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Published Jun 21, 2023

10 Favorite Star Trek Musical Pieces

For World Music Day, let's look at how music played an intrinsic part of Star Trek's enduring legacy.

StarTrek.com / Rob DeHart

From the first notes of Alexander Courage’s theme for The Original Series up through Michael Giacchino’s soaring scores for the most recent films, and everything in between, music has been an intrinsic part of Star Trek’ s enduring legacy.

Music plays a big part in helping me with my writing. Classical, film scores, and pretty much anything else without actual lyrics, is a candidate for helping me “get in the zone” as I push words. When it comes to writing Star Trek , you might guess that I listen to a lot of music from the different episodes or films, and you’d be right. To be honest, though, it isn’t only a tool for working. I also just simply enjoy it as a fan. I own the scores for all of the feature films, as well as the complete soundtrack collection from The Original Series and a smattering of selections from each of the other television series. I even have a suite of music from The Animated Series . Hey, it’s for work, people.

"The Way to Eden"

StarTrek.com

Naturally, I have my favorite pieces and cues. Doesn’t everybody? I could write for days about the music of Star Trek and how it inspires my writing, or how it’s just something I enjoy listening to during long drives. Given my “Ten for Ward” format, I’d only be scratching the surface so far as compiling a list of music from any of the series or films, so I’m hoping folks will chime in with their own favorites.

Still, I’m going to be cheating a bit here and there, rather than just trying to limit my selections to ten individual pieces of music. This isn’t intended to be a definitive or “best of” list, and I’m not citing each television series’ standard opening or closing music, as those are easy picks, but otherwise? Here’s a list to get the discussion started.

“The Doomsday Machine,"  Star Trek

"The Doomsday Machine"

To tell you the truth, I could fill up several lists just with music from The Original Series before I even thought about moving on to anything else. I forced myself to pick one example, and I think it’s a doozy. How many films of the era wish they could’ve had a musical arrangement as compelling as the one created by composer Sol Kaplan for this fan-favorite episode?

It’s space opera at its finest as Kaplan punctuates the tragedy of Commodore Matt Decker and the torment inflicted upon him by the mammoth automaton that has destroyed his ship, the U.S.S. Constellation . Likewise, the cues servicing the battle between the machine and the Enterprise are first-rate, and the entire score is a high water mark for a series where music was already one of its defining strengths.

“Stealing the Enterprise, ”  Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

James Horner had already hit it out of the park with his score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , and he comports himself well with this follow-up. However, the original release of the third film ’s soundtrack was something of a disservice to him, as it omitted many of the pieces that set this movie’s music apart from the previous film.

The 2010 “Complete Score” release corrects that oversight, even though my favorite cue appeared on the original vinyl album. While borrowing and reworking some elements from his Star Trek II music, Horner still offers an exhilarating piece that highlights the hijacking of the Enterprise from space dock by Admiral Kirk and his command crew.

“Life Is A Dream (End Credits),”  Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

It’s impossible to overstate the importance and lasting appeal of Jerry Goldsmith’s musical contributions to Star Trek . His score for Star Trek: The Motion Picture holds a permanent spot on my personal “Top 10 Film Scores Ever” list.

However, his end theme for the fifth movie is my favorite variation of the end credits theme he created for the first film. There’s a little more pomp and flourish in the now-familiar notes, and Goldsmith does a masterful job weaving other themes from the film, including a new take on his familiar “Klingon” music, as well as Alexander Courage’s iconic “ Star Trek fanfare.”

“Borg Engaged” and “Captain Borg,”  Star Trek: The Next Generation

"The Best of Both Worlds, Part I"

Star Trek: The Next Generation 's third season ending cliffhanger, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I," deserved its own score worthy of the silver screen, and Ron Jones delivers in fine fashion for this episode as well as the next season’s “Part II.”

The ominous image of the massive Borg cube on the Enterprise ’s viewscreen and — later — the shock of seeing Jean-Luc Picard assimilated by the Borg Collective is rammed home by Jones’ haunting themes, which are just two highlights from a superb score written for one of The Next Generation ’s most memorable episodes.

