Both pieces contribute to the suspense of the sequence, yet the unused music (and thank you for posting it, as this is the first time I've heard it) sets the action too early. The trajectory of the film is that of straightforward anxiety, without fat. From the tuba oomps to the slightly hammy string shrills, the unused music gives too much too soon. Scott was a filmmkaer, and a gifted one, crafting a story honed to a fever-pitch. Goldsmith's quieter, eerie mood for "Freud" invokes forboding without giving the store away. A slow-build. Something's going to happen. Sit tight. Build . . . . Build . . . . "Alien" is a brillant, straightforward walk through a haunted house. The candelabra flickering in the draft, the unidentified noise from above - or below. All the classic spooky elements. Only in sci-fi guise. (Think of the flamethrower as an ol' fashioned candelbara. The damsel walking through the house or castle, meekly crying-out, "Who's there?") Build . . . . Build . . . . By the time her crew has been killed and Ash revealed as a synthetic corporate ringer, the main principal is without hope. By that reel, the film is in full heart-pound mode. Scott know what he was doing. That is why he rightly eliminated several scenes, notably the latter one where Ripley discovers Dallas and Brett "cocooned." It slowed-down the pace. And the race. The race to get outta' there and "blow this f*cker into space." Scott knew that too much too soon would not work. A slow burn rather than a, well, flamethrower. Most of today's filmmakers don't understand this, perhaps because of the current attitude in Hollywood that condescends to moviegoers rather than involving them.
Great job as usual. This is one of those instances where I think Ridley definitely made the wrong choice sticking with his temp track and Goldsmith's music for Freud. This is soooo good here.
Those rapid and often irregular time signature changes alone are unsettling enough. Combined with those intervals it's pure audio anxiety. Thanks for this video!
I just love the way Goldsmith uses the serpent here! It has a menacing, almost screaming sound that really fits with the mood. It's also here, I think that the instrument is really established as signifying the Alien, as it begins as we first see it approaching and swells when it attacks! Thanks so much for these great Reductions! keep up the good work!
I feel like the "Freud" tracking works in that it plays on our fear for Dallas while he tries to do the right thing and spare his crew. This piece definitely feels more like it's the whole crew vs. the alien.
The original DVD release did have the option of watching the movie with Goldsmith's original cues. The problem is that Goldsmith clearly scored a longer cut of the film than the one released in the cinemas in 1979. Take 'Parker's Death' for example. It seems to match the longer version of that scene. The same is true for 'The Landing'.
The thing that's always bothered me about the way Goldsmith's music was chopped up and minimized in the final version of this film, and the way they stuck to their temp choices, is that film is inherently a collaborative art form. Alien is not simply Ridley Scott's film, it's the sum of Dan O'Bannon's vision and that of all the other contributors ... the Freud temp cues that ended up in the movie work just fine of course. I mean, this is one of my favorite films of all time. But I feel like Terry Rawlings must have always dreamed of being a film composer, he was seemingly so attached to his temp track that he would fight to keep it in the film ... Meanwhile Goldsmith is as much of a storyteller as Scott or any of the other collaborators, and usually the elements he's emphasizing are not just "gotcha" jump scares or rote tension-building stuff, his music is almost always adding real depth (to the extent that's possible). To my ears the original main title (and end title) music is not just "space opera" romantic idiom stuff, it really expresses something ineffable - like the Ives piece mentioned elsewhere - it's certainly as strong as the Howard Hanson piece they ended up using at the end. It's like ... you hired *Jerry Goldsmith*, and now you don't trust his instincts? I feel like the diminishment of Goldsmith's contribution maybe says something about Scott's insecurity about what he was making. It seems to me like they almost always went for the most obvious choice when they were making the final decisions about what the music would do in the film, whereas Goldsmith was making something more rich. But if you've read this far you will rightly assume JG could do no wrong in my eyes : )
I’m very impressed that you were able to pick out those 64th notes in the celli and violas where they were moving in 4ths and tritones. You must have perfect pitch and a really good pair of headphones to hear that so accurately.
I've been trying to think why (and I hate to say this but) I prefer the 'resuscitated' Freud score. And I think the reason is twofold. I have heard this soundtrack, and indeed watched the film ever since the late 70's, when I was quite young (ahem), and as such I've been used to hearing the two in tandem with one another. Only late in life when I heard the original score as was intended by Goldsmith, did I think 'Oh ok, nice music, but....' This provoked a disconnect, for me, a bit like a director using a temp score, for years in his head, then getting something other than what he expected for the final score. I Think, for me, the other reason is simply that I prefer the piece from Freud, regardless of how it was used, it's a more sinister sounding piece of music. Great analysis again David. Would love more Goldsmith please! (Capricorn One Hint, hint).
