ALIEN RESURRECTION

JOHN FRIZZELL

Rating:

Original Review: The Alien movie franchise has long had a reputation for allowing young, untested composers to have their first shot at the big time. Well, okay, calling Jerry Goldsmith a young untested composer may be pushing it a little, but both James Horner and Elliot Goldenthal were certainly comparative unknowns when they were first handed the baton by their respective producers in 1986 and 1992. Following in their esteemed footsteps is John Frizzell, the young composer of such differing works as Dante's Peak and Beavis and Butt-head Do America, and his score is actually rather good - I would say my second favourite of the four Alien movies to date.

It has a definite air of menace underlying the starkly beautiful string passages, and Frizzell punctuates his icy incidental music with dissonant, disturbing synthesiser effects to add to the overall feeling of disquiet and uneasiness. As you would expect with a score of this type, there is no real 'main theme' to speak of, but Frizzell has come up with some very interesting touches in his cues, such as the use of dramatic, Goldenthal-esque whirling strings in 'Docking the Betty'; the bone-chilling wall of sound presented in 'The Aliens Escape', replete with drums and anvils and cacophonous orchestral frenzy; the horrifying crescendo reached during 'Ripley Meets Her Clones', signifying the terrible revelation of what is surely the most disturbing part of the movie; and two ear-shattering, nail-biting action sequences in 'They Swim...' and 'The Battle with the Newborn', sections of which seem to mimic the awful screams of the Aliens themselves.

The thing about Alien Resurrection which will probably put most casual soundtrack fans off is the complete lack of anything remotely upbeat or hopeful to grasp on to for comfort. For the entire duration of the album each cue plumbs new depths of terror, and even 'Ripley's Theme', the end title which one would normally expect to he triumphant, is subdued and gloomy. As the liner notes so eloquently put it, Frizzell has "gone out of his way to take the emotions out of his symphonic colours, to make them as cold as the movie's spacecraft" (in fact the single respite comes with the only non-Frizzell composed track, a beautiful aria from Handel's Julius Caesar performed by Maureen Forrester). While this lack of warmth and humanity may not make for an entirely pleasurable listening experience, the more discerning listener will certainly be able to appreciate the very good reasons for doing this. And it is precisely this fact which makes Alien Resurrection a success.

Track Listing: Running Time: 45 minutes 32 seconds

RCA Victor 09026-68955-2 (1997)

Music composed by John Frizzell. Conducted by Artie Kane. Orchestrations by Brad Dechter, Pete Anthony, Jeff Atmajian, Frank Bennett, Robert Elhai and Don Nemitz. Recorded and mixed by Dennis Sands. Edited by Abby Treloggan. Album produced by John Frizzell and Mark Cross.

Cinemusic Online: Review by Roderick Scott (****)
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