I stumbled upon this completely by accident and I'm very glad I did! Always loved the Alien score but had no idea about the two different versions. Now I can bore my friends with this arcane knowledge. Awesome video.
I always felt the music to this movie was the reason you felt such foreboding as it plods on. the droning and screeching of the strings added with the echoplex really draw out the dread in the sounds. Interestingly the Trailer has completely different music (if you can call it that)! by far the scariest trailer for a movie in the 1970s! Great work tho. this was really interesting to watch
Can't lie, I prefer the reviewed 'eerie' opening theme in the context of the film's intended delivery. Atmospherically it is superior in portraying the emptiness of space and the echo-ey void of 'out there', making the background feel much emptier. The discordant clashing of the strings and the arco through the echoplex land perfectly the atmosphere. Musically, however, the original theme was unique and oh-so-memorable, and, thankfully, themes from Goldsmith's original occur throughout the brighter scenes of the film. Both Ridley and Jerry had differing visions for this movie's atmospheres at times, and, in my opinion, although the 'Freud' themes that play during the 'Acid Blood' scene and when Dallas navigates the tunnels before his demise is disappointing in terms of lack of originality, Goldsmith's sounds, even with his negative view on the 'borrowing' of music, sounds great in the cut. Ridley may have been out of line, but the final cut is FLAWLESS.
Thankfully, it's on the Alien Blu-ray as an alternate audio track. Funny how what they used for Ash's reveal in the final film was actually intended for Brett looking for Jones the cat.
Between the original score and the Rawlings choices that ended up in the final film, I can't decide. Goldsmith, imo, was a genius, so to me, any score of his is creative, innovative, richly textured with every imaginable emotion. It's modern classical music, always a thrill to hear. I love it all. You shared some amazing info about different instruments he implemented... The didgeridoo???!!! That is awesome! Wonderful video!
I had the great honor of meeting Jerry Goldsmith at his home back in 1979. A very kind fellow. I was starstruck and mumbled something about how I was a big fan.
There was a disco version of the Alien theme?? :) Wish I had been alive back in those days. I always loved the suble score for Alien. As far removed from the overly bombastic (and generic) Zimmer scores as possible and perfectly fine on its own even for those who never have seen the movie itself. This was a very thorough analysis. Rare these days. Kudos to you.
I owned that Meco "Star Wars" album when I was a little kid..it came out a year or so after the movie (yeah, I'm that old, lol) but I don't ever remember the Alien one... I had the Star Wars Christmas album too, that was a riot (I had that "Wookiee" song on a freakin' 45 single (!)
Wow, half an hour just flew by. This was incredibly fascinating. I never knew Goldsmith's original version of the score would have actually worked much better in some cases.
Excellent! So when I saw the film when it released and bought the LP soundtrack and took it home to listen to it. I thought I was listening to the music from the film, but really I wasn’t. I didn’t find that out until years later. Crazy. Have had the Intrada / original versions on my phone for years. Tbh it’s all great music. Your video was also great. 👏👏👏
I bought this soundtrack in 1979 prior to seeing the movie , it was the best thing I ever heard (especially the End title) and it still is my favourite score ! .......as with 'Legend' , Jerry will never win the argument !
OK. I am too curious now. Why would you buy a movie soundtrack back in the late 70's before you could hear samples of it on the Internet like we do now?
@@coltseavers6298Back then film soundtrack LP's and cassettes often were released a few weeks before the film. At least this was the case here in Ireland (and I assume Britain). Major films were first released in one region and then (once publicity and film prints were prepared) in other regions. There could be several months between the various release dates.
Howard Hansens Symphony No.2 is simply sublime and so very uplifting.Such a great finale to express relief that the Alien is finally gone and Ripley has survived.Gerry Goldsmiths music throughout the movie is so atmospheric and pivotal as well.Such an amazing score.
"Goldsmith thought that it would be more interesting to start out with this romantic theme, and give no audible hint of the horrors that would eventually unfold." This is why scores like that of the original 1992 Candyman or 1980's Cannibal Holocaust haunted me on far more unnerving level than more conventional horror scores like John Carpenter's Halloween or Saw. I think it's the dissonance.
Thanks so much for this video I love Alien we were first to see it in 1979 after work in Hollywood I will never forgot that day the line was going around the corner.
My friend, oh my gosh... I must tell you, this video you’ve made is one of THE MOST engrossing things I’ve ever caught on RUclips. I enjoyed it more than I can put in words, but I feel compelled to try! I use RUclips mostly when I’m at work, with earbuds, for something to listen to while I carry out my task. I’ve done this for many years and RARELY do I ever find something that makes me say, “Wait. I have to save this for later so I can watch it as well.” Your video did that; I had to focus on it completely! I’ve been a Goldsmith fan for 34 years, and Alien has always been one of my top favorite scores (Planet of the Apes being #1, actually the sound track that was my introduction to his music.) From the vinyl, I feel I know the music as I am familiar with the Happy Birthday song. But you... YOU brought a level of details I’ve never heard before! For example, I had always wanted to know what the instruments were that Goldsmith used for the many alien sounds. Wow! Now I know, thanks to you. The brilliance of that man has always blown my mind, but you took my appreciation to the next level. In some parts of your video, hearing the music with the education you gave, listening to the music with the visuals, I felt near to tears. A few times I felt my scalp tingling!!! How crazy is that?!? I simply must thank you for this video. You gave me more reason to cherish the man who brought me so many years of joy with his impossibly glorious music!
I love the score when they find the space jockey. Others would have probably put some epic music there but the score in the movie makes it haunting, surprising and refreshing, even after 44 years.
Gotta disagree...the temp from Freud worked MUCH BETTER in the airshaft scene than goldsmith's newer score for alien. Can't find much wrong with the way this film was scored
Ultimately it's the director's decision on how the movie will look and sound and it's hard to argue that the end result was lacking. "Alien" will go down as one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time regardless of the drama behind the scenes. Jerry and Ridley are both geniuses.
Thank you very much for this!!!! I watched your video analysis yesterday during my lunch break, prior to watching Alien:Covenant later last night. (minor spoiler to follow?) This worked out perfectly, because as it turns out, Goldsmith's original Alien soundtrack is used quite a lot in the latest movie. It's almost as if Ridley Scott was trying to make amends to the late Jerry Goldsmith for having edited out much of the original soundtrack in the original movie. I couldn't help but be very moved by hearing Goldsmith's original score in Covenant, especially knowing what I learned in your video. Kudos to a job well done sir!
