Imagine if you will, your asked to compose a soundtrack for a television show about humanities struggle against machines whose sole purpose is to annihilate the human race. With so many possible directions one could go in Bear McCreary takes the basics of both sides and gives them an identity. For the machines, marching battle compositions that sound like, well, machines, unfeeling and threatening. For the humans McCreary fleshes out the music to sound soft and vulnerable as well as includes the right moods to portray the opposite; compassion, struggle, defeat. This is going to take a lot of imagination, and if you lack said quality, I would suggest going out and purchasing something else. This is the philosophical listeners dream come true as McCreary composes music that is completely wordless yet contains enough direction and meaning then you could absorb from a book. No joke. Forget all that you know about the show and films and the movie tie-in’s including Terminator lunch box with matching thermos and simply allow yourself to be carried away by the music on this disc. Its simply astonishing how much vision is put into it. Now there are a couple of tracks on the album which are, for all intents and purposes, song tracks rather then compositions. Track one sung by Shirley Manson, one of the shows stars, is probably the most uninviting opening track on any album. Definitely could have placed that number at the far back. BrEndAn’s Band is the second act up which is a funky sounding track that is enjoyable but also should have been placed at the back end of the album to keep the flow of the composed tracks intact. There is also an entry for someone named Captain Ahab which sounds like a remixed composition of which is reminiscent of the Aphex Twins and fits in nicely. Its really a great album that asks a lot of you but delivers such a remarkable experience. I highly suggest checking it out. Enjoy.