“Sign Off,”  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Kirk bids farewell to Captain Sulu and the Excelsior , before the entire Original Series cast says goodbye to us after 25 years of bold adventures in the final frontier. This moving piece by composer Cliff Eidelman, accompanying Captain Kirk’s final log entry along with William Shatner and the rest of the cast affixing their signatures to the end of the film, perfectly underscores the melancholy felt by so many longtime fans as we realized that “our” Star Trek had finally come to a close.

“Overture,”  Star Trek Generations

Star Trek Generations

Despite its name, this is actually the end credits theme for the first film to feature the cast of The Next Generation . The stirring theme incorporates music from other cues that Dennis McCarthy crafted to give weight to scenes set in the Nexus as well as defining the courage of our heroes, including Captain Kirk’s valiant acts at both ends of the film. Capping off the whole thing is an emotive rendition of the classic “Star Trek fanfare” that acts as a true passing of the baton from one generation to the next.

“Flight of the Phoenix ,” Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: First Contact

The score for Captain Picard and the Enterprise -E’s second film outing is an underrated effort by Jerry Goldsmith, who once again succeeds at combining familiar themes with new pieces that give each Star Trek film its own musical identity.

For this piece, the legendary composer’s son, Joel Goldsmith, brings vitality, hope, and triumph to what in one respect is the “birth” of the Star Trek universe to come as Zefram Cochrane (with the help of Riker and La Forge) pilots the fragile Phoenix spacecraft on humanity’s first warp speed flight.

“Bride of Chaotica,”  Star Trek: Voyager

"Bride of Chaotica!"

David Bell’s unrestrained musical homage to Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers is an utter treat on all counts. Though the episode also includes cues more consistent with Voyager ’s usual lower-key offerings, the “Captain Proton” pieces are delightfully loud and bombastic, in keeping with the 1930s science fiction movie serials to which they’re paying loving tribute.

“In A Mirror, Darkly,”  Star Trek: Enterprise

"In A Mirror, Darkly, Part I"

What begins as a beautiful callback to Jerry Goldsmith’s themes from Star Trek VIII: First Contact takes on a sinister twist as Dennis McCarthy plunges us headlong into the cruelty of the “Mirror Universe.” The score for this landmark two-part episode includes a new theme to accompany an alternate take on the series’ opening credits sequence, preserving the effect of the entire storyline taking place in the parallel universe with no connection to our own. McCarthy goes all-out as he accentuates all of the backstabbing and scheming weaving around the story’s action sequences, including a foreboding final cue as Hoshi Sato declares herself “Empress.”

“Enterprising Young Men,”  Star Trek  (2009)

Star Trek (2009)

While fans debate the merits of the most recent Star Trek movies, few take issue with the effort composer Michael Giacchino channeled into his musical scores . Nowhere is that more evident than this signature piece from the first film, which encapsulates in rousing fashion the energy of these “new” Star Trek voyages as well as the journey of this modern, bold incarnation of our beloved heroes.

Okay, that’s my 10, and that was playing fast and loose with my own rules. Now it’s your turn. What’s your favorite piece of Star Trek music? Let us know on Social!

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This article was originally published on May 29, 2015.

Dayton Ward (he/him) is a New York Times bestselling author or co-author of numerous novels and short stories including a whole bunch of stuff set in the Star Trek universe, and often collaborating with friend and co-writer Kevin Dilmore. As he’s still a big ol' geek at heart, Dayton is known to wax nostalgic about all manner of Star Trek topics over on his own blog, The Fog of Ward .

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This 'Star Trek Beyond' Song Is Fire

Like any good summer blockbuster, Star Trek Beyond knows that the soundtrack is as important as the actual movie itself. What's a big summer action movie without a hit song to go with it, right? Luckily, the creatives behind Star Trek Beyond , out July 22, pulled out all the stops and enlisted one of the most beloved and badass singers to provide a major track. It's Rihanna who's responsible for "Sledgehammer," the Star Trek Beyond end-credits song , and it's undoubtedly gonna be one of the summer's catchiest tunes.