What is equally amazing to me, aside from how great a score Goldsmith created, was that he hated the dynamic of the crew. The major part of his inspiration to write film music, according to his own words, is derived from the characters, and their emotional attachment to each other, or to someone...anyone. "Alien" had none of this. These were hired hands, forced to co-exist in deep space, who were underpaid, overworked, and unloved. Still, Goldsmith pulls a great score out of his proverbial arse, with a depth of haunting mystery, trepidation, and horror, that only the masters of his craft can achieve. I loved the choice of ending with Hansen's 'Romantic.' It offered a much-needed release from all the tension that Ridley Scott inflicted on his audience.
SWEET JESUS, the original score is RIDICOUSLY better than what they temp!!!! What was they were thinking???? they should have taken a stroll to air their minds when those long hours were taking the best of their judgment ....
I prefer the change in the acid floor sequence to the original. The small hint of mystery and wonder helped bring the whole movie together. It's flirting with familiarized style to represent the audience and the cast exploring something that has never been seen before. Without giving that contrast the whole movie would be so dark that every encounter with the alien would feel the same. I love how sometimes early on you get the feeling they are gonna make a big discovery or figure out what the alien actually is. No one has died yet! Why not sprinkle some curiosity and splendor into the soundtrack in key encounters!
Excellent video, but I wholeheartedly disagree that any part of the movie was lacking musically. Of course I would probably say the same thing if Jerry had got his way in some areas, but it's just impossible to imagine a different "Alien" after it had cemented itself among the great science fiction movies of all time. It's like the Richard Donner cut of "Superman II". After seeing the original Richard Lester cut my whole life, I prefer it over the Richard Donner cut.
I guess you just outlined my "shameful" secret....The ALIEN soundtrack is my favorite recording where barely ANY of it was used in the original film. That still happens here and there, but because it was Jerry Goldsmith, it's certainly the example that's still been the most notorious over the years.
Jerry Goldmith´s original score was beautiful, as always, but i´ve always prefered the final product. Eerie, and every time i think of space, Alien´s music comes to mind.
I agree that the acid splash music Goldsmith originally wrote would've worked better. I disagree on the music for Dallas in the air vent--the Freud music captures the hysteria and terror better.
Great, detailed and incredibly fun video. I'd say 'some' portions of the Goldsmith soundtrack are better, such as for the planet scene and the face-hugger aid scene, but the others are too loud and energetic. So overall the final movie score is better. The biggest problem of all is that Jerry Goldsmith, genius that he was, didn't think visually whereas Ridley Scott is all about thinking visually. But its also a communication problem on the part f Scott. Look at 'Total Recall' and the incredible work Jerry Goldsmith did there, probably thanks to Paul Verhoeven.
Excellent video and very informative. One of the top Alien analysis video on RUclips. You should really make more videos like this. Maybe music from Aliens analysed next?
hi there! thank you so much for such a wonder video, truly love it!!! i firmly believe that the director and editor should just do their own job and leave jerry goldsmith alone to work his music magic! luckily you can get the original, unadulterated version of the score on CD.
As a Jerry Goldsmith fanatic I needed this. THANK YOU! I have a personal intrest in this movie and recently did a fan-edit with unused footage and the full score. It's definitely a completely different beast.
+1 for the My Bloody Valentine reference. I'm a huge fan of Jerry Goldsmith and MBV. I think that Scott and Rawlings had the right idea to keep the music "ice cold horror," especially at the main title sequence. I think Goldsmith's music for the "Dallas in the air shafts" sequence works a little better than his _Freud_ music, but his music for the end credits is way too lush and triumphant. The Hanson music is calmer and less bombastic, it suits the movie much better. Goldsmith's cue for Ash's attack on Ripley is SUPERB, but again, I think it works better to have the music come in when Parker takes his head off. Scott and Rawlings made the right choice to have almost no music in that scene until then.
As an 'interesting aside' Jimmy Shields who did the amazing work as A L I E N's sound designer is the brother of Kevin Shields, the sonic architect from My Bloody Valentine
I adore Jerry Goldsmith's music and I really love his original versions for Alien BUT I still prefer the final cuts. They worked better. Anyway, Alien will always be my all-time favorite movie.
Great job on the musical analysis and the enteraining way you brought over the whole story about Goldsmith's score to the film. Looking forward to see/hear more from you on this level ;-) #subscribed
Goldsmith wasn't happy at all about the Alien soundtrack. He preferred the more lavish and traditional piece he originally scored for the film. Personally I love the final score that he created under duress from ridley.
I am a big fan of Goldsmith Alien soundtrack since childhood. But In my opinion it was too lyrical at time for the mood Scott wanted to establish. He wanted more visceral music, and also at time, some kind of haunted house music for setting the average viewer in the known spooky musical universe that the Freud score delivered wonderfully with its theremine effect. In the end, it is a musical mishmash but it is damn effective from a psychological standpoint. Don't you agree that delivering an out of place musical theme is another way of getting the spectator off balance? I agree that the Hanson symphony was too over the top and was maybe dictated as a choice to release tension in the audience at the time at the end of the film. A choice who has not stand the test of time in my taste. You can find this argument a bit strange but I remember Alan Ladd Jr. (Head of 20th Century Fox at the time) recollecting that after the film premiere, his wife at the time refused to go out of her hotel suite for 3 days because the traumatic shock the film inflicted her. (This commentary is available in the interviews on the special feature of the Alien quadrilogy box set.) I saw it at 12 yo in 1980 and this was as shocking of a film as The Exorcist was back in 1973. People at the time were not used to this kind of refined gothic-horror with it's magnificent imagery and visceral psychological efficiency.
Well at least he didn't suffer the same fate as Alex North, who was hired for, and wrote, an entire score for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick didn't want to, he preferred his temp tracks, but at the insistance of the studio he hired Alex North, then Stanley Kubrick simply ignored the wishes of the studio and left his temp tracks in the film. None of Alex North's music was ever heard in the finished film, and Kubrick didn't tell him he wasn't using his music. Incidentally Alex North's score for 2001 was later conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, who was a friend of the North family, and released on CD.
