:38)
13. I Am a Man (music & lyrics: Brendan McCreary, performed by Young Beautiful in a Hurry) – Grave dancing (4:11)
14. Was Love (music & lyrics: Jonathan Snipes, performed by Captain Ahab) – Grave dancing (4:05)
15. Tamara Kills - There Is another Sky (2:04)
16. Here Be Dragons - Here Be Dragons (2:03)
17. A Tauron Sacrifice (Expanded Version) - Pilot (3:30)
18. Waltz for Zoe - Unvanquished (2:53)
19. Death of the Guatrau - Apotheosis (2:27)
20. Tauron Ceremony Song (vocals Raya Yarbrough) - There Is another Sky (2:58)
21. Graystone Plays Nomion Variations (includes "Exploration" by Stu Phillips) - Rebirth (3:02)
22. Caprica Theme (Sketch) (2:26)

Like all McCreary soundtrack the music works just as well without the visuals, although the Caprican anthem is more than a little cheesy, the rest of the other songs hold up well. The CD comes with an informative booklet, which, for once is worth a read.

There was one real oddity in the way it was delivered for review. It’s not unusual to get soundtracks as internet downloads, the booklet arriving as a PDF. What was strange about this was that each CD unpacked to just two files, one for each CD, meaning it was impossible to select individual tracks. I don’t know if the final CD does this, I can’t see why it should, the music hasn’t been rejigged to act as a coherent symphony. If the final CD does this then I feel it’s a mistake to deny listeners the ability to skip to their favourite tracks.

So, what we have is another superb McCreary score which mixes world music and unusual instruments to create a distinctive sound for the show.

9

Charles Packer