You might be wondering "why Rihanna?" as, after all, the singer isn't the first person you'd probably associate with the sci-fi franchise. Yet in a Star Trek Beyon d : Sledgehammer Featurette , Rihanna describes her love and passion for the series, saying that from an early age, she was engrossed in it and fell in love with the world and characters. To her, it seemed like a perfect fit to provide the haunting and impactful song for the end credits, and so she was "honored" to be part of the film.

As if getting Rihanna on-board wasn't enough, though, "Sledgehammer" was penned by everyone's favorite vocal superstar, Sia. Talk about a dynamic duo, right? The song is a slow ballad that builds, typical of many of Sia's other tracks, but with Rihanna's haunting vocals, it all manages to elevate the song. The lyrics would all have made for great AIM away messages back in the day, IMO, but some of my favorite lyrics are contained within the chorus:

I hit a wall, I thought that I would hurt myselfOh I was sure, your words would leave me unconsciousAnd on the floor I'd be lying cold, lifelessBut I hit a wall, I hit 'em all, watch the fallYou're just another brick and I'm a sledgehammerYou're just another brick and I'm a sledgehammer

To top it off, along with this new song, Beyond 's marketing team has released an accompanying music video that depicts Rihanna, with a wild and crazy look, on a desert planet performing what seems like magic. OK, so maybe I'm not doing the video justice — you'll just have to watch it and see for yourself how awesome it is.

So cool, right? In an interview with Entertainment Weekly , director Floria Sigismondi revealed that the music video was shot at the Trona Pinnacles, a few hours outside of Los Angeles. While the video is an homage to the world of Star Trek, it's definitely also its own story with a unique space-witch character. There's something else, too, that makes this music video truly awesome: it's the first one ever to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. Leave it to Rihanna to drop a fire song for Star Trek Beyond and make history with its music video.

Images: Giphy ; RihannaVevo/Youtube

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Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Soundtrack

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Season 3 • Episode 1 : ‘The Next Generation’ (S03E01)

Season 3 • Episode 2 : ‘Disengage’ (S03E02)

Season 3 • Episode 3 : ‘Seventeen Seconds’ (S03E03)

Season 3 • episode 4 : ‘no win scenario’ (s03e04), season 3 • episode 5 : ‘imposters’ (s03e05), season 3 • episode 6 : ‘bounty’ (s03e06), season 3 • episode 7 : ‘dominion’ (s03e07), season 3 • episode 8 : ‘surrender’ (s03e08), season 3 • episode 9 : ‘vox’ (s03e09), season 3 • episode 10 : ‘the last generation’ (s03e10).

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IMDB: Star Trek: Picard

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Does anyone know what the song is that is playing in 10 Forward Holodeck (Jean Luc & Ro Laren scene) in “episode 5” at the 28mins 38 Seconds mark? Thanks.

Episode 6…. Sorry I forgot to mention that in my last message.

The song that is playing in 10 Forward Holodeck bar, (Scene with Jean Luc & Jack Crusher) is the blues track “My Guitar Can’t Stand You No More” by “Duke Shelby”

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Star Trek Fans Are Obsessing Over Picard Season 3's Soundtrack

The third season of "Star Trek: Picard" gives fans yet another opportunity for further adventures with Patrick Stuart's titular "Next Generation" captain, and it seems this installment of the series is delving deeper into franchise nostalgia than ever before. The third set of episodes is packed to the brim with major cameos from familiar USS Enterprise faces, thrilling space-bound set pieces, and entertaining easter eggs for "Star Trek" die-hards. However, for all the things that "Star Trek: Picard" Season 3 is offering to fans, some are laser-focused on the show's impressive soundtrack.

Certain viewers have taken to social media to effuse praise onto the show's Season 3 soundtrack, as well as its composers Stephen Barton and Frederik Wiedmann. "Honestly, the whole soundtrack this season is amazing," u/Rupe_Dogg wrote. "Stephen Barton has done tracks that emulate Jerry Goldsmith (First Contact) and James Horner (Wrath of Khan/Search For Spock), as well as plenty of new sounds." Particular praise has been leveled at the use of "First Contact" as the end credits theme, with u/dub4er_tx commenting: "My heart melts when the ending score starts." The positivity doesn't end there, either.