Louella Wilson I've been thinking about a number of things relating to the music, and going back to the beginning of this vid Tippitiwhychett basically states that both Ridley Scott, and Terry Rawlings had no idea what they were doing, simply because Scott had been making mostly commercials, had only one major film to his credits (The Duelist), and while Terry Rawlings had been around a long time, this was only his 3rd film as an editor. But Jerry Goldsmith, well he was an old hand, composing music for decades. I find that rather patronising to be honest; the composers jobs isn't to insert his vision, musically, onto a film, yes he can compose music and see how it's received and whether or not he's on the same wavelength as the film maker. Clearly Ridley Scott (and Terry Rawlings was in agreement with him) had a particular vision as to how he wanted the music to sound, and I think he and Rawlings showed their appreciation by actually picking temp music (apart from Howard Hanson and WA Mozart in 2 places) which was actually composed by Goldsmith. So, after listening to Goldsmith's remarks about how disappointed he was that his music wasn't used, or was used in places he'd never intended it to be in, I rather come to the conclusion that, well, he didn't give Scott what he wanted, Ok, he wrote great music, I actually like his original music for this film, but, I actually like the music that both Scott and Rawlings picked, it gave the film the pace and feel they both wanted, so I think Goldsmith could have just said, Ok, well I'll rewrite that bit and give you something more along the lines of what you want (although he actually says he rewrote the opening sequence to give Ridley what he wanted, but didn't like it all that much). So I think there's somewhat a clash of egos going on there.
You have to wonder if Fox was just really bad at scheduling back in the day. They famously set a release date for Alien 3 before they had a finished script, and Aliens had a similarly hectic soundtrack process with a lot of re-tracking in the edit, much like Alien. Regarding that Alex North story, similar things definitely did happen to Jerry Goldsmith, although I think Jerry got a heads up. The biggest are probably his unused scores for Timeline (which was insane) and Poltergeist 3 (which he essentially got to re-use for The Haunting, so it worked out in the end I guess). Poltergeist without Jerry Goldsmith just didn't work well at all, with the third film having the mood of a bad Nightmare on Elm Street movie, and The Haunting soundtrack is one of my favourites of his.
There's another video on RUclips, an interview with Jerry Goldsmith, and I have to agree with you, he comes off as very arrogant, he seems to think that his music should be used as is because he wrote it specifically for the film, Ridley's vision didn't matter. And he states that in the movie, specifically noting the opening and closing credit scenes, which Ridley replaced because he wanted, the opening in particular, to be much creepier and foreboding. I do like Goldsmiths original attempt, its very, nice, Alien isn't a nice film, so I personally thought that the opening track is now much better, creepier, and foreboding. The closing track, I'm not entirely sure why they went with classical music, but anyway the classical track does fit quite nicely. So yeah, Goldsmith seems to think he's in the right about his interpretation, and Ridley should have kept the tracks he'd written where he'd originally intended, but I quite enjoyed the movie in the way it had been put together, I don't think he has anything really to complain about.
Man, this was great. PLEASE do more Jerry scores. Maybe, like this one, do more of his Soundtracks that either had a rough or interesting history. Or bunch them together. P.S - You notice how the "Time" melody has been in 90% of his movies, just masked as something else?
This needs more views! As a massive Jerry Goldsmith fanboy, this was a great documentary. Even though Alien Covenant was a disappointing movie, I was glad the composer brought back the famous (and scary !) two note motif. By the way, have you by any chance ever checked out Krzysztof Penderecki's music ? I think his music was Goldsmiths inspiration for Alien. Just speculation from my part of course, but I can't help noticing some similarities.
Great video! I would never have guessed that the "rattlesnake" sound was a didgeridoo (I was convinced it had to be a synthesizer). To your knowledge, is there an existing version of this film with only Goldsmith's original music (e.g. no Freud or Symphony No. 2)?
It's hard to second guess the director and film editor's scoring choices, but Jerry Goldsmith's music is also magical and mysterious. I'm glad there's comparisons out here like this video to make us aware of these choices and their effects on the final cut.
I don't know, i like replaces in their entirety. Acid spit was more urgent, yes, but replacement also lets us feel ourselves in crew members shoes, starting slowly as realization comes that this stuff eats trough steel floor, being more... strange (i don't know how to decribe this) giving impression of perplexity of people who don't know what is happening and only told to follow the captain, and being more constant portraying not people's rush to lower decks, but constant movement of acid trough surfaces. Or vent theme - it fits just brilliantly! The strings seem to be calm, selling fake safety of vents, but also showing claustrophobia, lonliness, and knowledge of what waits ahead Yes, Goldsmith's tracks are much more interconnected and vivid, but replacements work just better. Scott knew how to do his job back in the days. I hope he remembers once it again for Blade Runner and Alien: Covenant
Goldsmith famously rewrote the Star Trek theme when the director said it wasn’t right. The results were noticeably better. They didn’t throw it out and use temp music. Even as a kid that Freud music and symphony sounded odd.
Great video, but the music theory that you're coming up with is full of errors. That motif has nothing to do with the whole tone scale. That is a major 7th interval, and whole tone scales do not have a major 7th interval in them. The motif further features a progression from the major 7th interval, to a perfect fourth, back to the maj. 7th. There are no perfect fourths in a whole tone scale. There are only major 3rds and tritones. Calling the intervals this has nothing to do with traditional major and minor chordal triads. Intervals are a different matter entirely. These notes could be placed in the key of C major. The chord progression, in that case, would be C maj to A minor. In this case, the B would be considered a non-harmonic tone, or it could be considered a 7th to the chord.
@@jslasher1 yeah, whatever...I'm not a skilled musician and theory errors don't negate the analysis. No matter the chords or how you name them, it's the effect I'm interested in. The orchestration, performance, recording, etc. that's what makes this score a bona fide classic.
I think they got it right. Music helps the story telling of a scene that needs emotional direction. That scene did not need emotional direction. The audience is already on edge. it plays perfectly as ripley is naturally hyper reactive , but to an inert dead creature. Ripley screams, but no music hints that this emotion is flat to the creature being inert. reflecting the scene perfectly.
Thank you so much for this excellent video, which I fortunately found by random surfing. I'll know where to point people now who are asking about the controversy about the music score. It's ironic that Goldsmith was Oscar nominated (he refused the nomination and caused bad feeling in the Academy), Grammy nominated and BAFTA nominated for 'Alien' (presumably on the film print version). I love the score, especially 'Nothing To Say', 'The Landing', 'Parker's Death' and the cue you mentioned just after the Nostromo is destroyed. I still think 'Star Trek: TMP' is a better Goldsmith score overall, although that's also due to it dominating that film in the way Goldsmith and Robert Wise intended.
"Laughable"? Not sure if there is anything funny in that score. Though after watching the film numerous times since the age of 11, its impossible for me to divorce the music from the scenes/images. I couldn't accept it any other way now.
I'm a great admirer of Goldsmith, but I'm not sure at times who was right and who was mistaken about the use of his music in 'Alien'. At least in terms of what was most effective from moment to moment in the film. So I accept either point of view (Scott/Rawlings vs Goldsmith). Goldsmith's original score might make more sense throughout the movie, but I see the argument that some of the changes are highly effective when watching the movie.