Completely agree. Jerry gave a little bit too much and too early in this particular scene (and several others across the movie). His own music from “Freud” works perfectly well for this scene. But... again : Jerry’s piece composed for this scene works well too, as long as during mixing process some elements (instruments) could have been either omitted (thinning out the score vertically a bit at times) or EQ-ed differently to take out that “heaviness”. But for the entire movie : Jerry’s at his very best ! Should have won an Oscar (whatever that even matters).
Thanks so much for this. Magnificent score. One of the things the film version has going for it is this sense of a tragic menace that is completely outside Dallas's control. The music isn't "with him" at all. It's just a swooping horrific countdown to his death.
It's also another of many - accidental in this case, I guess - nods to Kubrick. The Shining would have been in production during the scording of Alien.
This is one of my favorite track of the entire score, since it appeared in the very first album release and until now I always wondered how it would work on the film scene. Thank you David for giving me the opportunity to know the answer. I've also always had the belief that the "stalk theme" from this cue has greatly influenced the "surprise attack theme" from "Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan" by Horner. What do you think about that?
The "Stalking motif" at 2:18 sounds so atonal and so "alien"... It really gives me serious paranoia for some reason.. Jerry Goldsmith truly was a master of orchestration..
BTW--In a future that has created fast-than-light travel, why is there a shortage of lightbulbs? How can carrying open flame in a space ship be a good idea? The six-tone chord at 1:55 that expands to a full 12-tone chord of interlocking tritones a couple of bars later is great. Charles Rosen said that in Schoenberg such constructions served as cognates for tonic chords. Used here, the little modal bass line (the stalking motif) has that whiff of Vaughan Williams that Goldsmith always seemed to be hovering near along with a wide-ranging klangfarbenmelodie-like tune that was stock-in-trade for academic composers, or folk like Rautavaara or Rochberg, in the 1950's and 1960's.
I have no idea what a lot of the terminology means in detail, but this kinda makes me want to learn. As a musical layman, I tend to think the filmmakers were right to use the Freud music for this scene, despite this music being superbly composed (as I would expect from a talented professional like Jerry Goldsmith). I think what I would say is that this score here plays the "outside" of the sequence, with the "stalking" theme, as you very appropriately call it. That is lining up with the fact that Dallas is being stalked and trapped. However, as excellent as this music is, that feeling that it is giving is already conveyed very well by the design of the sets, the lighting, and the shot selection, all of which emphasize how enclosed and vulnerable Dallas is (those hatches in particular seem designed to be some claustrophobe's nightmare of how to be shut in). What the Freud clips do (perhaps not surprisingly, given that film's subject matter) is play the "inside" of the sequence: Dallas' emotions, which he suggests but cannot fully express. The high strings, especially rising toward the end, are like his crying out and eventually screaming from inside, even if he cannot show that to his crew. I think that complements the sequence design even better. I'll definitely be looking at more of these.
David, IMHO Both scores function very well ih this cue. The original cue (that you just provided reduction right here) works just fine, but perhaps at some points the music gets a little bit in the way of dialogue, perhaps builds tension and heavy crescendos a bit too early. But the climax is great ! Remarkable ! I love the stack of [6,11,0] as a building block :-) If I was mixing the final, with foley and dialogue, I would perhaps thin out some sections, by omitting certain instruments from multi-track recording, perhaps EQ them differently... On the other hand the eerie sounding "Freud" (from Jerry's own earlier assignment) works remarkably well as well in this cue. So, there you go ! It's the matter of a delicate balance and appropriate mix, to create certain mood. From any composer's perspective : it's every composer's nightmare to write music where your own music was already used as a temp (Ughhh...)
Thank you for the great-as-usual reduction and analysis work, very appreciated. About the historical dispute between Jerry Goldsmith and Ridley Scott, although the original tracks are great, I think Scott was almost always right all along. For example, the romantic original main theme is a wonderful piece of music, but the atonal rewriting that Scott obtained from a reluctant Goldsmith (which he didn't love at all) is far better suited to the feeling of remoteness and unknown established by the movie's opening scenes. And about "The Shaft" sequence, I find the original track is a little too bombastic here and there, while the "Freud" cue used by Scott is way more minimal and effective, with a nightmarish vibe (the "Charcot's Show" was a hypnosis scene, indeed). Namely, the Bartok-like motif played by high strings in "Charcot's Show" seems to perfectly convey the Dallas' fear and sense of hopelessness. In contrast, the original track seems to me much more focused on the action than on the characher's feelings.