Everyone is jazzed about the soundtrack

Even before "Star Trek: Picard" Season 3 finished releasing new episodes, some fans were already hounding for a way to obtain the full soundtrack for themselves. "Please tell us the #StarTrekPicard music will be released as a CD!" @SteveBrant tweeted. Other fans, like @HLKBSTR , voiced similar words of excitement for a full release of Season 3's OST.

Fans aren't the only ones who have been getting a lot out of the "Star Trek" Season 3 soundtrack either. Even individuals involved with the show have been vocal in their enjoyment of the score. Alana actress Mica Burton tagged Stephen Barton on Twitter, writing: "You have a chokehold on my emotions with this score." Meanwhile, series showrunner Terry Matalas shared a video of Barton composing the theme for the USS Titan. "It's been stuck in my head for over a year," he wrote.

It's a good thing that the score has been so well-received, as the composer team seems to have put a gargantuan amount of effort into its development. In an interview with Broadcast Music , Barton revealed that they went through nearly every "Star Trek" TV series and movie, picking out relevant motifs to reference. "We had free rein to use the tunes, but we wanted to use them as precious gems and not just 'Star Trek' wallpaper," he explained. "There are times where I'm staying very close to the Goldsmith orchestrations, or Horner's, in particular, but also times where I've re-imagined it."

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Road house 2024's post-credits scene explained: what that character's fate twist means.

Amazon Prime Video's 2024 remake of Road House features a shocking post-credits scene including one of the movie's most significant characters.

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Road House (2024).

• Jake Gyllenhaal's Elwood Dalton repeatedly stabbed Conor McGregor's Knox during Road House's end fight scene.
• A post-credits scene revealed that Knox is still alive.
• Knox's survival may set up a potential Road House sequel featuring a rematch between Dalton and Knox.

Several movies add an extra scene or two to the credits to provide the audience with more entertainment or tease what's next for the story, and Road House is no exception. The 2024 action film, a remake of the 1989 movie of the same name starring Patrick Swayze, was directed by Doug Liman and written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry. Following its premiere, some claimed that Road House (2024) was better than the original , with reviews complimenting the movie's action sequences, cast performances, and modern take on Road House (1989).

Aside from Jake Gyllenhaal as Elwood Dalton, the cast of Road House includes Conor McGregor as Knox, Daniela Melchior as Ellie, Jessica Williams as Frankie, Lukas Gage as Billy, Billy Magnussen as Ben Brandt, Hannah Love Lanier as Charlie, and more. A handful of the characters in the film serve as adversaries to Dalton since its story revolves around the ex-UFC fighter working at an unruly roadhouse in the Florida Keys. Over the course of Road House , Dalton comes face-to-face with numerous villains, including one who appears in the post-credits scene.

Knox Is Revealed To Still Be Alive In Road House's Post-Credits Scene

Although he isn't the primary antagonist in Road House , Conor McGregor's Knox proves to be Dalton's most worthy opponent who can keep up with him in a fight. Dalton and Knox go head-to-head throughout the 2024 action film, but Dalton gets the last laugh when he repeatedly stabs Knox with a wooden stake. Given how many times Dalton stabs the villain during Road House 's ending , one might think Knox would die from his wounds. However, the post-credits scene reveals that Knox survives and shows him in a hospital gown fighting his way out of the hospital.

Knox will undoubtedly want to seek revenge for what Dalton did to him at the movie's end.

Knox, who is played by a real-life UFC fighter, is undoubtedly one of the strongest characters in Road House . But his injuries during the final fight with Dalton would have been life-threatening to just about anyone, so seeing him alive during the credits was surprising, to say the least. Perhaps Knox's survival means that his story isn't over yet.

