Shout Out: Doctor Who Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack) - Murray Gold & The BBC National Orchestra Of Wales

I've written about orchestrated music twice before on this blog; once when looking at an album of orchestrated Rush songs and again when discussing various covers by the Vitamin String Quartet. This time, I'm dedicating a short blog post to one of my favourite (if not my number one favourite) television score in recent memory.
The orchestrated soundtrack to the third series of Doctor Who.

Whilst the music in Doctor Who has mostly felt incidental at best (with the exception of several character themes between the first and fifth series), I remember actively recalling the musical stings and melodies from the third series almost as clearly as the plot twists and striking visual imagery the show provided. However, the shining diamond on the crown jewel that is the soundtrack has to be album opener and recurring tune "All The Strange, Strange Creatures". I can remember hearing it for the first time in a special effects reel (along with subsequent trailers for the series) and feeling exhilarated. To this day, I still think it's the best piece of music Doctor Who has ever given us...except maybe "I Am The Doctor". I just wish the main melody went on longer than 1:23, kind of like it does in this version.
The soundtrack also introduces us to new character themes in the form of "Martha's Theme", "The Master Vainglorious" and "The Doctor Forever", a magnificent piece that perfectly encapsulates Tennant's Doctor with a sombre, magnificent introduction shortly before a whimsical section full of life and joy. Variations on these pieces appear throughout the series to emphasise certain character moments but the multitude of episodes each contain their own unique score to give each chapter of the series its own feel or to punctuate iconic scenes with music unlike anything else in the show so far, e.g. "The Carrionites Swarm" or "Smith's Choice".
Some of these tracks were used in later episodes whilst (I believe) none of the pieces from the first two series' were used in full throughout this one. However, there are some upgraded tracks with added depth and additional melodies such as "Boe" (wondrously used twice in the series, exactly the right amount to deliver maximum impact) and two specially written songs; one for the lacklustre Daleks In Manhattan/Evolution Of The Daleks two-parter entitled "My Angel Put The Devil In Me" and the other for the lacklustre Christmas special Voyage Of The Damned entitled "The Stowaway", somewhat of a sneak peek as the soundtrack was released before December 2007.

Overall, series three may not be everyone's personal favourite (although it does contain Blink, an episode that Whovians and casual fans unanimously believe to be the single greatest episode the show's ever given us) but I'd be surprised to learn that it doesn't contain at least one piece of music that you don't get some kind of pleasure from, whether it's the racing thrill from "The Runaway Bride", the light-hearted cheese of "Gridlocked Cassinis" (that's often used as background music in the UK version of The Apprentice, if you're interested) or the beautiful "This Is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home".
The only downside to the soundtrack that stops it from being absolutely perfect is the lack of a few tunes used throughout the series and occasionally in the next one (musical sections similar to "The Doctor Forever" used at the end of The Lazarus Experiment and The Family Of Blood). However, I would still strongly recommend this soundtrack to anyone who likes Doctor Who and wants a single collection of some of the best music the show's ever used.

1. All The Strange, Strange Creatures

2. Martha's Theme

3. Drowning Dry

4. The Carrionites Swarm

5. Gridlocked Cassinis

6. Boe

7. Evolution Of The Daleks

8. My Angel Put The Devil In Me

9. Mr Smith And Joan

10. Only Martha Knows

11. Smith's Choice

12. Just Scarecrows To War

13. Miss Joan Redfern

14. The Dream Of A Normal Death

15. The Doctor Forever

16. Blink (Suite)

17. The Runaway Bride

18. After The Chase

19. The Futurekind

20. YANA (Excerpt)

21. The Master Vainglorious

22. Martha's Quest

23. This Is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home

24. Martha Triumphant

25. Donna's Theme

26. The Stowaway

27. The Master Tape

28. Abide With Me

ALBUM RATING - 9/10

Yes, it's not really Rock or Metal (although "The Futurekind" and "The Master Tape" feature some heavy riffing). Normal service on the blog will be resumed relatively soon.

Shout Out: Vitamin String Quartet

Just managed to get one last post in before February! However, as you can probably tell, it's a bit of a rushed one.

