SPECIES

CHRISTOPHER YOUNG

Rating:

Original Review: The first thing that springs to mind when listening to Christopher Young's Species is how much like James Horner's Oscar-nominated score for Aliens it is. The long, deep chords; plucked violins and metal percussion in the action cues; even some of the dissonance sounds like it came from the pen of Horner. The one thing that Species does have over Aliens, however, is a brilliant main title. Slow, elegant violins, both bass and melodic, a woodblock keeping time like a heartbeat in the background and an icy female choir singing wordlessly combine to make one of the most atmospheric themes for a while. It's not conventionally beautiful, but still has the desired effect of chilling you to the bone - it's got that perfect "outer space" sound, and it makes me feel physically cold when I listen to it. This theme is presented fully a couple of times, in 'Species', the main title cue, and 'Star Night', the end credits cue. I really like 'Protostar', a variation on the main theme with additional "breathing" effects to further add to the atmosphere. 'Fever' is also very good: a slightly more upbeat cue with a fast string section, a flute accompaniment and much more prominent percussion, although it still fits in perfectly with the rest of the score (apparently, 'Fever' was originally going to be the Main Title cue until Species director Roger Donaldson made Young change it) and 'Species Feces' and 'Worm Hole' are incredibly like parts of 'Futile Escape' from Aliens, featuring the plucked pizzicato strings and whooping violins, this time overlaid with synths. The only drawback is, as I said before, there is no conventional beauty to Species. It's not a score you can sit down and relax to: at times it is very harsh and dissonant and, for the majority of the time, it puts you on edge and makes you feel uneasy (listen to the end of 'Safe Sex' - talk about creepy!) But then it is a horror score, so I suppose that's the idea. And I suppose that's why I like it so much. Most of you probably know that Species was never commercially released, so Chris Young took it upon himself to do it. He collaborated with Intrada's Doug Fake and produced the now famous 5-CD Collection, of which this is one (the others are Unforgettable, Head Above Water, Virtuosity and Tales from the Hood). The whole shebang costs almost £300, so huge thanks are due to the Man from Melba for helping me get this one on its own. Whether Natasha Henstridge will be thanking Young for naming a cue after her 'Milky Way Breasts', though, is another matter entirely.

Track Listing: Running Time: 43 minutes 25 seconds

Christopher Young Private Release, 1995

Music composed by Christopher Young. Conducted by Pete Anthony. Orchestrations by Christopher Young and Pete Anthony. Album produced by Christopher Young and Douglass Fake .


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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1997. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.