Top 10 Favtorie Musical Moments of BSG
CHALLENGE 21 BRAIN TWIN
Brain twins: kappamaki33 and mmegiry
Fandom: BSG 2003
Topic: Top 10 Favorite Musical Moments of BSG
Top 10 Favorite Musical Moments of BSG
Spoilers for entire series; caps courtesy of Galacticabbs, Disparue, and Bear McCreary's Blog
A word about my selection process: Rather than picking my favorite tracks from Bear's awesome soundtracks--in which case something like, say, "Black Market" might have made the cut--I chose my favorite musical moments from the show. That means I chose moments in the series where the music elevated a good scene into something amazing and chill-inducing. Otherwise, this would've been way, way too hard to just pick 10. Enjoy!
10. Hand of God: Wander My Friends
The Bagpipes of Adama Family Togetherness are one of the most iconic musical motifs of BSG, but the first time was the best. It's probably the closest to a traditional "action hero" celebratory theme the show has, which is fitting for this wonderfully Star Wars IV: A New Hope-type episode.
9. The Hub: Resurrection Hub
BSG has a lot of great action cues, but the one that stood out most to me was the slow, mournful "Resurrection Hub." It's not just a gorgeous piece of music; it's an unexpected accompaniment for a battle cue that really works, conveying the gravitas of what the Cylon-human alliance is doing here, passing a point of no return.
8. Occupation: A Distant Sadness
This was the first episode of BSG I ever saw. I was instantly blown away by the gutsy combination of evocative but disconnected images woven together with sorrowful singing. In an especially clever and haunting move, the Final Five theme is hidden in this music as well, laying the groundwork for how many of the characters highlighted in the montage will turn out to have more Cylon connections than they ever thought possible.
7. Someone to Watch Over Me: Kara Remembers
I suppose it's a controversial choice not to include "All Along the Watchtower" from "Crossroads, Part II," but for me, this was an even bigger and better "holy crap" moment. I really loved Kara working through her abandonment issues with her father through music, whatever "Slick" was. Even more than that, the music itself felt like it was pulling all these strange and disparate threads of destiny together into something coherent. The coherency may not have lasted in the story, but at least for a moment, the music convinced me that everything was coming together.
6. Blood on the Scales: Blood on the Scales
It's amazing that I love "Blood on the Scales" as much as I do. It's the episode in which my favorite remaining character was executed (Gaeta) and one of my other favorites suffered permanent hybrid-inducing brain damage (Sam). The episode itself is awesome, though, and the music takes it to the next level. The "Blood on the Scales" music weaves together the major characters' themes (Gaeta, Zarek, and Adama) together so deftly and tugged on my heartstrings in the best way.
5. Pegasus: Prelude to War
Commanding officer badassedry at its finest. Having the remaining two battlestars ready to blast each other out of the sky--and likely doom humanity's remnants in the process--was heart-stopping enough, but the relentless push from the music makes this moment one of the most tense in the whole series.
4. Resurrection Ship, Part II: Roslin and Adama
This scene was the reason I shipped these two characters for a long time, and their musical theme is a huge part of it. It's sad and fragile, yet there's hope and courage in it, too, just like Adama and Roslin opening up to one another, knowing that they have nothing to look forward to but Laura's death.
3. Guess What's Coming to Dinner: Gaeta's Lament
If I were going strictly by tracks, both the instrumental version and Alessandro Juliani's version on the BSG Season 4 Soundtrack would deserve places on this list. Because I'm ranking "musical moments," though, I could cheat and count them together. Gaeta's Lament may be an expression of Gaeta's pain and grief over the loss of his leg, but even more than that, the lament floats over the rest of the episode, commenting on the rebel Cylons offering to give up immortality and the humans' dilemma of whether to trust them and what that might mean for their destiny. His words and posture remind me a lot of the Hybrid and how she comments without really participating, like the Chorus in a Greek tragedy. Fitting, then, that the Hybrid takes over at the end--the sleeper awakening.
2. Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II: The Shape of Things to Come
This was the first time that BSG's story really opened up into something magical for me--and I mean that in the best sense of the word. Before, we could just brush off Head!Six as a product of Baltar's guilt, if we wanted. But the closing sequence of this episode just unfurled the mythology and so many exciting possibilities. The music associated with the Opera House gives me those same chills every time I hear it.
1. Revelations: Diaspora Oratorio
I was tempted to include "The Signal" with "Diaspora Oratorio" (I have a thing for Pacific Islander chant--which, yes, that's kind of an obscure thing to have a thing for, but work with me here), but "Diaspora Oratorio" was so great that it deserved its own moment. What can I say? Sheer brilliance. I love the attention to detail in how the lyrics fit so well with the action, even though the lyrics are in Latin. But really, you don't need to have a clue what the choir is saying to be floored by this sequence.