The notion for "the romantic original main theme" was to put the viewer into a mindset that he is watching some classical sci-fi, not some horror-ish thriller, which was IMO a great idea. I disagree with Scott's intention to reveal, right from the start, it's gonna be a claustrophobic thriller. It cheapens the story arc somewhat.
@@consonaadversapars The point is precisely that Alien was not intended by Ridley Scott to be a classical sci-fi, and in fact he tried in every way to move away from that suggestion, to rather build build a sort of psychoanalytical nightmare, based on some crazy and never-seen-before design (Giger's art). He was trying to do the 2001 of space thrillings, while Goldsmith's theme was rather classic in style. In fact, that was exactly the same dualism that there had been between Kubrick and Alex North for 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Kubrick refusing the classical North's score to give preference to different musical suggestions (Ligeti most of all). I love Jerry Goldsmith music and to me Alien is one of the best scores ever, but the movie's director was Ridley Scott, not Goldsmith.
@@cosmodrome9478 Of course Alien was not intended as a classical sci-fi, which is the point of the original classical sci-fi theme. The way Goldsmith wanted it was, it starts as a classical score so the viewer does not know it's actually a horror-ish thriller, but as the film progresses, the score starts to change, it's way better approach than what Scott did, IMO.
It's difficult to judge which version is better, since the 'Freud' cues are already so long established for this scene. While the film version does suffer from audio characteristics that make it clear the 'Freud' cues were not organic, they are still very effective and show off Terry Rawlings editing skills.
This is definitely a cue I wish was kept in the final cut. Again, maybe it's just the distractingly archival relative sound quality of the Freud cues used in the final cut, but I feel like the tone is just a little off using them. I do think that Goldsmith should've maybe listened to Scott's tonal suggestions when writing this cue, since it does have the disadvantage of being all suspense, and no sorrow over the near certainty that Dallas is doomed, like the Freud cues imply when used. However, I do think this cue better fits both the overall makeup of the score, whilst complimenting the scene a bit more appropriately. This is as tense and claustrophobic as it gets in the film prior to Ripley being the only one left, and this cue definitely feels more tense than the Freud cues, which feel a bit more somber than truly eerie and suspenseful, though still fairly eerie. Then again, said eeriness is probably because it's maybe a little too obviously similar to Bartok's Music for Strings, Celeste and Percussion.
This is better than the Freud temp that Rawling’s used. There’s a good UA-cam video called “Alien’s soundtrack is a masterpiece.” Also better is the egg chamber original track
Opinion divided here, I completely agree the original Goldsmith score, didn't needed to be cut off, it pays some consistency with the rest of the score. BUT, I also love the Freud ripoff they used in the final cut, so...score filming history is plenty of such things, in this case in particular although, the final result was not too much, I mean, it could be worse.
To each their own, but I don’t understand why this version gets so much love. I thought the track from the Freud was so much creepier and unique. It sticks with you. This version sounds kind of generic to me. Jmo
I have never been able to take Alien seriously because of the patchwork nature of the music. It is disorienting in all the wrong ways. If I remember, Howard Hanson's Second Symphony plays at the end. [At least John Williams rewrote it (wittily) in E.T.] This cue makes musical sense. Love all those quartal chords as six-tone sets a half step apart. Plus the serpent part is bonkers.
they had NO business using FREUD here..this cue fits 1979 score, not 1962 score..idiot decisions by editor AND director. The only change I like in the score is the darker main title, it works better than the first composition..imo.
Both pieces contribute to the suspense of the sequence, yet the unused music (and thank you for posting it, as this is the first time I've heard it) sets the action too early. The trajectory of the film is that of straightforward anxiety, without fat. From the tuba oomps to the slightly hammy string shrills, the unused music gives too much too soon. Scott was a filmmkaer, and a gifted one, crafting a story honed to a fever-pitch. Goldsmith's quieter, eerie mood for "Freud" invokes forboding without giving the store away. A slow-build. Something's going to happen. Sit tight. Build . . . . Build . . . .