Privet, my friends!What a brilliant analysis of this movie's score!It is just as Mozart believed...there is beauty (and in this case HORROR) in simplicity! This is also the first movie I cannot choose sides...Composer of Director! I agree with both! Personally, I agree with Goldsmith, the beginning where the "ALIEN" title unfolding, Scott should have kept Trumpet solo in. Trumpets (Shofars) are long associated with Angels. Thus introducing the audience not only with the Main Theme, but also give viewers sense of thr Angel of Death blowing a sad warning (using whole tone scale, non-vibrato)Hostile Loneliness, the fact that it is ONE Trumpet calling sadly the strong but it's largo Tempo and using Lydian scale, whole tone scale, the PERFECT choice of placing the 7ths most effective pitches but also subtle thereby providing amazing overtones together with the Double Basses (an important Section that is almost another character of the film) creating a waveform of intense loneliness, vast space (Long Largo lines)...hostile space (7ths)... mysterious space (various harmonic inversions and modal scales esp Lydian)! At first I was disappointed when Scott removed Trumpet Solo from Sickbay's Cryogenic Lab scene! I guess I just love Goldsmith's harmonic phrases in this Film. Where can I get one of those EchoPlex Boxes? С уважением, Mikhail Rimsky-Korsakov
Funny, this is my favorite movie of all time, and my favorite scene in the movie is Dallas in the vent. One of the main reasons for this is the score during this scene. I’m so happy they didn’t use the original score, maybe it’s technically consistent with theme or whatever, but from an uneducated viewer’s POV, someone who has loved this from a young age, the Freud score during this scene (and pretty much everywhere else they used it) is SUCH the right move.
Great video! Though I would've put the score more in the context of contemporary classical and modernism. It was great you pointed out Bartok (Which I knew was a direct reference when I first heard the score). But Goldsmith's score is also very evocative of Penderecki (especially), Messiaen (the parts of the score that particularly focus on the wind section), Mahler and Stravinsky. But one of the most plain influences is the main theme (the one that didn't make it to the final cut), which sounds like a pastiche of Scriabin. Very well made video though, you've got a sub! :)
+John Appleseed This is great stuff! Might be worth doing a follow up video on this. I'll admit I'm nowhere near as informed on classical as I should be. If you can tell me what pieces to look at, that'd be amazingly helpful! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Hope you ll make the videos about Aliens and Horner's music as well as Goldenthal's interesting soundtrack for the third movie. I m not musically educated but I know many things regarding classical music and movie score... If you are willing, I can help you with the future Alien music projects :)
He could also check Edgard Varèse ( Amériques AND Arcana). Einojuhani Rautavaara - esspecialy his composition Angels and Visitations released in 1978 which is QUITE reminiscent to Alien soundtrack! Giacinto Scelsi also comes to mind. His Quattro Pezzi, Anahit, Aion ,Chukrum and Hurqualia are straight from Alien universe. Very strange and unsetteling melodies. I have more references somewhere in my PC, but I need to find them :)
Prometheus is a prequel, not a spin-off. And it's not disappointing - it's the best Alien film since Aliens. Also, you don't know much about movies if you think a composer ought to have more say in the finished product than the director.
It’s extremely disappointing actually, Alien 3 is better than Prometheus, by a country mile. Prometheus is better than Resurrection and Covenant tho. But each to their own…
Scott and Rawlings choice for the opening credits score is a stroke of masterpiece. Eerie, creepy, haunting, scary, evocative of the horrors to come, and unforgettably great! I'm glad goldsmith was overridden. His choice smacked way too much of Hollywood grandiosity, reminiscent of superman scores. The concept of less is more is not big in Hollywood ( pun intended). A notable exception is gyorgy ligeti's atmospheres in 2001: a space odyssey, another masterpiece. Great commentary!
He wrote this and Star Trek The Motion Picture in the same year. Two of the finest scores in film history. Genius.
Same music as TNG
Indeed he was a genius. Only now getting the recognition he deserved.
Loved that Soundtrack so much.
interesting coincidence that james horner ended up doing aliens and the wrath of khan
@@davidcunningham9282 yes it is...loved his scores as well. Did he also do "Battle Beyond the Stars"? I loved that soundtrack.
Unbelievably good video.
Alien is my favorite film. Bravo! Learned a lot.
Same ❤
Jerry Goldsmith was a genius. Alien (1979) is his scariest, most stunning soundtrack. Influenced by genius Gustav Holst's Saturn and Neptune.
I see absolutely no influence by Holst. #JohnStevenLasher.
His scariest? For me, that was the Omen. Brilliant soundtrack
No, its influenced by Stravinsky's right of spring and firebird moreso with Ligeti/Penderecki for the soundfield parts
I stumbled upon this completely by accident and I'm very glad I did! Always loved the Alien score but had no idea about the two different versions. Now I can bore my friends with this arcane knowledge. Awesome video.
I always felt the music to this movie was the reason you felt such foreboding as it plods on. the droning and screeching of the strings added with the echoplex really draw out the dread in the sounds. Interestingly the Trailer has completely different music (if you can call it that)! by far the scariest trailer for a movie in the 1970s!
Great work tho. this was really interesting to watch
And yet the only one who didn't think it was a masterpiece, was Jerry Goldsmith himself.
Can't lie, I prefer the reviewed 'eerie' opening theme in the context of the film's intended delivery. Atmospherically it is superior in portraying the emptiness of space and the echo-ey void of 'out there', making the background feel much emptier. The discordant clashing of the strings and the arco through the echoplex land perfectly the atmosphere. Musically, however, the original theme was unique and oh-so-memorable, and, thankfully, themes from Goldsmith's original occur throughout the brighter scenes of the film. Both Ridley and Jerry had differing visions for this movie's atmospheres at times, and, in my opinion, although the 'Freud' themes that play during the 'Acid Blood' scene and when Dallas navigates the tunnels before his demise is disappointing in terms of lack of originality, Goldsmith's sounds, even with his negative view on the 'borrowing' of music, sounds great in the cut. Ridley may have been out of line, but the final cut is FLAWLESS.
Well, that's your opinion about the final cut, which I do not share.
Totally agree.
Hope you get a million-billion subscribers. This was very interesting !
Dirka dirka! Islamic jihad!
@@oaktree2406 bakala
25:58 OH 🤯🔥🎧👽
I need to experience *ALIEN* with Goldsmith’s original soundtrack in full!
