Customer Reviews

The Omen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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This CD should come with a DISCLAIMER!

Without exception, this is the most chilling, soul shattering truly, deeply disturbing musical composition ever committed to record! What an ordeal to subject one's nerves to!

I've read the reviews listed hear and with then went out and listened to the pertinant sections everyone mentioned. "Ave Satani" must have shocked the hell out of the audience when they performed it at the Academy Awards!

And for the benefit of those of you unfamiliar with Latin:

Sanquis bibimus, Corpus edimus
Prode corpus Satani
Ave, Ave Versus Christus
Ave, Ave Satanti

We drink blood, We eat flesh
Bring forth the body of Satan
Hail Antichrist
Hail Satan

The other version runs:

Sanquis Vivimus, Corpus venimus
Prode Cantus Satani

Blood, we are alive, Body we are coming
Sing forth the incantation of Satan

Musically powerful and very effective, the score is one of the most original and polished ever written for a film -or the concert hall. It's essentially a chamber piece for small orchestra and mixed chorus, though recent recordings have used larger orchestras and even more varied vocal arrangements.

If your looking for music that chills you to the bone then you have to get this CD. This music is superb and if I had to pick one CD that brought out the best in Goldsmith this soundtrack would definitely be the one. Not only did the music make the movie ten times better but all by itself this score is something for Goldsmith to brag about. This CD is a must for collectors of Gldsmith and for those who love scary,terrifying music.

There are two scores in cinematic history that will genuinely scare one's socks off! One is Herrmann's "Psycho" and "The Omen" by Goldsmith is the other. When I saw the movie over twenty years ago, the terror on screen was hightened by the ominous chords and the malevolent choral chants. There was no doubt in my mind that Goldsmith had composed a score worthy of an Oscar. Apparently, the Academy felt the same way and Goldsmith was justly rewarded. He followed this magnificent composition with the scores to the subsequent second and third installments in the Omen trilogy. All three combined make for a truly satisfying excursion into the art of making music for the movies.

For a long time I had heard of the dramatic impact and terrifying power of Jerry Goldsmith's award wining score for "The Omen". I saw the movie one Saturday night and it scared the hell out of me. And I remember the musical score was in fact very good, evidently one of the best ever composed for a horror film. When I bought the CD, I was speechless to say something about it. "Ave Satani" is without any doubt the most frightening music I ever heard! Just to think of this music makes me horripilate to death. And indeed, after my first listening experience with the soundtrack, I wasn't brave enough to listen to it again for a long time. Jerry Goldsmith's talent is incontestable. And the soundtrack of "The Omen" confirms it; a masterpiece of its own, a cursed and terrifying CD; music to scare the hell out of you.

Jerry Goldsmith's musical score for The Omen is without a doubt the most chilling music I have listened to in my whole life!Seldom has a musical score added more intensity to a motion picture than this one.The Soundtrack is far more terrifying than the film itself.As an avid collector of film music,this one is without a doubt in a class by itself!A truely frightening musical experience!

I just recently picked up this CD and the first time I heard it I was like WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
I was hearing voices.......

1. Ave Satani 10/10
The Opening Theme Is Definitely One That will Scare The Hell Out Of You

2. The New Ambassador 9/10
There Are Two Versions Of This Track.

3. Killer's Storm - 9/10
This track is right up there with the opening theme.....very scary

4. A Sad Message - 8/10
A Variation On Track 2 and 7.

5. The Demise Of Mrs. Baylock - 10/10
Scared The Hell Out Of Me The First Time I Heard It

6. Don't Let Him - 7/10
Another slow instrumental that picks up.....a variation on the opening theme it has the same piano keys

7. The Piper Dreams - 10/10
Very cool version. Originally titled 'The New Ambassador' Jerry Goldsmith recorded two versions for this CD. This version is by far my favourite

8. The Fall -8/10
I think this is the scene where Damien rides his bicycle into the table and Lee Remick falls over the railing.