"Alien" is a brillant, straightforward walk through a haunted house. The candelabra flickering in the draft, the unidentified noise from above - or below. All the classic spooky elements. Only in sci-fi guise. (Think of the flamethrower as an ol' fashioned candelbara. The damsel walking through the house or castle, meekly crying-out, "Who's there?") Build . . . . Build . . . . By the time her crew has been killed and Ash revealed as a synthetic corporate ringer, the main principal is without hope. By that reel, the film is in full heart-pound mode. Scott know what he was doing. That is why he rightly eliminated several scenes, notably the latter one where Ripley discovers Dallas and Brett "cocooned." It slowed-down the pace. And the race. The race to get outta' there and "blow this f*cker into space." Scott knew that too much too soon would not work. A slow burn rather than a, well, flamethrower. Most of today's filmmakers don't understand this, perhaps because of the current attitude in Hollywood that condescends to moviegoers rather than involving them.
Great job as usual. This is one of those instances where I think Ridley definitely made the wrong choice sticking with his temp track and Goldsmith's music for Freud. This is soooo good here.
Jesus Christ, this cue is terrifying...
Those rapid and often irregular time signature changes alone are unsettling enough. Combined with those intervals it's pure audio anxiety. Thanks for this video!
I just love the way Goldsmith uses the serpent here! It has a menacing, almost screaming sound that really fits with the mood. It's also here, I think that the instrument is really established as signifying the Alien, as it begins as we first see it approaching and swells when it attacks!
Thanks so much for these great Reductions! keep up the good work!
ah! so it´s a serpant! never knew that :) thx
Goldsmith taking cues from Williams' shark motif
I feel like the "Freud" tracking works in that it plays on our fear for Dallas while he tries to do the right thing and spare his crew. This piece definitely feels more like it's the whole crew vs. the alien.
Thank you for doing these! The original Alien score is phenomenal.
I really want a "Composer's Cut" of this film.
The original DVD release did have the option of watching the movie with Goldsmith's original cues. The problem is that Goldsmith clearly scored a longer cut of the film than the one released in the cinemas in 1979. Take 'Parker's Death' for example. It seems to match the longer version of that scene. The same is true for 'The Landing'.
That guy from Dallas, did he dieded??
Goldsmith was the man... And this is under rated.
The thing that's always bothered me about the way Goldsmith's music was chopped up and minimized in the final version of this film, and the way they stuck to their temp choices, is that film is inherently a collaborative art form. Alien is not simply Ridley Scott's film, it's the sum of Dan O'Bannon's vision and that of all the other contributors ... the Freud temp cues that ended up in the movie work just fine of course. I mean, this is one of my favorite films of all time. But I feel like Terry Rawlings must have always dreamed of being a film composer, he was seemingly so attached to his temp track that he would fight to keep it in the film ... Meanwhile Goldsmith is as much of a storyteller as Scott or any of the other collaborators, and usually the elements he's emphasizing are not just "gotcha" jump scares or rote tension-building stuff, his music is almost always adding real depth (to the extent that's possible). To my ears the original main title (and end title) music is not just "space opera" romantic idiom stuff, it really expresses something ineffable - like the Ives piece mentioned elsewhere - it's certainly as strong as the Howard Hanson piece they ended up using at the end. It's like ... you hired *Jerry Goldsmith*, and now you don't trust his instincts? I feel like the diminishment of Goldsmith's contribution maybe says something about Scott's insecurity about what he was making. It seems to me like they almost always went for the most obvious choice when they were making the final decisions about what the music would do in the film, whereas Goldsmith was making something more rich. But if you've read this far you will rightly assume JG could do no wrong in my eyes : )
Seriously. His extraordinary talent for orchestration is why he’s the greatest. I mean look at what he does with them. A true master.
I’m very impressed that you were able to pick out those 64th notes in the celli and violas where they were moving in 4ths and tritones. You must have perfect pitch and a really good pair of headphones to hear that so accurately.
I've been trying to think why (and I hate to say this but) I prefer the 'resuscitated' Freud score. And I think the reason is twofold. I have heard this soundtrack, and indeed watched the film ever since the late 70's, when I was quite young (ahem), and as such I've been used to hearing the two in tandem with one another. Only late in life when I heard the original score as was intended by Goldsmith, did I think 'Oh ok, nice music, but....' This provoked a disconnect, for me, a bit like a director using a temp score, for years in his head, then getting something other than what he expected for the final score. I Think, for me, the other reason is simply that I prefer the piece from Freud, regardless of how it was used, it's a more sinister sounding piece of music. Great analysis again David. Would love more Goldsmith please! (Capricorn One Hint, hint).
Completely agree. Jerry gave a little bit too much and too early in this particular scene (and several others across the movie). His own music from “Freud” works perfectly well for this scene. But... again : Jerry’s piece composed for this scene works well too, as long as during mixing process some elements (instruments) could have been either omitted (thinning out the score vertically a bit at times) or EQ-ed differently to take out that “heaviness”. But for the entire movie : Jerry’s at his very best ! Should have won an Oscar (whatever that even matters).
You're the best score reduction/analysis channel on youtube thanks so much for your hard work
Thanks so much for this. Magnificent score. One of the things the film version has going for it is this sense of a tragic menace that is completely outside Dallas's control. The music isn't "with him" at all. It's just a swooping horrific countdown to his death.
It's also another of many - accidental in this case, I guess - nods to Kubrick. The Shining would have been in production during the scording of Alien.
This is one of my favorite track of the entire score, since it appeared in the very first album release and until now I always wondered how it would work on the film scene. Thank you David for giving me the opportunity to know the answer. I've also always had the belief that the "stalk theme" from this cue has greatly influenced the "surprise attack theme" from "Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan" by Horner. What do you think about that?
The "Stalking motif" at 2:18 sounds so atonal and so "alien"... It really gives me serious paranoia for some reason.. Jerry Goldsmith truly was a master of orchestration..
NOW THIS IS ....creative .....
Incredibly. He has a mind for orchestration the likes of which I still marvel at. Don’t even know how his brain comes up with this stuff
BTW--In a future that has created fast-than-light travel, why is there a shortage of lightbulbs? How can carrying open flame in a space ship be a good idea?
The six-tone chord at 1:55 that expands to a full 12-tone chord of interlocking tritones a couple of bars later is great. Charles Rosen said that in Schoenberg such constructions served as cognates for tonic chords. Used here, the little modal bass line (the stalking motif) has that whiff of Vaughan Williams that Goldsmith always seemed to be hovering near along with a wide-ranging klangfarbenmelodie-like tune that was stock-in-trade for academic composers, or folk like Rautavaara or Rochberg, in the 1950's and 1960's.
I have no idea what a lot of the terminology means in detail, but this kinda makes me want to learn. As a musical layman, I tend to think the filmmakers were right to use the Freud music for this scene, despite this music being superbly composed (as I would expect from a talented professional like Jerry Goldsmith).
I think what I would say is that this score here plays the "outside" of the sequence, with the "stalking" theme, as you very appropriately call it. That is lining up with the fact that Dallas is being stalked and trapped. However, as excellent as this music is, that feeling that it is giving is already conveyed very well by the design of the sets, the lighting, and the shot selection, all of which emphasize how enclosed and vulnerable Dallas is (those hatches in particular seem designed to be some claustrophobe's nightmare of how to be shut in).
What the Freud clips do (perhaps not surprisingly, given that film's subject matter) is play the "inside" of the sequence: Dallas' emotions, which he suggests but cannot fully express. The high strings, especially rising toward the end, are like his crying out and eventually screaming from inside, even if he cannot show that to his crew. I think that complements the sequence design even better.
I'll definitely be looking at more of these.
He is using a serpent! What a genius idea is it!
David, IMHO Both scores function very well ih this cue.
The original cue (that you just provided reduction right here) works just fine, but perhaps at some points the music gets a little bit in the way of dialogue, perhaps builds tension and heavy crescendos a bit too early. But the climax is great ! Remarkable ! I love the stack of [6,11,0] as a building block :-) If I was mixing the final, with foley and dialogue, I would perhaps thin out some sections, by omitting certain instruments from multi-track recording, perhaps EQ them differently... On the other hand the eerie sounding "Freud" (from Jerry's own earlier assignment) works remarkably well as well in this cue. So, there you go ! It's the matter of a delicate balance and appropriate mix, to create certain mood. From any composer's perspective : it's every composer's nightmare to write music where your own music was already used as a temp (Ughhh...)
Don't you just know he wanted to put a mournful trumpet solo in there, somewhere? (Nice work on the reduction!)
Thank you for the great-as-usual reduction and analysis work, very appreciated.
About the historical dispute between Jerry Goldsmith and Ridley Scott, although the original tracks are great, I think Scott was almost always right all along. For example, the romantic original main theme is a wonderful piece of music, but the atonal rewriting that Scott obtained from a reluctant Goldsmith (which he didn't love at all) is far better suited to the feeling of remoteness and unknown established by the movie's opening scenes.
