Customer Reviews

Aliens: The Deluxe Edition

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Sitting in a darkened theatre ~ watching the opening sequence of this overpowering sequel was a riveting thrill ~ the first film "Alien" (1979) from director Ridley Scott and was scored by Jerry Goldsmith, believe his music for this film could not be topped, he is without a doubt one of the greatest films-composers with past credentials a mile long ~ however, James Horner has for this sequel mind you, surpassed Goldsmith's original outing for our complex creature from another planet.

Varese Sarabande once again, include the releasing of a deluxe edition with bonus tracks ~ alternate takes, previously unreleased material and this time something very interesting called "percussion only", works well for this sci-fi multi-hit from director James Cameron ~ "Aliens" (1986) ~ Horner takes the music to new and undiscovered heights, very much like his scores for "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982) ~ "Patriot Games" (1992) and "Apollo 13" (1996), each score enhances the films story-line, which only proves if you turn the sound down while watching the film, it's simply blase` not the same excitement you would experience with the soundtrack inclusive.

Would make mention our stand outs ~ "RIPLEY'S RESCUE", both instrumental and percussion only versions, simply turns the heat up on the films progress ~ "FUTILE ESCAPE", over 8 minutes in length, Horner writes a scoring masterpiece essentially using strings, brass and overlapping percussion for this staggering musical journey that sends chills up and down your spine, can't say enough about this cue.

A big thank you to ~ Robert Townson (executive producer), as always in their pitching ~ Nick Redman (deluxe edition producer) ~ the London Symphony Orchestra ~ and our composer, conductor and producer, serving up this magnificent feast for all film-score-buffs to drool over ~ JAMES HORNER!

Total Time: 75:44 on 24 Tracks ~ Varese Sarabande 302-0666-241-2 ~ (2001)

Apart from being one of the greatest action movies ever made,ALIENS boasted one of the finest scores. What James Horner created here was 100% pure adrenalin.Scary,intense,and with track 17,Bishop's Countdown,truly monumental.This deluxe edition is a must for fans of great film music.There are lots of previously unreleased tracks here,and they are all good,especially Facehuggers and a percussion only version of Ripley's Rescue,which is particularly rousing.ALIENS is definately in my top ten scores of all-time,and is my favourite by James Horner.

When I first heard "Aliens", I discovered that James Horner is a person who recycles his, and other people's, work to achieve the proper emotion to the film he is working for. That made me uneasy, but in the case of "Aliens", I would make an exception.

First of all, the main title is widely based on Aram Khachaturian's 'Gayane Ballet Suite', which is heard on the soundtrack for "2001: A Space Odyssey". It also has traces of Jerry Goldsmith's supense leitmotif for the original "Alien". His action music relies mostly on previous works of Horner's such as the Klingon motif from "Star Trek III-The Search For Spock" -combined with "Wolfen" -, "Brainstorm", and "Krull". And if you pay a closer attention to 'Bishop's Countdown', you may find a similarity with the track titled 'Kirk's Explosive Reply' from the "Star Trek II-The Wrath Of Khan" soundtrack, but better orchestrated, and fantastically played by The London Symphony Orchestra.

All in all, "Aliens" is a recycled work by James Horner. One in a long line of recycled works in the composer's ouevre. But what makes this work worthwhile is the fantastic orchestrations made by the late Greig McRitchie. Now this deluxe edition from Varèse Sarabande contains all the music written for one of the best sequels ever, skillfully directed by James Cameron. And one interesting trait about this CD is the versions of 'Ripley's Rescue' and 'Combat Drop' with only the percussions -Cool!.

I must say that this album is the greatest re-issue up to date. On the previous version(which I also have), looks miniscule when compared to this. Now, this album features tracks and alternate cues previously not available. Outstanding tracks are: Ripley's Rescue(Track 11), Futile Escape(Track 13), Bishop's Countdown(Track 17) and the newly available Queen To Bishop(Track 18). And not to mention that this album has been given the 20-Bit remastering process, restoring back it's true sound quality, with no hints of detail loss. All "Aliens" fans out there, this is one marvellous album not to be missed.

I say "unedited" because this is the score as it was recorded in the studio, not how it was heard in the movie. As the 2 disc edition of Aliens explains, there were difficulties with scoring this film as "both director and composer didn't know how to deal with composers and directors". However, both composer and director have proven to have learned this necessary skill as was seen (and heard) in Cameron/Horner's Titanic.
This is actually quite an accomplishment for having been composed in a matter of weeks (two or three if I remember correctly). The score has some nice quiet, atmospheric cues, as well as some very hard, action cues. The booklet that comes with the CD is a detailed account of the score in relation to the film and how the score was re-edited almost completely to fit with the director's vision of the film. I personally couldn't really tell that this was different from the film, but I haven't methodically compared the two. Very good score for Horner's second ever. Great CD to compliment the music of an incredible film.

