Alex Lifeson composed and performed the theme music for the first season of Gene Roddenberry's
Andromeda, the
Star Trek creator's final series which premiered the week of Oct. 2, 2000. The theme is now available as the opening song of the
Andromeda soundtrack album. It is rumored that star/executive producer Kevin Sorbo (of
Hercules fame) never liked the theme, and was behind changing the theme after the first season.
"It all began when co-executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe was talking to executive story editor Ethlie Ann Vare, a former rock journalist (Hollywood Reporter, E! Entertainment Television, ROCK magazine). He said that the top band on his wish-list to do music for Andromeda would be Rush. Inspired, Vare made some strategically-placed calls. Since Alex Lifeson is as big a science fiction lover as some science fiction fans are Rush lovers, he seemed a good fit for the job. Lifeson composed and performed the Andromeda theme, 'March of the High Guard'. Lifeson created the whole piece in his home studio, overdubbing an astonishing 20,000 guitars for a sound quite unlike any other main title theme on television." - www.andromedatv.com, Aug. 2000.
"The strongest composition on this collection is actually Alex Lifeson's invigorating 'Season One Main Title.' The cue lasts for only 59 seconds, but it packs a punch that, for the most part, is lacking throughout the rest of the CD...With the exception of Lifeson's lone contribution, the 25 cues on the collection are all written and played by Matthew McCauley...While McCauley's artificial Andromeda arias are invariably expressive, his tunes are also consistently mediocre and, in many respects, surprisingly rough-edged." - Scifi.com Review