Road House Remake's Reviews Confirm The Disappointing Truth About The Original

How knox's survival sets up road house 2 & jake gyllenhaal's dalton return.

Since Knox survived the final fight in the 2024 action film and a post-credits scene confirmed he is alive, a Road House sequel may be in the works. The extra scene leaves the door open for more stories to be told in this universe featuring Knox. Plus, given the praise for McGregor's performance in the movie, the producers may want to bring him back for more.

Road House is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

If Amazon greenlights a sequel, Gyllenhaal would have to return alongside McGregor. Knox will undoubtedly want to seek revenge for what Dalton did to him at the movie's end. Ultimately, even though Road House faced a couple of controversies in the months leading up to its premiere, a second film featuring a rematch between Dalton and Knox would make sense and be entertaining.

Road House (2024)

Road House is a remake of the original 1989 film, which followed protagonist Dalton, a Ph.D. educated bouncer at the roughest bar in the south known as the Double Deuce. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Dalton, with two major changes including Dalton being a retired UFC fighter and the bar locale being in the Florida Keys.

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Steve Martin documentary offers a delightful study of a relatively private man

David Bianculli

A new Apple TV+ documentary profiles a man who appears to have found more joy as he's gotten older — and the more you watch this documentary, the more joy you'll find as well.

DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm TV critic David Bianculli.

Steve Martin has avoided the biographical documentary treatment his entire showbiz career, a career that spans more than half a century, until now. Starting today, Apple TV+ presents a new biography - two, actually - directed by Morgan Neville, with home movies, private materials and intimate access provided by Martin himself.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STEVE! (MARTIN) A DOCUMENTARY IN 2 PIECES")

STEVE MARTIN: A comedian who thinks he's funny and isn't. I thought, I don't know, there's something there.

BIANCULLI: This new two-part biography from Apple TV+ has such an unwieldy title. STEVE! in capital letters, (martin) in parenthesis and in lower case, and the closing phrase, a documentary in 2 pieces But it sort of makes sense after you watch it all, because the two pieces, the two, 90-minute films, are fairly distinct entities. The first part documents the comedian's long, determined road to stardom, a 15-year trek that finally led to him being the biggest thing in stand-up, selling millions of copies of his comedy albums and filling large arenas with adoring fans. So that's the STEVE! part in loud, capital letters.

But the second piece is much more intimate and shows him as he lives and works today, looking back on his drive to stop stand-up entirely and branch out into movies and writing plays and books. It's the quieter, more contemplative movie of the two. So it's more the (martin) small case in parentheses portion. And even though many memorable bits from Steve Martin's career are barely hinted at - his "Saturday Night Live" performance of "King Tut," for example - both parts of this documentary contained treasures and, yes, insights. Steve Martin is such a relatively private celebrity that there are bound to be some of those, but it's what director Morgan Neville does with them that makes this such a delightful career study. Neville's directing credits include "20 Feet From Stardom," his Oscar-winning documentary film about backup singers, and "Won't You Be My Neighbor?," a hugely popular biography of children's TV host Fred Rogers. I was interviewed briefly in that film, but it was wonderful anyway.

In the first part of his Steve Martin study, Neville reveals the hard work that went into the development of Martin's on-stage persona as a goofy, self-obsessed, childlike entertainer. Surprisingly, it was born out of his college studies in advanced logic and philosophy and his love of such artists as Picasso, and he toiled at his act for years, often getting few laughs and even less money until "SNL" came along in the mid-'70s. Suddenly, Steve Martin was a superstar, a reversal of fortune he notes in his private journal with one single all-caps word - finally.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARTIN: Banjo is such a happy instrument. It really is. It's a good thing for a comedian like me, and it's just a happy thing. You can't go, oh, (playing banjo, singing) murder and death and grief and sorrow.

OK, I want to do this last banjo tune, and we'll move on with the show. Can I get, like, a tight shot, maybe on my fingers on this, OK, Dave? Dave Wilson, the director. I'd like to start off with the tight shot, OK?

MARTIN: How did this thing undress? I thought we had it worked out. I'm sorry. OK, I do something else then. I can go with it. All right, you know what I'm saying?

