Customer Reviews

Alien

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The original vinyl recording was not all that great, but the sound was decent despite the pops and clicks. Silva Screen's digital remastering had very little presence to it all. Finally, this new set from Intrada offers the music in excellent sound, with extensive annotations.

The first disc contains the entire original score, with alternative versions requested by the director and studio. The second disc reproduces the version prepared for the original soundtrack album with a few more alternative tracks.

I love this score. I love this movie. I nearly passed out when I heard this was being released.

This 2 CD set has everything. The first disc is the complete 57 minute score, followed by 7 rescored alternate cues that are about 20 minutes long. The second disc is the original 1979 album recreated using the new remastered elements. This is about 35 minutes long. This is followed by 13 minutes of bonus tracks comprising the film version of the Main Title, 1 alternate take, 3 demo excerpts, 1 track of unused inserts and a piece of Mozart source music from the film.

So all together there is over 2 hours of music here! I have to say here that the 20th Anniversary Edition of the Alien movie had the complete isolated score...although a few of the songs are out of order and I suspect a few are missing. So buy the movie if you are also interested in seeing the images with the music.

So if you are a Goldsmith fan you have no doubt heard about this already. If not, buy it immediately!

Finally, after years of waiting for an expanded release of Jerry Goldsmith's classic soundtrack, this two disc presentation has been graced upon us. And what an awesome release this is. Alot of soundtrack and Goldsmith fans have been put off by this particular score due to the fact that this is a harder listen than most of his other works and is not near accessible as say his Star Trek work. Yet, underneath the strange, dissonant passages contained here lies what is easily his most memorable and well crafted piece of work. I say memorable not because it is "catchy" by any means, but because it leaves a sense of melancholy and sheer wonder driven up from the powerful dark soundscapes. With that said, Alien might just be my favorite horror film score of all time. And it is by no stretch of imagination to call this soundtrack unlike anything else ever written for a film. It truly does sound alien.

Contained in the 2-disc set are the complete 1979 recordings, re-mastered from newly found 1-inch master tapes and a detailed look into the scoring process, including notes on each individual cue, in what is probably the most extensive set of linear notes I have ever seen on a soundtrack release. In audio fidelity, this is a huge step above the original 1979 Silva LP and the subsequent bootlegs released. The difference is almost night and day. The hiss and muffled sound of the LP and bootlegs is replaced by a vibrant and bright sound, which fully encompasses what is probably Goldsmith's most complex score.

Disc 1:

It is known fact that much of Goldsmith's original score had been tampered and re-mixed, yet I never fully realized the extent of the changes made by Ridley Scott (director of Alien) for the final cut. Just about every cue originally intended by Jerry for the film where either replaced, spliced, re-scored, or removed. Disc 1 chronicles the score as he originally meant it to be heard. Being able to hear these cues in re-mastered form and in the order as they where to appear really made wonder how much better some of the scenes from the film could have been. The rejected, "Main Titles" encompasses the loneliness and beauty of space in a sweeping, emotional opening that differs greatly to the cue used in the film (the Alien Planet theme). Then we have the quieter suspense pieces that utilize a great sense of creeping/rhythmic orchestration that builds into unexpected crescendos and stringers to create a very unsuspecting and tense mood. "Hanging On", another rejected and replaced cue written to play during Kane's examination, fully utilizes this intense atmosphere Jerry wanted to create. It's a shame it wasn't used. Another cue in the same vein, "The Shaft" (replaced by a cue from one of his past scores), is probably the most frightening and intense piece of music I have ever heard recorded for a film score. The alternate, rejected version of "Out The Door", used when the Alien is ejected from the bay doors at the end of the film, utilizes an unheard "action theme" with very rhythmic sensibilities. "End Title" is a highlight of the set, bringing back the "Main Title" theme to close the film in grand finale fashion. Sadly, it was replaced by a temp cue, Howard Hanson's "Symphony No. 2: The Romantic" (not included). Also on Disc 1 are the "re-scored" pieces that Ridley wanted changed.

Disc 2:

Contains the official LP release (re-mastered obviously) and provides for somewhat of a nicer listening experience. Also included are demonstration excerpts of a few of the cues, the film version of the "Main Title" (with added echoplexed percussion), and the recording of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik".

NOTE TO POTENTIAL BUYERS: I say this is the definitive version of his score, despite what people are saying about a few pieces that did not make the release, because this contains the complete 1979 scoring sessions. His cues from "Freud" and Howard Hanson's piece do not belong on here, because they were not recorded during these sessions and were not what Jerry intended for the film in the first place.

Final word, if you are a soundtrack fan/collector, it is essential to have a copy of a classic, beautiful score that will long be remembered.

This is more of an "FYI" than a full-on review... for anyone who thinks they're getting the "whole shebang" with this 2-disc set (which consists of the original 1979 LP soundtrack; the complete original score written by Jerry Goldsmith; rescored alternate cues; and bonus tracks), one big piece of the whole ALIEN score is still missing, and could have easily filled a THIRD disc...