Great video! Sad that most of Goldsmiths original score was cut, it is a masterpiece.
Thankfully, it's on the Alien Blu-ray as an alternate audio track.
Funny how what they used for Ash's reveal in the final film was actually intended for Brett looking for Jones the cat.
Oh thank God this video has been brought back. One of the most informative and entertaining film score analysis videos
Between the original score and the Rawlings choices that ended up in the final film, I can't decide. Goldsmith, imo, was a genius, so to me, any score of his is creative, innovative, richly textured with every imaginable emotion. It's modern classical music, always a thrill to hear. I love it all. You shared some amazing info about different instruments he implemented... The didgeridoo???!!! That is awesome! Wonderful video!
Those windy sounding conches were perfect
I had the great honor of meeting Jerry Goldsmith at his home back in 1979. A very kind fellow. I was starstruck and mumbled something about how I was a big fan.
There was a disco version of the Alien theme?? :) Wish I had been alive back in those days.
I always loved the suble score for Alien. As far removed from the overly bombastic (and generic) Zimmer scores as possible and perfectly fine on its own even for those who never have seen the movie itself.
This was a very thorough analysis. Rare these days. Kudos to you.
I owned that Meco "Star Wars" album when I was a little kid..it came out a year or so after the movie (yeah, I'm that old, lol) but I don't ever remember the Alien one... I had the Star Wars Christmas album too, that was a riot (I had that "Wookiee" song on a freakin' 45 single (!)
Those 2 cords…omg send shivers down my spine!
A fantastic documentary. ... you should do more .. Thanks for your hard work on this !!
This is an excellent analysis of Jerry's score. Much appreciated.
Wow, half an hour just flew by. This was incredibly fascinating. I never knew Goldsmith's original version of the score would have actually worked much better in some cases.
thanks for mentioning Bela Bartok, I just noticed that JG must have loved his tune since he use it in various scores.
Excellent! So when I saw the film when it released and bought the LP soundtrack and took it home to listen to it. I thought I was listening to the music from the film, but really I wasn’t. I didn’t find that out until years later. Crazy. Have had the Intrada / original versions on my phone for years. Tbh it’s all great music. Your video was also great. 👏👏👏
I bought this soundtrack in 1979 prior to seeing the movie , it was the best thing I ever heard (especially the End title) and it still is my favourite score ! .......as with 'Legend' , Jerry will never win the argument !
mark griffiths so did you notice that some of the score had been cut from the film and if so, were you annoyed?
OK. I am too curious now.
Why would you buy a movie soundtrack back in the late 70's before you could hear samples of it on the Internet like we do now?
@@coltseavers6298Back then film soundtrack LP's and cassettes often were released a few weeks before the film. At least this was the case here in Ireland (and I assume Britain). Major films were first released in one region and then (once publicity and film prints were prepared) in other regions. There could be several months between the various release dates.
Howard Hansens Symphony No.2 is simply sublime and so very uplifting.Such a great finale to express relief that the Alien is finally gone and Ripley has survived.Gerry Goldsmiths music throughout the movie is so atmospheric and pivotal as well.Such an amazing score.
German RUclipsr BeHaind brought me here! Great stuff!!!
Goldsmith = Genius
"Goldsmith thought that it would be more interesting to start out with this romantic theme, and give no audible hint of the horrors that would eventually unfold."
This is why scores like that of the original 1992 Candyman or 1980's Cannibal Holocaust haunted me on far more unnerving level than more conventional horror scores like John Carpenter's Halloween or Saw. I think it's the dissonance.
Your vocal impression of Terry Rawlings is hilariously accurate. “Cor! Love a duck!”
Thanks so much for this video I love Alien we were first to see it in 1979 after work in Hollywood I will never forgot that day the line was going around the corner.
My friend, oh my gosh... I must tell you, this video you’ve made is one of THE MOST engrossing things I’ve ever caught on RUclips. I enjoyed it more than I can put in words, but I feel compelled to try! I use RUclips mostly when I’m at work, with earbuds, for something to listen to while I carry out my task. I’ve done this for many years and RARELY do I ever find something that makes me say, “Wait. I have to save this for later so I can watch it as well.” Your video did that; I had to focus on it completely! I’ve been a Goldsmith fan for 34 years, and Alien has always been one of my top favorite scores (Planet of the Apes being #1, actually the sound track that was my introduction to his music.) From the vinyl, I feel I know the music as I am familiar with the Happy Birthday song. But you... YOU brought a level of details I’ve never heard before! For example, I had always wanted to know what the instruments were that Goldsmith used for the many alien sounds. Wow! Now I know, thanks to you. The brilliance of that man has always blown my mind, but you took my appreciation to the next level. In some parts of your video, hearing the music with the education you gave, listening to the music with the visuals, I felt near to tears. A few times I felt my scalp tingling!!! How crazy is that?!? I simply must thank you for this video. You gave me more reason to cherish the man who brought me so many years of joy with his impossibly glorious music!
"The Alien Planet" is one of the creepiest score cuts ever written.
I love the score when they find the space jockey. Others would have probably put some epic music there but the score in the movie makes it haunting, surprising and refreshing, even after 44 years.
The scores used perfectly matched the scenes
Gotta disagree...the temp from Freud worked MUCH BETTER in the airshaft scene than goldsmith's newer score for alien. Can't find much wrong with the way this film was scored
Ultimately it's the director's decision on how the movie will look and sound and it's hard to argue that the end result was lacking. "Alien" will go down as one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time regardless of the drama behind the scenes. Jerry and Ridley are both geniuses.
Brilliant analysis, please do more
He is simply a genius, especially if you consider the many and variant movies and the soundtracks he made for them !
Thank you very much for this!!!! I watched your video analysis yesterday during my lunch break, prior to watching Alien:Covenant later last night. (minor spoiler to follow?) This worked out perfectly, because as it turns out, Goldsmith's original Alien soundtrack is used quite a lot in the latest movie. It's almost as if Ridley Scott was trying to make amends to the late Jerry Goldsmith for having edited out much of the original soundtrack in the original movie. I couldn't help but be very moved by hearing Goldsmith's original score in Covenant, especially knowing what I learned in your video. Kudos to a job well done sir!
It could have been worse for Goldsmith, they could have temp tracked The Waltons.
What is equally amazing to me, aside from how great a score Goldsmith created, was that he hated the dynamic of the crew. The major part of his inspiration to write film music, according to his own words, is derived from the characters, and their emotional attachment to each other, or to someone...anyone. "Alien" had none of this. These were hired hands, forced to co-exist in deep space, who were underpaid, overworked, and unloved. Still, Goldsmith pulls a great score out of his proverbial arse, with a depth of haunting mystery, trepidation, and horror, that only the masters of his craft can achieve. I loved the choice of ending with Hansen's 'Romantic.' It offered a much-needed release from all the tension that Ridley Scott inflicted on his audience.
