Aliens: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

London Symphony Orchestra, James Horner, Alien (Related Recordings) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: July 18, 1986
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B000001542
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,126 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Main Title

2. Bad Dreams

3. Dark Discovery/Newt's Horror

4. LV-426

5. Combat Drop

6. The Complex

7. Atmosphere Station

8. Med. Lab

9. Newt

10. Sub-Level 3

11. Ripley's Rescue

12. Face Huggers

13. Futile Escape

14. Newt Is Taken

15. Going After Newt

16. The Queen

17. Bishop's Countdown

18. Queen to Bishop

19. Resolution and Hyperspace

20. Bad Dreams [Alternate Take]

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Long before Titanic , director James Cameron and composer James Horner teamed up for another epic collaboration: the long-awaited 1986 sequel to Alien . Horner's apocalyptic score, a truly massive symphonic assault, ranks as one of his best; now, this deluxe edition restores every note he wrote for Aliens , adding over 30 minutes of additional music available for the first time anywhere!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good proto-Horner; works well in the movie, February 24, 2000

By 

davek89 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aliens: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

To start off, I must say that I do not own this album. I've purchased the complete album (20 tracks), and it overshadows the commercial release by quite a bit. Many good tracks were left out of the release, and regrettably my favorite track (Preparing for the Drop) isn't even used in the movie.

Aside from the qualms about the CD release itself, the music is pretty good. Fortunately, Horner wrote this score early in his career, so he was forced to come up with as much original music as possible. Horner-bashers aside, you CAN recognize some themes in this release, most notably the Klingon theme from Star Trek III, and a litle of Khan's theme from Star Trek II. Both are not overused throughout the score, but you will notice other small Hornerisms here and there.

Horner captures the essence of the movie in his score. Suspense, action, terror are all conveyed to the viewer through the music. The main and end titles have a solemn, lonely feeling, as Ripley floats in space in hypersleep.

Near the end of Bishop's Countdown, Horner created a phrase that has been used in myriads of film trailers and scores by many composers. During the scene in the movie, Ripley and Company are desperately trying to escape the plume of fire from the nuclear blast on the planet below. The brass rhythm is repeated, with dissonant strings taking up the rhythm just before the whole planet explodes. The tension builds at a faster pace until Horner lets the whole orchestra explode with cacophony. It is a true delight to see coupled with the movie.

On the whole, Aliens is a good score from early in Horner's career. It is utilized very well in the movie and although it has been presented poorly on CD, it makes for an eerie, action-packed listening.

By the way, if you're wondering where to acquire this complete score, send me an email and I'll be happy to direct you to it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars solid all around, December 23, 1999

By 

N. Smith "castle_stormer" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aliens: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

There tends to always be a mixed response on this score from the Horner bashers and lovers. This was a score I longed to purchased many years ago for one reason only: the sequence of music composed during the Marines escape upon finally discovering the aliens for the first time. On the CD, this lengthy track is "Futile Escape." In the movie, the music is drowned out by the sound effects, but on your stereo the true nature of this amazing track depicting the terror of the marines and their desire to escape can be heard properly. Additionally, this CD has a track (Bishop's Countdown) which is routinely used in movie trailers because of it's adrenaline pumping climax. It's sensational. The CD overall is a great listen. It has very solid action pieces and very quiet moody moments that keep the suspense hanging. If you want wall-to-wall action cues, you won't get it. Some may also get annoyed with the handful of quieter tracks. But, it's a good balance. A great score to a great film.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic sequel with a distinct sound of its own., July 19, 2003

By 

Chadwick H. Saxelid "Bookworm" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aliens: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

ALIENS had little in common with its predecessor other than the return of Ripley, the Alien, and the production design of the first movie. So it is not surprising that James Horner's excellent score goes in a different direction. Using the spooky sound of Jerry Goldsmith's score as a starting point (with all the clicking and clacking of sounds in the background and the faint moaning of melancholy woodwinds and brass) the score has echoes of military motifs during the suspense cues and a fierce pounding rhythm for the action ones. Great stuff, no library would be complete without it. Highly recommended. But you might want to hunt out the expanded edition rather than this one.