(blocked) asks:
> Isn't it reassuring to know that some things *never* change?

I suppose we could've stayed with the safe choice, with Chris,
or done a nice, safe, droning Voyager style score that you don't even
notice, but we're looking to take chances, and that means some people
will like what you do, some won't. Some won't like it because it's
different. Neil Gaiman told me that a number of fans of any form,
including his own, say they want something new and challenging that
takes chances...but it they don't like the form of that chance, they
blame you for somehow doing it wrong...and they want the next new thing
to be just like the last thing you did.

I can't tell you the number of people who said "why can't you
just do the John Williams style music instead of this?" Because it's
been done, and it's cliche, and by god we're going to push what's
"expected" to try some new things. Otherwise what the hell's the
point?

"Of course, you've been through this before. I seem to recall a lot
of people complaining when Christopher Franke replaced the composer for
the pilot. I don't doubt that a lot of the people screaming loudest
now are the very ones who complained about Franke when he started."

I don't know about the latter, but I can sure confirm the
former. And that's why I sometimes wish the viewer responses were
logged as much as my own have been. When we brought in Chris to
replace Stewart Copeland, you can't *believe* how much email I got from
people saying to trash him, fire him, it's that "euro-trash techno-
crap" most called it. "He uses sounds and banging instead of music,"
people complained (which he did mainly in the first two seasons), "it's
distracting and it's not appropriate, get rid of him."

But we didn't. I told people to give him time to settle into
the show, and on the other hand to let them get used to a different
kind of sound than what they expected. ("I guess you couldn't afford
to hire a real composer like TNG uses," was another popular line.)

Evan ain't Chris, nor should he be, nor should he *have* to be.
He is a brilliantly talented composer. This is his first shot at a
dramatic series, and as he settles in (as Chris settled in), I think
people are going to be as loyal to what he's doing in Crusade as they
were to Chris in B5. He's a classically trained composer, who threw it
all away to come study jazz under some of the best jazz men in
Chicago...washing dishes to support himself when he had been at the top
of his field in China...because he loves music, and loves to
experiment.

In the course of Crusade, we're going to see some places we've
never seen before...and thanks to Evan, we're going to hear some things
we've never heard before. He's a find, and a genuine, fresh talent,
and I stand behind him 100%.

And the people who say they are fans of Chris Franke's should
think twice before doing to him what so many people did so rudely to
Chris when he first came aboard.

jms