Returning for Star Trek Into Darkness are Giacchino's primary theme, its secondary fanfare-like phrases, and Spock's evocative subtheme. The main idea is referenced, though not overbearingly, with satisfying frequency in the film, and the secondary phrases are well placed ("Sub Prime Directive" will be a guilty pleasure for fans of the prior work). Don't expect the distinctive tones of the erhu from the last score to be reprised at the forefront, the instrument highlighted only very briefly in "Spock and Uhura." While there are several newly minted themes in this score, the only major one of note is one for the film's controversial (whitewashed!) villain, and for this occasion Giacchino takes inspiration from the civilized tone of the British rather than that of primal brutality one might expect from the franchise's past. The six-note phrases for this character are skittish but calculating, an impressively ominous composition given the circumstances. Giacchino works this theme into a number of circumstances as a tool of counterpoint, very effectively tying the character to his adversaries. Also created for Star Trek Into Darkness is an minor identity for the Klingons, "The Kronos Wartet" (otherwise known as "Klingon Chase" on the expanded album) tackling the warrior race with heavily textured Klingon language chanting and extremely forceful percussion and brass lines under wailing, frightening, seemingly random shrieks. Franchise enthusiasts who still get a chuckle when hearing Worf actor Michael Dorn deliver the line "I like my species the way it is" will not find this theme to be any remote competition for Goldsmith's iconic idea for that species, regardless of how hard Giacchino attempts to pound his way into mainstream memories with brute force. A third theme for the chain of command in the story is a decent motivator of drama, but not really distinctive. The downside of all of these thematic elements is the composer's inability to really state the themes in a manner that can be remembered by the average viewer of the films. His themes are long-lined and so complicated in many of their statements that it remains difficult to become attached to them. The villain's theme in Star Trek Into Darkness especially suffers from this problem. Comparatively, when the Courage fanfare makes one of its appearances, the score suddenly shines with a familiarity that Giacchino is having difficulty achieving with his own material. Some of that effect may be due to the longevity of the Courage theme, granted, but if the new reboot themes are not really connecting on a gut level after two films in which they are developed very carefully, one must examine why the heartstrings are not effectively being pulled.

Still, as mentioned before, there is much to like about the score for Star Trek Into Darkness when you separate it from the expectations that accompany this franchise's previous tone. Giacchino continues to impress with his percussion layers, and the use of harp and strings, especially in "Pranking the Natives," will perpetuate comparisons to Williams. The various antagonist ideas in "London Calling" and "The Kronos Wartet" are technically marvelous regardless of their representative matches. Hearing Spock's theme transformed into an action motif in "Spock Drops, Kirk Jumps" and "The San Fran Hustle" is engaging. The latter has a brief but obvious nod to a famous sequence from "The Original Series" music by Gerald Fried. The "Star Trek Main Theme" track is not the end titles cue, but, like the previous score, it provides a great summary of the thematic battle in counterpoint. Finally, the highlight of the score may be the subtle hints Giacchino throws towards film music collectors in "Kirk Enterprises." As the crew finally prepares to embark upon its five-year mission to go "where no-one has gone before," the composer finally allows a few nods of acknowledgement to the sea-faring sense of adventure that defined Goldsmith, Horner, and Eidelman's entries. These moments make the Star Trek Into Darkness score worth your while, despite any reservations you might have about the general direction of the films and the subsequent impact upon the style of music in them. Like its predecessor, this work straddles the line between a solid three stars and four, weighed down by a disappointingly flat recording that causes the action cues to sound like a wall of sound at times. There is no ambience of fantasy in the confined mix, despite the continued role for choral accompaniment. The film unfortunately littered a few songs within, and the initial album version of the soundtrack included a different cover of the same instrumental backing on disparate digital albums from country to country. Such marketing ploys don't belong in the "Star Trek" universe. The score portion (which alone comprises the original CD release) is woefully short, omitting important recordings (such as the lengthy "Ode to Harrison" suite rendition of the villain's theme and the "Ode to Vengeance" suite that summarizes the command theme) but at least including the choral layer and thus avoiding the listener discontent that Varèse Sarabande suffered with their release of the 2009 score. Usually, when you hear public outcry from film music collectors about being slighted on an album release, the actual missing material from that initial summary product is not worth the fuss. In this case, though, an expanded product really was merited.

As it had decided in regards to Giacchino's prior score in the franchise, Varèse Sarabande did not wait long to offer a limited "Deluxe Edition" of Star Trek Into Darkness, massively expanding the presentation in 2014 out to nearly two hours in length and very effectively silencing complaints from franchise die-hards. This very long 2-CD product provides several entertaining cues that illuminate the more contemplative side of Giacchino's work, and it especially fleshes out the score's middle third. Listeners will encounter a better presentation of especially the command theme in context, though there is more overt interaction with the villain material as well. Don't expect a significant expansion of the Klingon motif, which is really limited to just a couple of cues. As you might imagine, a fair number of the plethora of additional cues on the longer album consists of atmospheric rumblings that don't accomplish much but fill space, though there are exceptions. If you desire more treatments of the main theme, you will be pleased by nice, full performances in "Undersea Enterprises Inc.," "Mom's Calling," and "Max Thrusters," ranging from the dramatic to the outwardly exciting. In the area of pretty character development, Giacchino doesn't offer as much, the most poignant additions being the very short duo of "Demotion Emotion" (typical Giacchino Lost-like piano solace) and "Spock and Uhura" (the erhu moment), as well as the sophisticated villain piano treatment in "London Falling." That material's interplay with the main theme is heard better in "Chief Concern/The Moral Mission" and "Harrison Brought Onboard." The command theme, conversely, occupies "Admiral Exposition" and "Personal Space" with solid results. Other points of interest in the newly released material include decent action in "Torpedo Diplomacy" (an improvement over "Man vs. Blaster"), a handful of cues featuring light but still propulsive rhythmic work ("You Wanna Do What?" and "Scotty's Floored"), and continued Klingon rhythms in "Harrison Attack." The narrative of the album is much better conveyed on the 2014 expanded product, though be aware that a few of the obnoxious cue titles have been changed from their previous designations. In fact, many of the titles of the newly added tracks thankfully avoid overtly cute and irritating secondary associations. Overall, the expanded album is highly recommended for concept enthusiasts, but while Star Trek Into Darkness is comparable to its predecessor in general, it remains several steps behind Giacchino's more coherent narrative in John Carter. Just remember that this is not the music of the final frontier that many know and love, nor could it have ever been.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download