hough the program lasted only three seasons, and more trendy vampiric TV series such as Ultraviolet , Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel have since usurped its fan-favorite status, many people retain fond recollections of Forever Knight. A few years ago, the GNP/Crescendo record label helped to musically foster those memories by releasing a pair of soundtrack CDs, and these pleasing platters have recently been reissued as a single two-disc package titled The Forever Knight Collection.
Overall, the set offers a diverse mix of dialogue excerpts, thematic songs and brief episodic suites. The initial recording primarily showcases themes from second-season adventures, including "Queen of Harps," "Amateur Night," "Be My Valentine" and "A More Permanent Hell." Canadian singer Lori Yates adds her polished voice to such standalone numbers as "The Hunger," "Black Rose" and "Touch the Night," with short, spoken-word pieces provided by Nigel Bennett, who on the show played the shadowy Lucien LaCroix.
The second CD supplies an assortment of cues largely culled from the program's final year. Selections from "Blackwing," "Games Vampires Play" and the concluding episode, "Last Knight," are featured, along with three fresh tunes from Yates and one, "Break the Silence," by jazz vocalist Molly Johnson. A handful of verbal clips are again interspersed among the 25 tracks, this time delivered by Bennett and actors Geraint Wyn Davies and John Kapelos, who respectively portrayed detectives Nick Knight and Donald Schanke. Presented inside a cardboard slipcase, the albums contain separate liner notes, with both booklets imparting terse insights from composer Fred Mollin.
The show is dead, but the music lives on
Forever Knight was one of those rare series that found an ardent audience despite the ambivalence of television executives, who never seemed to fully grasp the show's dark, stark appeal. It originally aired on CBS as part of its Crime Time After Prime Time lineup, before running on various syndicated outlets, eventually enduring for more than 70 entertaining episodes. In addition to solid acting and a fairly compelling story arc, each installment also emphasized Mollin's eclectic, evocative accompaniment, which added, as needed, tense, tranquil and terrifying accents to a spine-tingling yet ultimately touching adventure.
Among the 22 cuts on the initial CD, the suite from "Forward Into the Past" is perhaps the most powerful piece. Opening with the poignant "Nick's Piano Theme," performed by Wyn Davies, the track radiates pathos and pain via gentle keyboards and soft, synthetic sounds. Another work combining compositions from "Dark Knight" and "Cherry Blossoms"—two first-year episodes—provides an extraordinarily mysterious milieu, incorporating a muted choral effect and quiet discordant noises, just as the electronic tones of "Time Stands Still" (from "Avenging Angel," a third-season tale) are simultaneously soothing and spellbinding.
The second half of the package invokes similar emotions, especially on the motifs for "Faithful Followers" and "The Fever," although at times the synthesizer-based clamor becomes rather clichéd. Regrettably, on both platters the vocal numbers are dated and dull, with the dialogue tracks merely serving as annoying disruptions. Still, The Forever Knight Collection remains a fundamentally agreeable assemblage, furnishing devotees of the series with a significant assortment of acceptable, and in some cases quite affecting, musical morsels.