The Aliens deluxe soundtrack is a pinnacle of achievement in Sci-fi film music. Suspsense, terror, action, calmness. The music takes you from walking on a string to a gentle lullaby, then rips you right back to the classic screeching string terror of death. The ambience is wonderful, and the tracks work wonders in the film. Even the music that was not released on the film is excellent to have a go at the album. I recommend this to any one who has seen the film, or enjoys suspensful, science fiction themed music. Absolutely wonderful.

I had heard originally that James Cameron wasn't pleased with the score James Horner had composed for the sci-fi classic "Aliens." After having heard the complete Special Edition, I have to say that although Cameron is a brilliant film maker, he has much to learn about appreciation of a fine film score. While listening to this CD, I was awed at how powerful it truly is and how essential it was to creating the atmosphere of the "Aliens" universe. His music for this movie is so powerful that I've heard it in nearly 20 different movie trailers and has become recognizable to many just by hearing a few notes. Lets face it, when we reflect on which movie has the most memorable and recognizable score in the whole series, "Aliens" is the only choice. Jerry Goldsmith's score for the original was powerful and groundbreaking, but Horner surpassed him by completely revamping the musical formula from a very sweeping, dark score to one of a wartime epic. In the following sequels, Elliot Goldenthal and John Frizzel both tried their best to emmulate Horner's style to certain degree, but always fell short. "Ripley's Rescue", "Bishops Countdown", "Futile Escape" and "Facehuggers" are quite possible the most intense tracks I've ever heard on a CD. Though they aren't as complex as, say John Williams action scores for "Return of the Jedi", they manage to evoke more emotion and pump more adrenaline into your bloodstream with relentless percussion and brassy themes that grip you so hard you're left breathless. This is a score to be enjoyed in a dark room with the volume up loud. The truth here is James Horner, though sometimes repetitive in his scoring, redefined the sci-fi/action genre with "Aliens" in a way that only Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams have done. A must for any soundtrack enthusiast.

I was really looking forward to getting this CD, since I loved the movie so much. But after putting it in the player and hearing some of the tracks, I realized I had heard something like it before. And then it hit me: Some tracks were almost verbatim from the Star Trek II & III Wrath of Kahn and Search for Spock Soundtracks, especially the Klingon attack music. Nuts! I hate it when composers use similar music for different movies. Horner went and got lazy it seems. The other music is Aliens specific and sounds like I remember from the movie, but the other music causes a mental switch and confuses me as to which soundtrack I'm listening to.

I already owned the non-Deluxe Edition of this movie score and was quite pleased with that. Being a big fan of the movie and soundtrack I was intrigued by the Deluxe Edition since it offered so much more. The liner notes on the non-Deluxe Edition are non-existent. The first think I noticed with this album was a great back story to the soundtrack is provided. I always appreciate when this information is included with movie scores and this one didn't let me down. The expanded playlist on this album is outstanding! If you love sci-fi scores, movies, the movie Aliens, etc. you won't be disappointed by this album.

In contrary to many reviewers, it is my opinion that Horner really did an admirable job on Aliens. This is a fantastic soundtrack, largely also due to LSO's outstanding performance. There are very few weak moments on this soundtrack, and I - being a percussionist - also like the "percussion only" tracks, which apparently seem to annoy everyone but me. :) Otherwise, lots of great writing and instrumentation, especially in those more atmospheric cues (which also seem to annoy some people, but I think Horner had a good reason for composing that material the way he did).

The film itself (which is for me one of the all-time greatest examples of its genre) would probably lose a lot of its efficiency and impact, were it not for Horner's musical contribution. Yes, he did to some extent reuse some of his earlier scores and yes, he did use some other music too, but in this case, it somehow just makes perfect sense. After Aliens, Horner certainly wrote (and is still able to write) a lot of good music, but I think he'll never be able to write something quite as unspeakably special as Aliens.

Last, but not least, this Varese Sarabande's Deluxe Edition really delivers big time, the score sounds fantastic and its many previously unreleased tracks are a treasure which make every true soundtrack junkie's day. :) Yet another big plus is the accompanying booklet, which could serve as an example of how these things should be done (thank God we still have people like Mike Matessino ...). Warmly recommended!