SWEET JESUS, the original score is RIDICOUSLY better than what they temp!!!! What was they were thinking???? they should have taken a stroll to air their minds when those long hours were taking the best of their judgment ....
I prefer the change in the acid floor sequence to the original. The small hint of mystery and wonder helped bring the whole movie together. It's flirting with familiarized style to represent the audience and the cast exploring something that has never been seen before. Without giving that contrast the whole movie would be so dark that every encounter with the alien would feel the same. I love how sometimes early on you get the feeling they are gonna make a big discovery or figure out what the alien actually is. No one has died yet! Why not sprinkle some curiosity and splendor into the soundtrack in key encounters!
Excellent video, but I wholeheartedly disagree that any part of the movie was lacking musically. Of course I would probably say the same thing if Jerry had got his way in some areas, but it's just impossible to imagine a different "Alien" after it had cemented itself among the great science fiction movies of all time. It's like the Richard Donner cut of "Superman II". After seeing the original Richard Lester cut my whole life, I prefer it over the Richard Donner cut.
I guess you just outlined my "shameful" secret....The ALIEN soundtrack is my favorite recording where barely ANY of it was used in the original film. That still happens here and there, but because it was Jerry Goldsmith, it's certainly the example that's still been the most notorious over the years.
Brilliant video - Thank you !.. And the Geordie Ridley Scott / Cockney Terry Rawlings had me rolling about (>_
Came for the brose stayed for the xenomorphs.
I agree with all Ridley's choices. Some of the original score ends up sounding waaay too cartoony for the scenes it accompanies.
Jerry Goldmith´s original score was beautiful, as always, but i´ve always prefered the final product. Eerie, and every time i think of space, Alien´s music comes to mind.
When that satirical Newcastle accent came up from "Cut out" Ridley Scott Iaughed my ass off....quality.
I agree that the acid splash music Goldsmith originally wrote would've worked better. I disagree on the music for Dallas in the air vent--the Freud music captures the hysteria and terror better.
Great, detailed and incredibly fun video. I'd say 'some' portions of the Goldsmith soundtrack are better, such as for the planet scene and the face-hugger aid scene, but the others are too loud and energetic. So overall the final movie score is better.
The biggest problem of all is that Jerry Goldsmith, genius that he was, didn't think visually whereas Ridley Scott is all about thinking visually. But its also a communication problem on the part f Scott. Look at 'Total Recall' and the incredible work Jerry Goldsmith did there, probably thanks to Paul Verhoeven.
Excellent video and very informative. One of the top Alien analysis video on RUclips. You should really make more videos like this. Maybe music from Aliens analysed next?
hi there! thank you so much for such a wonder video, truly love it!!! i firmly believe that the director and editor should just do their own job and leave jerry goldsmith alone to work his music magic! luckily you can get the original, unadulterated version of the score on CD.
As a Jerry Goldsmith fanatic I needed this. THANK YOU! I have a personal intrest in this movie and recently did a fan-edit with unused footage and the full score. It's definitely a completely different beast.
+1 for the My Bloody Valentine reference. I'm a huge fan of Jerry Goldsmith and MBV.
I think that Scott and Rawlings had the right idea to keep the music "ice cold horror," especially at the main title sequence. I think Goldsmith's music for the "Dallas in the air shafts" sequence works a little better than his _Freud_ music, but his music for the end credits is way too lush and triumphant. The Hanson music is calmer and less bombastic, it suits the movie much better.
Goldsmith's cue for Ash's attack on Ripley is SUPERB, but again, I think it works better to have the music come in when Parker takes his head off. Scott and Rawlings made the right choice to have almost no music in that scene until then.
As an 'interesting aside' Jimmy Shields who did the amazing work as A L I E N's sound designer is the brother of Kevin Shields, the sonic architect from My Bloody Valentine
I adore Jerry Goldsmith's music and I really love his original versions for Alien BUT I still prefer the final cuts. They worked better.
Anyway, Alien will always be my all-time favorite movie.
Great job on the musical analysis and the enteraining way you brought over the whole story about Goldsmith's score to the film.
Looking forward to see/hear more from you on this level ;-) #subscribed
oh man, locked cuts, if you work in post, it's the word that spells nightmares
His last name is Goldsmith because everything he creates turns to gold
Goldsmith wasn't happy at all about the Alien soundtrack. He preferred the more lavish and traditional piece he originally scored for the film. Personally I love the final score that he created under duress from ridley.
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES.....somebody somewhere gets it. I listen to the soundtrack at least once a month!
I am a big fan of Goldsmith Alien soundtrack since childhood. But In my opinion it was too lyrical at time for the mood Scott wanted to establish. He wanted more visceral music, and also at time, some kind of haunted house music for setting the average viewer in the known spooky musical universe that the Freud score delivered wonderfully with its theremine effect. In the end, it is a musical mishmash but it is damn effective from a psychological standpoint. Don't you agree that delivering an out of place musical theme is another way of getting the spectator off balance? I agree that the Hanson symphony was too over the top and was maybe dictated as a choice to release tension in the audience at the time at the end of the film. A choice who has not stand the test of time in my taste. You can find this argument a bit strange but I remember Alan Ladd Jr. (Head of 20th Century Fox at the time) recollecting that after the film premiere, his wife at the time refused to go out of her hotel suite for 3 days because the traumatic shock the film inflicted her. (This commentary is available in the interviews on the special feature of the Alien quadrilogy box set.) I saw it at 12 yo in 1980 and this was as shocking of a film as The Exorcist was back in 1973. People at the time were not used to this kind of refined gothic-horror with it's magnificent imagery and visceral psychological efficiency.
Alien 3 soundtrack by Goldenthal was better.
JG also scored another of my all time favourite movies….CHINATOWN
I like to imagine what Bernard Hermann would have done with it.
You deserve waaaaay more likes and views. This was an incredibly fascinating watch!
Well at least he didn't suffer the same fate as Alex North, who was hired for, and wrote, an entire score for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick didn't want to, he preferred his temp tracks, but at the insistance of the studio he hired Alex North, then Stanley Kubrick simply ignored the wishes of the studio and left his temp tracks in the film.
None of Alex North's music was ever heard in the finished film, and Kubrick didn't tell him he wasn't using his music.
