Soundtrack Review: Doctor Who Series 5 (2010)
| Reviewer: Stephen Noell |
Doctor Who Series 5 Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the TV show soundtrack Doctor Who: Series 5 by Murray Gold.
"This one certainly comes up to the standard Gold set in the previous albums and maybe even surpasses it."
With this the latest of Murray Gold's releases, he enters brand new territory with a new Doctor. All of his previous albums have had music from a season that had the tenth Doctor in it. Even the ninth Doctor only had half an album, and Gold had almost no time to develop any special style for him. With Matt Smith, Gold gets to devote the longest album he has produced to a brand new Doctor. Does he do it well though?
Track List
Disc 1| 1. Doctor Who XI | **** |
| 2. Down to Earth | ***** |
| 3. Little Amy | **** |
| 4. Fish Custard | *** |
| 5. Can I Come With You? | **** |
| 6. Little Amy: The Apple | **** |
| 7. The Sun's Gone Wibbly | ***** |
| 8. Zero | ***** |
| 9. I Am the Doctor | ***** |
| 10. The Mad Man with a Box | ***** |
| 11. Amy in the TARDIS | **** |
| 12. The Beast Below | ***** |
| 13. Amy's Theme | ***** |
| 14. A Lonely Decision | ***** |
| 15. A Tyrannical Menace | **** |
| 16. Victory of the Daleks | ***** |
| 17. Battle in the Sky | ***** |
| 18. River's Path | **** |
| 19. The Time of Angels | ***** |
| 20. I Offer You My Daughter | **** |
| 21. Chicken Casanova | *** |
| 22. Signora Rosanna Calvierri | **** |
| 23. Cab for Amy Pond | ***** |
| 24. The Vampires of Venice | ***** |
| 25. Wedded Bliss | *** |
| 26. This is the Dream | **** |
| 27. Rio de Cwmtaff | **** |
| 28. The Silurians | ***** |
Disc 2
| 1. Paint | **** |
| 2. Vincent | **** |
| 3. Hidden Treasures | **** |
| 4. A Troubled Man | ***** |
| 5. With Love, Vincent | ***** |
| 6. Adrift in the TARDIS | **** |
| 7. Friends and Neighbours | **** |
| 8. Doctor Gastronomy | *** |
| 9. You Must Like It Here | **** |
| 10. A Useful Striker | **** |
| 11. A Painful Exchange | **** |
| 12. Kiss the Girl | ***** |
| 13. Thank You Craig | **** |
| 14. River Runs Through It | **** |
| 15. Away on Horseback | **** |
| 16. Beneath Stone Henge | **** |
| 17. Who Else is Coming? | ***** |
| 18. Amy and Rory | *** |
| 19. The Pandorica | ***** |
| 20. Words Win Wars | ***** |
| 21. The Life and Death of Amy Pond | ***** |
| 22. Amy's Starless Life | *** |
| 23. Into the Museum | *** |
| 24. This is Where It Gets Complicated | **** |
| 25. Roman Paradox | **** |
| 26. The Patient Centurion | **** |
| 27. The Same Sonic | **** |
| 28. Honey I'm Home | ***** |
| 29. The Perfect Prison | **** |
| 30. A River of Tears | **** |
| 31. The Sad Man with a Box | ***** |
| 32. You and Me, Amy | **** |
| 33. The Big Day | **** |
| 34. I Remember You | ***** |
| 35. Onwards! | ***** |
The New Doctor
Matt Smith gets a brand new logo, a brand new TARDIS, a brand new companion, and a brand new theme. The theme for the tenth Doctor was more melancholy and almost sad in nature, reflecting some of his nature. For Matt Smith, Gold wrote a more playful and energetic theme which permeates much of the album, not just with the theme, but with the playful style. Gold brings out the theme in its entirety in the very first episode, in the track 'I Am The Doctor.' It comes out several times throughout the album, especially in the second album and in the music from the finale. 'Honey, I'm Home,' 'I Remember You,' 'Onwards!' and others use this new theme. Of course, the new companion, Amy, also has a theme, coming out both in 'Amy in the TARDIS' and, of course, in 'Amy's Theme.' Amy's theme, similar to the new Doctor's theme, is very care-free and fun, but not as fast paced as Donna's theme from Season 4. Like most of the companion's themes, it employs a female voice to carry the theme.
Diversity
One of the many things I love about Doctor Who in terms of both the actual episodes and the music is the diversity of topics and styles. Gold extends his style from extremely creepy and dark tracks to the fun tracks that lighten up your day to powerful tracks which everyone loves him for. The second CD in particular has several grand tracks from the season finale, which takes up almost all of the second CD. Tracks like 'Words Win Wars,' 'Who Else is Coming?' 'Honey, I'm Home,' make up some of the more grand tracks from the season finale. This set includes many dark and scary tracks, like 'The Beast Below,' 'The Silurians,' and 'This is the Dream,' to name a few. But if you want to talk about scary tracks, 'The Time of Angels' beats all other scary tracks that Gold has ever done. During the day, it will make your skin crawl, but at night, when you're alone in the house, who knows what'll happen.
Technical Issues
It's not all smooth sailing, however. Silva Screen released the CD without noticing a clipping in the track 'I Am The Doctor.' It comes in the last few seconds of the track, and aside from this one small glitch, the entire album is free from any other glitches. Because of this defect, Amazon UK has pulled it off until it gets re-stocked with non-defective CDs. If you did get a CD with a defect, you can send Silva Screen an e-mail asking for a replacement. Of course, I don't think it's really much of a defect for an otherwise brilliant album.
Conclusion
Not only is this a wonderful album for all Doctor Who fans, but also for soundtrack fans everywhere. The themes are all new and wonderful; Gold brings everything together to make a fine album. Of course, the question of 'Which one is greatest?' always comes up. Personally, I think all of Gold's Doctor Who albums are amazing (minus maybe the first one), so really, it's a matter of personal taste as to which is the best. However, this one certainly comes up to the standard Gold set in the previous albums and maybe even surpasses it.
CUE RATING: 85.7
->Buy the Doctor Who Series 5 soundtrack CD on Amazon<-
Listen to Doctor Who Series 5 soundtrack by Murray Gold below:
Find more videos like this on Soundtrack Fans
Comments