9. Safari Park - 8/10
Even the animals turn away at sight of Damien

10. The Dog's Attack - 8/10
The Graveyard Scene. Perfect track starts low and slowly builds up as the Dogs begin the chase.

11. The Homecoming - 9/10
Has a bit of that Back To The Future touch to it at the beginning very cool.

12. The Altar
The end of the movie. Who won? Good? or Evil? You decide.

One thing is for sure. This CD is definitely a winner

This reissue of the original soundtrack release is missing a great deal of the score, so it only gives the listener an idea of what Goldsmith did for the film. Nonetheless the score is justified in its Academy Award win (although Goldsmith himself dismissed the thought of even getting a nomination for work on a "horror show"), and is the respected composer's only one to date (now that is a crime). Dark, haunting, frightening, and only lightened with soft tones on a few of the spare tracks, this version may become the odd disc out now that a Deluxe Edition has been released, but collectors and Goldsmith addicts may want it anyway. An essential score to have in any score library.

One of the greatest horror films ever made, "The Omen" elevates the genre with the intelligence of its script and with the emotional depth of the actors' performances. But the element that both holds the film together and truly raises it to classic status is the amazing soundtrack. Brilliantly composed by Jerry Goldsmith, conducted with skill and insight by Lionel Newman, and performed as if their lives depended on it by the Natonal Philharmonic Orchestra, this is one of the unforgettable landmarks of film music. And the CD of the score stands on its own, apart from the film, as a superb work of art.

The film tells the story of a United States diplomat (performed with passion and integrity by Gregory Peck) who comes to suspect that his angelic-looking adopted son is non other than the Antichrist: the son of Satan manifested on earth in human form. This is truly horror on an epic scale, and composer Goldsmith meets this daunting challenge with the confidence of a master craftsman.

For all its power and terror, the score of "The Omen" also contains passages of melodic gentleness as the music captures the joy of the ambassador's family life before the demonic omens begin to appear. These heartbreakingly lovely selections perfectly complement the tracks in which the full power of evil is musically depicted.

And those tracks will make your hair stand on end. Beginning with the opening track, "Ave Satani," these tracks alternatingly pulsate with ominous foreboding and crackle with lacerating energy. Male and female choruses seamlessly merge with the orchestra to create an absolutely chilling effect; never before have human voices sounded so demonic. Brilliant percussive effects further add to the supernatural flavor of the score.

Goldsmith won a well-deserved Academy Award for this score. He had already been well established as one of the modern masters of film scoring, and since "The Omen" has gone on to compose numerous other classic scores (in addition to collecting more Oscar nominations). I won't mention his many other great compositions--a full list would go on and on--but I consider "The Omen" to be an indispensable part of the Goldsmith canon, as well as an essential score in the great canon of horror film music.

So whether you're an occultist looking for great music with which to accompany a dark ritual, a thrill-seeker looking to scare yourself to death, a fan of Jerry Goldsmith's other classic compositions, a scholar of 20th century film scoring, or merely a lover of great orchestral music, buy this CD. Just don't be surprised if its unearthly melodies summon up the minions of the Dark Lord himself. . . .

I think this album is very dramatic. You can watch the movie or listen to the soundtrack, it doesn't matter! The most dramatic track to me is "Ave Santani". The chorus really grips you, and the eerie piano "tinking" so pretty in the beginning is very contradictive to the loud and gripping rest of the track. Another one that is interesting is "Killer's Storm". It kind of makes you feel sorry for the priest that got skewered! Overall, the music is freaky. Sure, it's good! It has to be, if it's Jerry Goldsmith!

Goldsmith won his only Academy Award for this positively chilling exploration into terror. A full choir does vocal gymnastics with the composer's Bartok and Stravinsky influenced "Black Mass" music. A few occasional bits of warmth only add to the album's mounting horror. More demonic than anything produced by a deathmetal band!