f space is still the final frontier, it's only because Trekkers thus far haven't figured out a way to conquer it. To date, Star Trek has successfully trekked from television screens to bookshelves, the big screen and video games, and with the recent debut of Trekkies 2: The Official Soundtrack, music inspired by the show and its many spinoffs could soon assimilate most stereos.
Just about every facet of Trek fandom is represented on the recording. Pop warriors Warp 11 warble two tunes dedicated to the original series, "Red Alert" and "Everything I Do, I Do With William Shatner," even as Stovokor grinds through a pair of guttural odes to Klingon honor, "For the Glory of Qo'noS" and "Life in Exile." No Kill I: The Next Generation supplies a couple of live tracks conceived for a few well-known series standbys, "Data and the Beta" and "We Are the Borg," with No Kill I: Deep Space Nine offering more general sentiments on "Boldly Going" and "Vulcan Mind-Meld."
A few filk (science-fiction folk) numbers are also featured. Leslie Fish sings a comparatively lengthy version of "Banned From Argo," just as two young sisters, performing as Ash Productions, lament the franchise's superfluous crewmembers on "The Expendable Guy." Alongside the 17 songs are 18 spoken-word excerpts from both the original Trekkies documentary and the new direct-to-DVD sequel. Among the highlights are young Gabriel Koerner answering his phone by screaming "Peter, this is the worst time you could have called!" and an older woman who won "an actual portrait of a real, genuine ET" she named AUK, because "he's Aware, he's Understanding and he Knows."
Boldly going way, way out there
When Gene Roddenberry first conceived Star Trek, he probably never imagined that, nearly 40 years later, there'd be people so immersed in the drama that they would devote their lives to emulating the show's ideals. Organizing independent fan organizations and congregating at conventions, Trekkers have consequently become a significant subculture, spawning their own customs, jargon and, of course, music. Trekkies 2: The Official Soundtrack provides an intriguing overview of those harmonic efforts, most of which, despite being written and performed by idiosyncratic amateurs, display heartfelt sincerity and an oddly alluring enthusiasm.
Fred Schneider and Pat Irwin—members of legendary "Rock Lobster" rockers The B-52's—belt out the most polished piece on the disc, "Beam Me Up." It's an upbeat track with weird electronic tones and off-the-wall lyrics earnestly proclaiming that Trekkies "go boldly where no one would even think of going. Way, way out there!" A brief operatic segment, sung in Italian and simply titled "Italy Theme," puts forth more cultured sentiments, opulently expressing lovesick pleas for the affections of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, with No Kill I's "Tranya" delivering a ragged, raucous punk paean to the intoxicating beverage introduced in "The Corbomite Maneuver."
Many selections are admittedly amateurish—most notably the live cuts "No Kill I Theme Song" and "We Are the Borg"—yet, despite copious acoustic and artistic failings, almost every tune is energetic and entertaining. Folks acquainted with the minutiae of the franchise will certainly get more out of Trekkies 2: The Official Soundtrack than a casual fan, but just about anyone with even an inkling of interest in Star Trek should find the disc amusing and appealing.