Brain twins: kappamaki33 and mmegiry
Fandom: BSG 2003
Topic: Top 10 Favorite Musical Moments of BSG
Top 10 Favorite Musical Moments of BSG
Spoilers for entire series; caps courtesy of Galacticabbs, Disparue, and Bear McCreary's Blog
A word about my selection process: Rather than picking my favorite tracks from Bear's awesome soundtracks--in which case something like, say, "Black Market" might have made the cut--I chose my favorite musical moments from the show. That means I chose moments in the series where the music elevated a good scene into something amazing and chill-inducing. Otherwise, this would've been way, way too hard to just pick 10. Enjoy!
10. Hand of God: Wander My Friends
The Bagpipes of Adama Family Togetherness are one of the most iconic musical motifs of BSG, but the first time was the best. It's probably the closest to a traditional "action hero" celebratory theme the show has, which is fitting for this wonderfully Star Wars IV: A New Hope-type episode.
9. The Hub: Resurrection Hub
BSG has a lot of great action cues, but the one that stood out most to me was the slow, mournful "Resurrection Hub." It's not just a gorgeous piece of music; it's an unexpected accompaniment for a battle cue that really works, conveying the gravitas of what the Cylon-human alliance is doing here, passing a point of no return.
8. Occupation: A Distant Sadness
This was the first episode of BSG I ever saw. I was instantly blown away by the gutsy combination of evocative but disconnected images woven together with sorrowful singing. In an especially clever and haunting move, the Final Five theme is hidden in this music as well, laying the groundwork for how many of the characters highlighted in the montage will turn out to have more Cylon connections than they ever thought possible.
7. Someone to Watch Over Me: Kara Remembers
I suppose it's a controversial choice not to include "All Along the Watchtower" from "Crossroads, Part II," but for me, this was an even bigger and better "holy crap" moment. I really loved Kara working through her abandonment issues with her father through music, whatever "Slick" was. Even more than that, the music itself felt like it was pulling all these strange and disparate threads of destiny together into something coherent. The coherency may not have lasted in the story, but at least for a moment, the music convinced me that everything was coming together.
6. Blood on the Scales: Blood on the Scales
It's amazing that I love "Blood on the Scales" as much as I do. It's the episode in which my favorite remaining character was executed (Gaeta) and one of my other favorites suffered permanent hybrid-inducing brain damage (Sam). The episode itself is awesome, though, and the music takes it to the next level. The "Blood on the Scales" music weaves together the major characters' themes (Gaeta, Zarek, and Adama) together so deftly and tugged on my heartstrings in the best way.
5. Pegasus: Prelude to War
Commanding officer badassedry at its finest. Having the remaining two battlestars ready to blast each other out of the sky--and likely doom humanity's remnants in the process--was heart-stopping enough, but the relentless push from the music makes this moment one of the most tense in the whole series.
4. Resurrection Ship, Part II: Roslin and Adama
This scene was the reason I shipped these two characters for a long time, and their musical theme is a huge part of it. It's sad and fragile, yet there's hope and courage in it, too, just like Adama and Roslin opening up to one another, knowing that they have nothing to look forward to but Laura's death.
3. Guess What's Coming to Dinner: Gaeta's Lament
If I were going strictly by tracks, both the instrumental version and Alessandro Juliani's version on the BSG Season 4 Soundtrack would deserve places on this list. Because I'm ranking "musical moments," though, I could cheat and count them together. Gaeta's Lament may be an expression of Gaeta's pain and grief over the loss of his leg, but even more than that, the lament floats over the rest of the episode, commenting on the rebel Cylons offering to give up immortality and the humans' dilemma of whether to trust them and what that might mean for their destiny. His words and posture remind me a lot of the Hybrid and how she comments without really participating, like the Chorus in a Greek tragedy. Fitting, then, that the Hybrid takes over at the end--the sleeper awakening.
2. Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II: The Shape of Things to Come
This was the first time that BSG's story really opened up into something magical for me--and I mean that in the best sense of the word. Before, we could just brush off Head!Six as a product of Baltar's guilt, if we wanted. But the closing sequence of this episode just unfurled the mythology and so many exciting possibilities. The music associated with the Opera House gives me those same chills every time I hear it.
1. Revelations: Diaspora Oratorio
I was tempted to include "The Signal" with "Diaspora Oratorio" (I have a thing for Pacific Islander chant--which, yes, that's kind of an obscure thing to have a thing for, but work with me here), but "Diaspora Oratorio" was so great that it deserved its own moment. What can I say? Sheer brilliance. I love the attention to detail in how the lyrics fit so well with the action, even though the lyrics are in Latin. But really, you don't need to have a clue what the choir is saying to be floored by this sequence.