MARTIN: It's just, you know, you ask for something. You think you're going to get it. It throws you off when you're a performer, professional, like I am. And I'm sorry if I look a little angry, but I guess I am, because, you know, it hurts you, you know what I'm saying? It hurts the people who are watching the show when me, the artist, comes out here, and I can't get - what? - a little cooperation, you know what I mean? I mean, I can't get a little help from the backstage crew. Excuse me.

BIANCULLI: But in 1980, after just a few years of sold-out tours, Steve Martin pulled the plug, walked away from solo stand-up comedy and never went back. Instead, he pivoted to movies, a decision that concludes the first part of Neville's study and paves the way for part two.

MARTIN: The act essentially was conceptual, and once the concept was understood, there was nothing more to develop. Like, I sort of created my own dead end.

BIANCULLI: Part two is my favorite. It's the one where Neville makes some extraordinary connections, like noting that Steve's father's reaction after seeing his son star in his first movie, "The Jerk," was the dismissive, he's no Charlie Chaplin, and how that painful remark surfaces decades later in one of Martin's plays, when an aspiring young architect breaks ground on his first building only to have his father remark, he's no Frank Lloyd Wright. And part two is the one where Neville makes the most room for comments and appearances from Martin's wife and friends, friends like Lorne Michaels and Tina Fey and Jerry Seinfeld, who listens to Martin's incredulity at having a late-career success with his streaming Hulu series "Only Murders In The Building."

MARTIN: It's almost impossible. I'm 76.

JERRY SEINFELD: Yeah.

MARTIN: And you've got a hit television show.

SEINFELD: Yeah.

MARTIN: That's not - that doesn't happen.

SEINFELD: What's - no, it does.

MARTIN: Yeah.

SEINFELD: It does.

MARTIN: It does happen?

SEINFELD: Sure.

MARTIN: Who's 76 and has a hit television show?

SEINFELD: Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

MARTIN: Yeah. That's true. Absolutely.

SEINFELD: I think I made that point.

BIANCULLI: Most of all, there's Martin Short, one of Steve Martin's longest and dearest friends, who not only co-stars with him in "Only Murders" but also in a series of comedy tours in which the two of them share the stage and pleasantly mock one another, just like they do in real life, when Neville captures them reading aloud from laptops, privately trying out possible new jokes for their act.

MARTIN: I love a comedian's opening line because it sets the tone for the entire stupid show.

MARTIN SHORT: I think that's funny.

MARTIN: You know, we haven't performed in a year and a half, which will become obvious as the show goes on.

SHORT: I like I'm not nervous. I'm just unprepared. It's the same idea.

MARTIN: How many of you applauded because you thought I was dead? Ever had one of those moments when you walk into a room and forget why you're there?

SHORT: Well, it's funny.

MARTIN: OK, I know what you're thinking. These hearing aids make my ass look amazing.

SHORT: Right away, it's a premise of you're old. Maybe you can follow it up with a line about your prostate. Every night, I make sure I give a good night kiss to the three little ones that mean more to me than life itself - my two Emmys and my Tony.

MARTIN: I could hear that coming out of you 'cause it's not very good.

SHORT: (Laughter).

BIANCULLI: This new Apple TV+ documentary about Steve Martin is very good. It's the study of a man who appears to have found more joy as he's gotten older. And the more you watch this profile, the more joy you'll find as well.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAY CHARLES' "JOY RIDE")

BIANCULLI: On Monday's show, Sue Bird, the best point guard in the history of women's basketball. She won NCAA and WNBA championships and five Olympic gold medals. We'll talk about her career, playing in Russia during the off-season - her coach was murdered - deciding to retire and being engaged to retired soccer star Megan Rapinoe. I hope you can join us.

BIANCULLI: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our senior producer today is Roberta Shorrock. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham, with additional engineering support by Joyce Lieberman, Julian Herzfeld and Diana Martinez. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Heidi Saman, Therese Madden, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi and Joel Wolfram. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. For Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, I'm David Bianculli.

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