The Cape Soundtrack Review

Soundtrack: The Cape
Composer: Bear McCreary
Label: La La Land Records
Release Date: September 27, 2011

The Cape was not a very well-received show when it aired on NBC in January and February of 2011. In fact, it was so widely panned by audiences that only 9 episodes made it to TV before the show was cancelled. Despite the show’s general failure, however, the producers did make at least one excellent decision when they hired Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Eureka) to compose the show’s background score. The plot of The Cape revolves around the character of Vince Faraday (played by David Lyons), a cop who is framed for murder. Everyone thinks he is dead, however, so he takes on the superhero identity of his son’s favorite comic book character, The Cape, and goes around trying to clear his name and fight the bad guys. How well he manages to do this is open to interpretation, but there is no question that McCreary has managed to create a high-quality cinematic score to accompany all the action.

One of the first things I noticed about McCreary’s score for The Cape was the theme. It is a fanfare that is very reminiscent of John Williams’s theme from Superman, but with a twist: it is in a minor key and it is played by a single horn, giving it a dark sound that is more in keeping with the dark nature of the story. This theme recurs frequently throughout the soundtrack, and when the horn is not present, it is played by the equally dark timbres of the double reeds or low strings. The callback to Superman is no accident; McCreary cites Williams’s score, along with Danny Elfman’s Batman score, as influences on his compositions here, but he says on his blog that Shirley Walker’s music for Batman: The Animated Series served as his greatest inspiration on this project (and, in fact, the album is dedicated to her memory).

Besides the main theme, the music runs the expected gamut from slow and sentimental to fast, driving beats that are most appropriate for action sequences. Along the way we also hear a variety of other sounds, from the ethnic music of “The Carnival of Crime” (track 1-4) and “Scales in the Cage” (track 1-13) to the Baroque-style harpsichord of “The Lich” (track 1-21). Other notable tracks include the Celtic-sounding “Waltz for Raia” (track 1-11) and the dark yet whimsical “Concerto for Tuba and Goggles” and “Attack of the Bumblebees” (tracks 2-7 and 2-8). The composer’s brother, Brendan McCreary (also a contributor to the music of Battlestar Galactica), wrote the music and lyrics for “Let’s Just Pretend” (track 2-1), a slow ballad performed by Young Beautiful in a Hurry. It is interesting to note that the order of the tracks seems to have been carefully selected for the way one piece flows into the next, rather than arbitrarily grouping them by episodes. I really appreciate the fact that someone cared enough about the presentation to put this much thought into which cuts would be included and where they would go on the album.

The album released September 27 is a limited edition two CD-set containing a total of 49 tracks with over two and a half hours of music. The last ten tracks of CD 2 are labeled as bonus tracks, and I presume that they will not be included in the digital edition to be released later this year. Most of these tracks are more McCreary soundtrack score goodness with the same variety of moods as the rest of the album, but the last two are especially fun: the “ARK Corporation Theme Song” (track 2-25) sounds like ’90s video game music and “Homeless Blues” (track 2-26) gives us a very brief behind-the-scenes peek at a recording session as someone gives the trumpeter playing instructions.

If you are a fan of Bear McCreary’s music, I would highly recommend this soundtrack. If you’re not sure about the quality of the music, given that the show was such a flop, then head on over to the record label’s page for this album, where you can hear short samples of a few of the tracks. Also, be sure to visit Bear McCreary’s Blog to read his commentary on the album and listen to sample clips of even more tracks. So far, I haven’t heard a Bear McCreary score that I didn’t like, and the soundtrack to The Cape is no exception.

Track Listing

CD 1:
1. Main Title (0:49)
2. A New Day from “Pilot” (3:01)
3. The Death of Vince Faraday from “Pilot” (4:18)
4. The Carnival of Crime from “Pilot” (4:09)
5. The Greatest Circus Act That Ever Lived from “Pilot” (6:31)
6. The Faraday Family from “Pilot” (2:00)
7. Confronting Chess from “Pilot” (6:16)
8. Gregor Molotov from “Pilot” (2:59)
9. Asylum Fight from “The Lich, Part 2” (1:00)
10. Orwell’s Dream from “The Lich, Part 2” (2:15)
11. Waltz for Raia from “Kozmo” (1:59)
12. Rube Goldberg Death Machine from “Dice” (3:19)
13. Scales in the Cage from “Scales on a Train” (1:53)
14. Cain from “Tarot” (2:51)
15. Scales from “Pilot” (1:49)
16. Unnatural Things from “Kozmo” (7:04)
17. Young Tracy from “Dice” (2:58)
18. Kitchen Battle from “Tarot” (4:46)
19. Casino Attach from “Dice” (2:27)
20. Justice Takes Time from “Kozmo” (3:42)
21. The Lich from “The Lich, Part 2” (3:30)
22. The Telepath Strikes from “Dice” (4:12)
23. Gregor the Great’s Carnival of Fear from “Kozmo” (5:55)

CD 2:
1. Let’s Just Pretend from “The Lich, Part 2” (4:24)
2. Sewing the Mask from “Tarot” (4:39)
3. Runaway Train from “Scales on a Train” (3:15)
4. Ghosts of Palm City from “The Lich, Part 1” (5:43)
5. Highwire Training from “Dice” (2:58)
6. Faradays Are Fighters from “Tarot” (3:40)
7. Concerto for Tuba and Goggles from “Goggles and Hicks” (3:14)
8. Attack of the Bumblebees from “Goggles and Hicks” (2:15)
9. Opposite Sides from “Scales on a Train” (2:18)
10. Two Weddings from “The Lich, Part 2” (4:11)
11. Brazil Nuts from “Scales on a Train” (4:47)
12. Kozmo from “Kozmo” (2:41)
13. Orwell’s Recovery from “The Lich, Part 2” (1:48)
14. Scales Goes Rogue from “Scales on a Train” (4:54)
15. Rescuing Orwell from “The Lich, Part 2” (3:20)
16. The Cape Keeps Watch from “Tarot” (0:47)
BONUS TRACKS:
17. Jerry from “Goggles and Hicks” (1:44)
18. Outsmarting the Assassins from “Goggles and Hicks” (1:34)
19. Trolley Park Amusements from “Tarot” and “Scales on a Train” (2:27)
20. Palm Reading from “Dice” and “Kozmo” (2:27)
21. Portrait in Courage from “Tarot” (1:53)
22. The Dead Will Rise from “The Lich, Part 1” (6:21)
23. Out the Window from “Tarot” (2:36)
24. No Journey Too Far from “Scales on a Train” (2:05)
25. ARK Corporation Theme Song from “Pilot” (1:07)
26. Homeless Blues from “Kozmo” (1:10)

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars