Music Composed by Jerry Goldsmith, Conducted by Lionel Newman and Performed by The National Philharmonic Orchestra. The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to the 1979 20th Century Fox Film. Marketed by Silva Screen Records, Ltd., London, in the UK, 1988.

     By Stephen Pytak 

     Jerry Goldsmith will be remembered for
a number of film scores, including "The
Omen (1977)" and "First Blood (1981)."
     But I'm not sure if anyone remembers
his compositions for Ridley Scott's 
"Alien (1979)."
     It's not that the music isn't good. It's
really good actually. 
     But it makes impressions in a very 
non traditional way.
     There really isn't a theme here that will
stick with you. But there are cues that fans
of the film will no doubt remember.
     There's the door slam echo which repeats
during Track 9 "The Alien Planet." 
     At the end of Track 1, "Main Title," you'll
hear the flutes which sound like musical
pendulums.   
     And the signature space wind that was
in the film's trailers can be heard during
Track 4, "Acid Test."
     This film score can chill your heart, 
Track 2, "Face Hugger," and Track 3,
"Breakaway" in partular.
     Goldsmith created some notorious sounds
to characterize the beast in this film. 
Sometimes it sounds like a rattlesnake caught
in a malfunctioning car engine. 
     I wonder what Scott did to him to make
him write this stuff.
     There's nothing quite like it. It's not 
something you listen to every day. It's much
easier to listen to Track 1 and Track 10, 
"End Title," which are softer, heroic
selections.
     Not all of the music he wrote for the film 
was used.
     "There is a considerable amount of music
here which was written for, but not used in,
the final print," said David Stoner, who
supervised the release of this import CD
in 1988.
     It's hard to say whether the inclusion of
the music would have made the film more
or less effective. 
     I don't recall hearing much of the 
music on Track 6, "The Droid," in the film.
     Some strings are tweaked when Ian
Holm's character "Ash" has his head 
knocked off, I think. But nothing else 
really comes to mind.
     For the curious, the rest of this 4 minute
and 40 second composition is here.
     The entire length of this UK CD release
is 35 minutes and 34 seconds.
     Goldsmith died on July 21, 2004. He 
was 75.