Incidentally Alex North's score for 2001 was later conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, who was a friend of the North family, and released on CD.
PJ B Kubrick had an ego too big to fit into the known universe.
Louella Wilson
I've been thinking about a number of things relating to the music, and going back to the beginning of this vid Tippitiwhychett basically states that both Ridley Scott, and Terry Rawlings had no idea what they were doing, simply because Scott had been making mostly commercials, had only one major film to his credits (The Duelist), and while Terry Rawlings had been around a long time, this was only his 3rd film as an editor.
But Jerry Goldsmith, well he was an old hand, composing music for decades.
I find that rather patronising to be honest; the composers jobs isn't to insert his vision, musically, onto a film, yes he can compose music and see how it's received and whether or not he's on the same wavelength as the film maker.
Clearly Ridley Scott (and Terry Rawlings was in agreement with him) had a particular vision as to how he wanted the music to sound, and I think he and Rawlings showed their appreciation by actually picking temp music (apart from Howard Hanson and WA Mozart in 2 places) which was actually composed by Goldsmith.
So, after listening to Goldsmith's remarks about how disappointed he was that his music wasn't used, or was used in places he'd never intended it to be in, I rather come to the conclusion that, well, he didn't give Scott what he wanted, Ok, he wrote great music, I actually like his original music for this film, but, I actually like the music that both Scott and Rawlings picked, it gave the film the pace and feel they both wanted, so I think Goldsmith could have just said, Ok, well I'll rewrite that bit and give you something more along the lines of what you want (although he actually says he rewrote the opening sequence to give Ridley what he wanted, but didn't like it all that much).
So I think there's somewhat a clash of egos going on there.
You have to wonder if Fox was just really bad at scheduling back in the day. They famously set a release date for Alien 3 before they had a finished script, and Aliens had a similarly hectic soundtrack process with a lot of re-tracking in the edit, much like Alien.
Regarding that Alex North story, similar things definitely did happen to Jerry Goldsmith, although I think Jerry got a heads up. The biggest are probably his unused scores for Timeline (which was insane) and Poltergeist 3 (which he essentially got to re-use for The Haunting, so it worked out in the end I guess). Poltergeist without Jerry Goldsmith just didn't work well at all, with the third film having the mood of a bad Nightmare on Elm Street movie, and The Haunting soundtrack is one of my favourites of his.
There's another video on RUclips, an interview with Jerry Goldsmith, and I have to agree with you, he comes off as very arrogant, he seems to think that his music should be used as is because he wrote it specifically for the film, Ridley's vision didn't matter. And he states that in the movie, specifically noting the opening and closing credit scenes, which Ridley replaced because he wanted, the opening in particular, to be much creepier and foreboding.
I do like Goldsmiths original attempt, its very, nice, Alien isn't a nice film, so I personally thought that the opening track is now much better, creepier, and foreboding.
The closing track, I'm not entirely sure why they went with classical music, but anyway the classical track does fit quite nicely.
So yeah, Goldsmith seems to think he's in the right about his interpretation, and Ridley should have kept the tracks he'd written where he'd originally intended, but I quite enjoyed the movie in the way it had been put together, I don't think he has anything really to complain about.
Man, this was great.
PLEASE do more Jerry scores. Maybe, like this one, do more of his Soundtracks that either had a rough or interesting history. Or bunch them together.
P.S - You notice how the "Time" melody has been in 90% of his movies, just masked as something else?
This needs more views! As a massive Jerry Goldsmith fanboy, this was a great documentary. Even though Alien Covenant was a disappointing movie, I was glad the composer brought back the famous (and scary !) two note motif.
By the way, have you by any chance ever checked out Krzysztof Penderecki's music ? I think his music was Goldsmiths inspiration for Alien. Just speculation from my part of course, but I can't help noticing some similarities.
Great video! I would never have guessed that the "rattlesnake" sound was a didgeridoo (I was convinced it had to be a synthesizer). To your knowledge, is there an existing version of this film with only Goldsmith's original music (e.g. no Freud or Symphony No. 2)?
Your detailed work about the fabulous film ALIEN open my brain . Jerry Goldsmith was realy the greatest composer in the history….
You are an absolute genius and this analysis was a treat
Quite possibly the best soundtrack ever. Hauntingly beautiful, scary , atmospheric. Great content cheers.
OMG, I have to watch this movie again now, and its already 2am. It will be worth it though :)
Buckarooz i NEVER get tired of this movie!
I want more!
The theme score is half of this films greatness.
It's hard to second guess the director and film editor's scoring choices, but Jerry Goldsmith's music is also magical and mysterious. I'm glad there's comparisons out here like this video to make us aware of these choices and their effects on the final cut.
Ridley Scott has no musical ability at all.
I saw the movie when it first came out (I was 22). When the opening credits started I was already scared. The music is brilliant!
I don't know, i like replaces in their entirety. Acid spit was more urgent, yes, but replacement also lets us feel ourselves in crew members shoes, starting slowly as realization comes that this stuff eats trough steel floor, being more... strange (i don't know how to decribe this) giving impression of perplexity of people who don't know what is happening and only told to follow the captain, and being more constant portraying not people's rush to lower decks, but constant movement of acid trough surfaces. Or vent theme - it fits just brilliantly! The strings seem to be calm, selling fake safety of vents, but also showing claustrophobia, lonliness, and knowledge of what waits ahead
Yes, Goldsmith's tracks are much more interconnected and vivid, but replacements work just better. Scott knew how to do his job back in the days. I hope he remembers once it again for Blade Runner and Alien: Covenant
aaaand subbed! You did an impeccable job!!
Goldsmith famously rewrote the Star Trek theme when the director said it wasn’t right. The results were noticeably better. They didn’t throw it out and use temp music. Even as a kid that Freud music and symphony sounded odd.
Came here from the german youtuber behaind who recommended this in hist last video about Alien 👍👍
Great vid. I do enjoy the film version of the main title. But TBH I prefer the Goldsmith's end credit theme instead of Howard Hanson's symphony.
Ditto. :)
great analysis. thanks. I encourage every composer to study the printed score which is now available @ Chris Siddall Music Publishing
Great video, but the music theory that you're coming up with is full of errors. That motif has nothing to do with the whole tone scale. That is a major 7th interval, and whole tone scales do not have a major 7th interval in them. The motif further features a progression from the major 7th interval, to a perfect fourth, back to the maj. 7th. There are no perfect fourths in a whole tone scale. There are only major 3rds and tritones. Calling the intervals this has nothing to do with traditional major and minor chordal triads. Intervals are a different matter entirely. These notes could be placed in the key of C major. The chord progression, in that case, would be C maj to A minor. In this case, the B would be considered a non-harmonic tone, or it could be considered a 7th to the chord.
eh whatever.