I've mentioned the Vitamin String Quartet once on this blog before but if you aren't aware of them, they're an American/Canadian outfit that covers popular songs from a variety of Pop/Rock based genres using nothing but percussion and string instruments. Their material has been used in a few TV episodes now and then but their work is still largely ignored by mainstream media, presumably due to the fact that their basically a stripped down covers band.
Anyway, this is my way of giving them a thumbs up to anyone who reads my blog. Whilst their material may not always be superior to the original versions, some of their covers are fucking ace and arguably better suited to the tone of the song with acoustic strings than full on electric instruments. Normally I'd discuss the album that I've giving a shout out to but if you read the title of this post carefully, you would've noticed that I'm recommending the band itself, not one of their many, many, many albums.
The main reason for this is because this band doesn't exist to release hit singles or solid albums like your conventional band; they release a shitload of covers for you to dip into, listening to songs you know and/or like to hear how they sound with strings. Naturally I'd recommend searching through the entire Spotify catalogue of Vitamin String Quartet but if you don't have the time or patience, I've compiled a mini playlist containing some of my favourite string covers that get progressively better as you advance through the list.
There's also material from the Midnite String Quartet and String Tribute Players who are basically inferior versions of the VSQ thrown in too.

Apologies for the lack of a proper blog post to finish January but I'm guessing we all have more pressing matters to be worried about right now. On the plus side, at least you have a soothing collection of string covers to enjoy as the world goes to shit!

Shout Out: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays The Music Of Rush - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

It's been a while since I did a Shout Out post so here's a quick one until I can either review a new album or write a fun opinion post.
I haven't really talked about the relationship between Rock/Metal and orchestral music on this blog in detail before, which I guess is understandable. Sometimes it works incredibly well and you get a score so epic that even your goosebumps get goosebumps when listening to it and sometimes, to paraphrase Slayer's Kerry King, it's just masturbation on the band's part. However, for the most part, I'm in favour of not only mixing orchestrated music with Rock but also full-on orchestrated covers of Rock music, hence this blog post.

If you dedicate a little bit of time to searching for the right albums on Spotify, you can find many Rock-based orchestra cover albums (not the Vitamin String Quartet, I mean full orchestra although they're great as well) that are worth a listen. Most of them are compilations and contain a variety of different iconic Rock tracks but this post was written to recommend one in particular.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays The Music Of Rush.
This album contains nine of Rush's biggest hits between their 1974 debut and 1982 album Signals translated into a grand orchestral score. Even if you're not a huge fan of the original Rush songs, the covers are perfectly arranged as if they were written specifically for a feature film and do each track perfect justice. There's also good use of vocals in a few tracks, whether it's the single line tail ending "2112 Overture" or the choir used throughout the chorus of "Subdivisions", giving the tracks a little more of a live feel to them.
As the cover art would suggest, there's an air of mysticism about the covers as well and the choice of instruments reflects this. Not only that but as the album progresses, the tracks become more whimsical and fantastical too. The choice of tracklist order means that you'll probably get the most out of this collection by listening to the whole thing from start to finish rather than just picking out your favourite Rush tunes first and giving the others a listen afterwards, although there's easily repeat value to be had in revisiting your preferred covers afterwards.

Whilst there are dozens of bands that deserve the honour of having their music covered by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, there's something about Rush's music that seems to fit the bill more than, say, Metallica or R.E.M. If you could argue that Rush's original music could accompany travelling through space, these dynamic covers would easily accompany travelling into the unknown anywhere in (or outside) the universe due to the mix of traditional orchestra instruments and contemporary Rock-based ones. After all, you can't have a Rock/Orchestra album without some guitars and kit percussion!
One of the best tracks that showcases the blend of these styles is probably "Red Barchetta", breaking into a back-and-forth between acoustic strings and electric riffing shortly before an extended solo that I would rate higher than Alex Lifeson's on the actual record. If I had to find a fault in this collection, I'd have to say that it could've done with a couple of extra tracks, as this album follows the tradition of Rush compilations by choosing a significant portion of songs from Moving Pictures. This wouldn't be a problem if there were more than nine songs, as it would've been good to hear "Time Stand Still" or a faster track like "Bastille Day" too.
Overall though, this is a fantastic collection of orchestrated Rock. A must-listen for fans of both genres and hopefully there'll be a Royal Philharmonix Orchestra Plays The Music Of Rush, Part 2 out in the future, even if all their best known tunes are on this album. That being said, they could always cover the rest of "2112" or more modern tracks like "Headlong Flight", maybe even "YYZ" (I know it's from Moving Pictures but that doesn't mean it can't be split onto a second covers album)?

1. 2112 Overture

2. The Spirit Of Radio

3. Tom Sawyer

4. Subdivisions

5. Closer To The Heart

6. Red Barchetta

7. Limelight

8. Working Man

9. Fly By Night

ALBUM RATING - 9/10

What Rush songs would you like covered by a full orchestra? In fact, which Rock/Metal songs by any band would you love to hear given the same treatment? Let me know on Twitter or the comment section and feel free to request any blog posts you'd like me to write or think about writing too.