What's missing is the score AS IT APPEARS IN THE ORIGINAL 1979 RELEASE... meaning, if you've grown attached over the years to the musical cues that were notoriously swiped from 1962's FREUD, as well as Howard Hanson's "Symphony No. 2" (played after the demise of the alien and again over the End Credits), be aware that these pieces are NOT--repeat, NOT--on this 2-disc set (probably due to copyright/studio ownership issues).

Other than that, yes, it's fantastic, but the "Complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" moniker is more than a little misleading. Completists take note!

I recently reviewed two Jerry Goldsmith scores, and criticized them for being too "atmospheric". Although I mentioned "The Haunting" was better than "Malice" in that respect, I would never forget the queen of all "atmospheric" works by Goldsmith, and that work is called "Alien".
I really love this album since it has a lot to offer. Apart from the environmental writing as heard in 'The Alien Planet' and 'The Shaft', as well as in parts of 'The Face Hugger' and 'Acid Test', there is a powerful main title that begins with a quiet and mysterious crescendo, then it goes on with a trumpet playing the theme, continues with the full orchestra, and finishes mysteriously again. There is action as evidenced in 'Breakaway', the best track after the main title, and 'The Landing', which makes us feel we are landing with the "Nostromo".
Thank God we have one of the best works by Jerry Goldsmith so we can appreciate it in consolation to what we hear in the movie. I mean it's a complete shame that it was butchered in the final version of the film.

This Complete presentation of Jerry Goldsmith's landmark score is a revelation.

Not having heard much beyond the end titles and the few pieces that survived Ridley Scott's culling from the film, it was startling to realize what Jerry Goldsmith had tried to do.

This presents the full score as Goldsmith intended, along with 20 minutes of rescored alternates, on CD 1.

CD 2 presents a faithful recreation of the original LP arrangement, along with a number of alternate takes, unused overlays and other miscellaneous cues.

All of this is annotated, cue-by-cue, with slate numbers, and details as to what was used in the film, and highly detailed liner notes explaining the score's troubled history, as well as other details.

This release simply could not have been done better, with the score cues remastered from newly found 1" master tapes.

This, combined with the superb presentation, makes this an absolute must for any score collector.

I am able to acquire the score to what I consider the greatest monster movie that has ever been made, as well as the scariest movie I've ever seen (and yes, I've seen The Exorcist).

I've lost count of the number of times I've watched Alien. I first saw it in theaters as a 12-year-old (thanks, Dad, I really needed all of those nightmares). I saved money to purchase the original vinyl LP back in 1980 or so, but once I was able to get the movie on video and watch it repeatedly, I became aware that the score on the LP was not nearly what was in the movie, and much of what was on the LP simply was not in the movie.

So when I was browsing Amazon recently, I found this title and bought it on the spot. I listened to it for the first time this week after arriving at work, where I usually get there before anyone else and have the office mostly to myself. This music brought back a lot of the uneasy feelings I associate with the movie, but I was happy to be listening to the score that Goldsmith wrote and a lot of which does appear in the movie.

For any fan of Alien, I highly recommend this release.

The 1979 version of the Alien soundtrack was a truncated misfire, and the 1988 CD rerelease did nothing to restore the many, many missing parts (or even clean up the existing ones, which were hissier than a bag of angry cats). To hear this incredibly atmospheric, downright spooky original score, the one that practically /makes/ the film what it is, is a real treat and well worth collecting. A similar fate happened to another Ridly Scott film, Bladerunner, whose fans had to settle for a hacked-up cover of the far superior original score by Vangelis. Thankfully, this Jerry Goldsmith favorite was properly salvaged. I dare you to listen to it at night... alone... :)

For the horror fan, they don't get any better than Alien. For the horror soundtrack lover, they don't get any better than Alien. A masterpiece of sight and sound. Mr. Goldsmith made a great thing better with his dark and chilling score. Who knows when this perfect blend will ever come around again? Don't miss out on this extraordinary collection - the ultimate in sci fi film music. Some will say it works better for the film but not so well on its own. I must disagree. These discs will bring back all the shocking, frightening moments of the legendary film. A serious must-have for any fan of film music. Thank you Mr. Goldsmith. You gave the world so much and left us much too early.

I received this soundtrack recently as a gift...and since I am a huge fan of ALIEN, I knew already some of this score had been altered or eliminated completely from the movie in favor of other music. This soundtrack made me wish it had been used a lot more in the finished film.

The opening title, while extremely creepy in the actual movie, was not as good as the intended opening title, with its mournful trumpet solos. The same can be said for the end title. It is unfortunate that these cues were both dropped, as they were much better than the filmmakers' choices.

The other standout cue was "The Shaft." As I was hearing this the first time I kept saying to myself, "I can't believe they dropped this from the movie!" It was intense, terrifying and again, just plain better than the FREUD music put in its place.

All in all, this is a great release, and a great tribute to Jerry Goldsmith's talents. Next to John Williams, he is probably the best composer in film history.