And about "The Shaft" sequence, I find the original track is a little too bombastic here and there, while the "Freud" cue used by Scott is way more minimal and effective, with a nightmarish vibe (the "Charcot's Show" was a hypnosis scene, indeed). Namely, the Bartok-like motif played by high strings in "Charcot's Show" seems to perfectly convey the Dallas' fear and sense of hopelessness. In contrast, the original track seems to me much more focused on the action than on the characher's feelings.
The notion for "the romantic original main theme" was to put the viewer into a mindset that he is watching some classical sci-fi, not some horror-ish thriller, which was IMO a great idea. I disagree with Scott's intention to reveal, right from the start, it's gonna be a claustrophobic thriller. It cheapens the story arc somewhat.
@@consonaadversapars The point is precisely that Alien was not intended by Ridley Scott to be a classical sci-fi, and in fact he tried in every way to move away from that suggestion, to rather build build a sort of psychoanalytical nightmare, based on some crazy and never-seen-before design (Giger's art). He was trying to do the 2001 of space thrillings, while Goldsmith's theme was rather classic in style. In fact, that was exactly the same dualism that there had been between Kubrick and Alex North for 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Kubrick refusing the classical North's score to give preference to different musical suggestions (Ligeti most of all).
I love Jerry Goldsmith music and to me Alien is one of the best scores ever, but the movie's director was Ridley Scott, not Goldsmith.
@@cosmodrome9478 Of course Alien was not intended as a classical sci-fi, which is the point of the original classical sci-fi theme. The way Goldsmith wanted it was, it starts as a classical score so the viewer does not know it's actually a horror-ish thriller, but as the film progresses, the score starts to change, it's way better approach than what Scott did, IMO.
@@consonaadversapars Agree !
@1:19 one of the contrabass players hit that barely audible low "C" too early, but it didn't get edited :-)
Finally, I can hear two tubas muted…
It's difficult to judge which version is better, since the 'Freud' cues are already so long established for this scene. While the film version does suffer from audio characteristics that make it clear the 'Freud' cues were not organic, they are still very effective and show off Terry Rawlings editing skills.
Jerry Goldsmith was THE master, and it is truly a shame how his brilliant music was butchered in this film.
This is definitely a cue I wish was kept in the final cut. Again, maybe it's just the distractingly archival relative sound quality of the Freud cues used in the final cut, but I feel like the tone is just a little off using them. I do think that Goldsmith should've maybe listened to Scott's tonal suggestions when writing this cue, since it does have the disadvantage of being all suspense, and no sorrow over the near certainty that Dallas is doomed, like the Freud cues imply when used. However, I do think this cue better fits both the overall makeup of the score, whilst complimenting the scene a bit more appropriately. This is as tense and claustrophobic as it gets in the film prior to Ripley being the only one left, and this cue definitely feels more tense than the Freud cues, which feel a bit more somber than truly eerie and suspenseful, though still fairly eerie. Then again, said eeriness is probably because it's maybe a little too obviously similar to Bartok's Music for Strings, Celeste and Percussion.
WHERE can we get an actual score ????
Agree :-) Lots of Bartok...and of course, Lutoslawski !
Beautiful piece of music, but it feels so busy compared to the visuals on the screen
This is better than the Freud temp that Rawling’s used. There’s a good UA-cam video called “Alien’s soundtrack is a masterpiece.” Also better is the egg chamber original track
“No the other way Dallas!”
As much as I love this music, I think Ridley made the correct choice using Goldsmith's Freud soundtrack in this part.
Opinion divided here, I completely agree the original Goldsmith score, didn't needed to be cut off, it pays some consistency with the rest of the score. BUT, I also love the Freud ripoff they used in the final cut, so...score filming history is plenty of such things, in this case in particular although, the final result was not too much, I mean, it could be worse.
It sort of reminds me of jaws also
To each their own, but I don’t understand why this version gets so much love. I thought the track from the Freud was so much creepier and unique. It sticks with you. This version sounds kind of generic to me. Jmo
I have never been able to take Alien seriously because of the patchwork nature of the music. It is disorienting in all the wrong ways. If I remember, Howard Hanson's Second Symphony plays at the end. [At least John Williams rewrote it (wittily) in E.T.]
This cue makes musical sense. Love all those quartal chords as six-tone sets a half step apart. Plus the serpent part is bonkers.
they had NO business using FREUD here..this cue fits 1979 score, not 1962 score..idiot decisions by editor AND director. The only change I like in the score is the darker main title, it works better than the first composition..imo.
This wasn't the music used in the film of course.
Wow, the music is great. But I always have to laugh when I see the final shot of the scene with the alien, he looks so static there, like a stooge.