AMG Review of 100 Greatest TV Themes, Vol. 2

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All Music Guide

Unlike 100 Greatest TV Themes, Vol. 1 (released in 2002), Silva's 100 Greatest TV Themes, Vol. 2 (2007) includes only faint trace elements of cathode tube nostalgia of the sort epitomized by Charles Gounod's "Funeral Dance of the Marionettes," a twisted favorite forever associated with the pouting profile of Alfred Hitchcock. This charmingly macabre opus, like most of the orchestral selections, is rendered by the City of Prague Philharmonic. 100 Greatest TV Themes, Vol. 2 will seem most relevant to those who have followed mainstream television through the closing years of the 20th century and into the first over-stimulated convolutions of the new millennium. It opens with a suite from #24, that award winning moment-by-moment celebration of coercion, stress, manipulation, and brutality. Refreshing highlights may include Brian Peters' merry interlude for squeezebox and continuo (inspired by "Captain Pugwash"); three choice visitations from the Who that were used to enhance the action in #CSI ("Crime Scene Investigation"); Geoffrey Burgon's "Nunc Dimittis" (heard on #Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy) performed by soprano Lesley Garrett; the famous theme from #Dukes of Hazard sung by Martin Portier; the music from #Starsky and Hutch as ground out by Richie's Funk Team, and the jazzy lounge aesthetic of the Daniel Caine Orchestra as applied to #Jump Street, #Barney Miller, #The Cosby Show, #Hogan's Heroes and #Mork and Mindy. Most North Americans will appreciate Dan Head's interpretations of melodies from #Peanuts, #E.R., #Battlestar Galactica and #Desperate Housewives, and will instantly recognize themes from #The Simpsons, #Law and Order, #Lost, #The West Wing, #Intimations of War, and #The World at War. In this way 100 Greatest TV Themes, Vol. 2 has its finger on the pulse of a nation.