@@Gordontrek Stupid comment from an equally stupid individual.
@@connorbowen8867 Whatever? What!
@@jslasher1 yeah, whatever...I'm not a skilled musician and theory errors don't negate the analysis. No matter the chords or how you name them, it's the effect I'm interested in. The orchestration, performance, recording, etc. that's what makes this score a bona fide classic.
That shock when the face hugger dropped onto Ripley's shoulder WOULD'VE been scarier WITH Goldsmith's score!
I think they got it right.
Music helps the story telling of a scene that needs emotional direction.
That scene did not need emotional direction.
The audience is already on edge.
it plays perfectly as ripley is naturally hyper reactive , but to an inert dead creature. Ripley screams, but no music hints that this emotion is flat to the creature being inert. reflecting the scene perfectly.
Thank you so much for this excellent video, which I fortunately found by random surfing. I'll know where to point people now who are asking about the controversy about the music score. It's ironic that Goldsmith was Oscar nominated (he refused the nomination and caused bad feeling in the Academy), Grammy nominated and BAFTA nominated for 'Alien' (presumably on the film print version). I love the score, especially 'Nothing To Say', 'The Landing', 'Parker's Death' and the cue you mentioned just after the Nostromo is destroyed. I still think 'Star Trek: TMP' is a better Goldsmith score overall, although that's also due to it dominating that film in the way Goldsmith and Robert Wise intended.
Scott's more low-key approach to the music suited the film much better.
The excerpts from Freud are laughably over the top, whereas Goldsmith's original cues are far more tense and subdued.
"Laughable"? Not sure if there is anything funny in that score. Though after watching the film numerous times since the age of 11, its impossible for me to divorce the music from the scenes/images. I couldn't accept it any other way now.
I'm a great admirer of Goldsmith, but I'm not sure at times who was right and who was mistaken about the use of his music in 'Alien'. At least in terms of what was most effective from moment to moment in the film. So I accept either point of view (Scott/Rawlings vs Goldsmith). Goldsmith's original score might make more sense throughout the movie, but I see the argument that some of the changes are highly effective when watching the movie.
Great video!!!
Privet, my friends!What a brilliant analysis of this movie's score!It is just as Mozart believed...there is beauty (and in this case HORROR) in simplicity! This is also the first movie I cannot choose sides...Composer of Director! I agree with both! Personally, I agree with Goldsmith, the beginning where the "ALIEN" title unfolding, Scott should have kept Trumpet solo in. Trumpets (Shofars) are long associated with Angels. Thus introducing the audience not only with the Main Theme, but also give viewers sense of thr Angel of Death blowing a sad warning (using whole tone scale, non-vibrato)Hostile Loneliness, the fact that it is ONE Trumpet calling sadly the strong but it's largo Tempo and using Lydian scale, whole tone scale, the PERFECT choice of placing the 7ths most effective pitches but also subtle thereby providing amazing overtones together with the Double Basses (an important Section that is almost another character of the film) creating a waveform of intense loneliness, vast space (Long Largo lines)...hostile space (7ths)... mysterious space (various harmonic inversions and modal scales esp Lydian)! At first I was disappointed when Scott removed Trumpet Solo from Sickbay's Cryogenic Lab scene! I guess I just love Goldsmith's harmonic phrases in this Film. Where can I get one of those EchoPlex Boxes?
С уважением,
Mikhail Rimsky-Korsakov
Jerry Goldsmith absolute GENIUS!!
Funny, this is my favorite movie of all time, and my favorite scene in the movie is Dallas in the vent. One of the main reasons for this is the score during this scene. I’m so happy they didn’t use the original score, maybe it’s technically consistent with theme or whatever, but from an uneducated viewer’s POV, someone who has loved this from a young age, the Freud score during this scene (and pretty much everywhere else they used it) is SUCH the right move.
Couldn’t have put it better myself mate 👍👊
Fucking amazing film mate. Makes me want to watch the Jerry Goldsmith cut.
Well done sir. Very interesting stuff. Love it.
You should do more of this kind of stuff.
Great video! Though I would've put the score more in the context of contemporary classical and modernism.
It was great you pointed out Bartok (Which I knew was a direct reference when I first heard the score). But Goldsmith's score is also very evocative of Penderecki (especially), Messiaen (the parts of the score that particularly focus on the wind section), Mahler and Stravinsky. But one of the most plain influences is the main theme (the one that didn't make it to the final cut), which sounds like a pastiche of Scriabin.
Very well made video though, you've got a sub! :)
+John Appleseed This is great stuff! Might be worth doing a follow up video on this. I'll admit I'm nowhere near as informed on classical as I should be. If you can tell me what pieces to look at, that'd be amazingly helpful!
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Hope you ll make the videos about Aliens and Horner's music as well as
Goldenthal's interesting soundtrack for the third movie. I m not musically educated but I know many things regarding classical music and movie score... If you are willing, I can help you with the future Alien music projects :)
He could also check Edgard Varèse ( Amériques AND Arcana). Einojuhani Rautavaara - esspecialy his composition Angels and Visitations released in 1978 which is QUITE reminiscent to Alien soundtrack! Giacinto Scelsi also comes to mind. His Quattro Pezzi, Anahit, Aion ,Chukrum and Hurqualia are straight from Alien universe. Very strange and unsetteling melodies. I have more references somewhere in my PC, but I need to find them :)
Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question. Trumpet parts!
The intro to Alien is superb.
Amazing work ! Very interesting video for soundtrack lovers. The 2 CD's album of Alien is a must have because it contains alternate cues too
Prometheus is a prequel, not a spin-off. And it's not disappointing - it's the best Alien film since Aliens.
Also, you don't know much about movies if you think a composer ought to have more say in the finished product than the director.
It’s extremely disappointing actually, Alien 3 is better than Prometheus, by a country mile. Prometheus is better than Resurrection and Covenant tho. But each to their own…
Scott and Rawlings choice for the opening credits score is a stroke of masterpiece. Eerie, creepy, haunting, scary, evocative of the horrors to come, and unforgettably great! I'm glad goldsmith was overridden. His choice smacked way too much of Hollywood grandiosity, reminiscent of superman scores. The concept of less is more is not big in Hollywood ( pun intended). A notable exception is gyorgy ligeti's atmospheres in 2001: a space odyssey, another masterpiece. Great commentary!
Thank heavens you didn't work on this film. Had you done so it would have been a mess.
i think both intros are great