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The tone of the music of Star Trek changed dramatically from Season 1 to Season 2. Whereas Season 1 was subtler (as subtle as it could be being a science-fiction show in the 60's), and the title track itself definitely more sombre, Season 2 added a lot more unnecessary music in the wrong places, some ill-conceived "horns" flourishes and a needless "wailing woman" in the title track.

Fortunately I've only seen one episode of TOS: Season 2 so far so I'm hopeful. How long does the change last? Both the title music and the background score in the episodes? It's embarrassing.

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    The "wailing woman" is much more pronounced on the digital remasters than the original. I assumed it was a new recording, although it may be a remix.
    – Anthony X
    Commented Jan 16 at 2:11

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The 'wailing woman' (or Loulie Jean Norman as she prefers to be called) is present in the Star Trek theme in the pilot (The Cage) and seasons 2 and 3, however the composition was changed slightly between seasons: in season 2, the vocal track was given more prominence and in season 3 the organ track is given more, but you can still hear it if you listen very carefully.

There's also a slightly different version present on the remastered DVDs which came out in 2006 which had the singing part re-recorded by Elin Carlson which may be present in some copies of season 1.

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  • Too bad - I liked what it was like in Season 1, all of it. Including the interaction of Kirk's monologue and the pauses in the music. It was crisp. (of course, surprisingly I don't remember this music being in the Cage!)
    – user11122
    Commented Oct 28, 2014 at 19:15
  • The "wailing" is much more prominent in the HD remasters than the original broadcast prints; perhaps a remix?
    – Anthony X
    Commented Jan 16 at 2:12

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