was successful enough to green-light
the production of several television incarnations along the same lines,
the original 1988 film is often forgotten because of its lack of
distinctive characteristics. The plot postulated that in the near
future, a few hundred thousand aliens (called "newcomers") take refuge
on Earth and assimilate into society. The Graham Baker film doesn't
attempt to explore the larger worldwide societal issues that such an
event might cause, but instead redirects the story to the confined
spectrum of a cop and buddy picture. A lonely officer played by James
Caan is a bigot in regards to the newcomers but is forced to reckon with
the assignment of one such alien to be his partner in the investigation
of his previous partner's slaying. On one hand, you have a typical
detective story, and on the other, you have comments about prejudice
that could have been equally explored (and have been countless times) in
more conventional ways. Only the fact that the aggrieved group here is
alien distinguishes
from the plethora of similar
films. By rooting the story in the short-term future,
avoids all the expenditures of a science fiction tale,
instead opting to treat its subject matter in a much more down to earth
manner. That was in part the problem with the score provided for the
film by composer Jerry Goldsmith, who had written an impressive work for
Baker's
several years prior. Goldsmith
approached the film as he had done once before for a futuristic cop
story,
, deciding to record an all-electronic score for
the picture. Ultimately, Goldsmith's music was likely too cold and
alienating to serve
, emphasizing the cultural divide
on screen rather than the urban, contemporary location and standard
detective elements. When Goldsmith was reportedly unavailable to
re-score the film, his music was completely dropped and veteran music
editor and novice composer Curt Sobel stepped in.
Not only did
Alien Nation end up with a predictably
stale light rock score from Sobel that did absolutely nothing to extend
the fantasy aspect of the film, but the experience turned out to be a
tremendous blessing for Goldsmith, who was not bothered by the rejection
because he recognized the poor quality of the film. In fact,
Alien
Nation turned out to be simply a practice run for one of the
composer's greatest career achievements. Goldsmith once again performs
the score solo, and of his three purely synthetic efforts of the 1980's,
this one is the most interesting. The electronic textures of the score
are engaging in places and certainly an improvement over
Runaway
and
Link. Compare "Alien Dance" in this rejected score to the
rejected cue "The Rec Room" in
Outland to hear that Goldsmith had
made significant progress in applying his synthetic tones. Intriguingly,
the ambience of
Alien Nation arguably has more in common with the
composer's 1990's sound than his previous endeavors. It's still
obnoxious in many places and anonymous in others. An ominous title theme
is punctuated by a rising two-note progression that is liberally quoted
throughout the score and is treated much like the three-note motif that
was so effective in
Lionheart. Some of the wacky renditions of
this rising motif in
Alien Nation, especially detached from the
rest of the theme it forms, are striking in their unique character and
other-worldly demeanor. The action music is the weakest portion of the
score, sometimes revisiting the stinging and obnoxiously flat tone of
Runaway's most irritating staccato pounding on the keyboard.
Goldsmith has done far worse on his synthesizers, but those keyboards
and their associated sounds are still much more powerful when merged
with a symphonic ensemble. All of this discussion about
Alien
Nation's primary elements is completely irrelevant, though, because
for most Goldsmith enthusiasts, this score is all about one unlikely
thing:
The Russia House. Indeed, for those not familiar with the
evolution of
The Russia House, learning about the relevance of
Alien Nation to that classic score's primary identity might seem
bizarre, but Hollywood is full of such strange circumstances.
In 1987, Goldsmith wrote but never recorded a
heartbreaking theme of romance for Oliver Stone's
Wall Street.
After substantial disagreements with Stone, however, Goldsmith took the
theme with him and used it to represent the solitude of Caan's character
in
Alien Nation. Though hinted in "Alien Landing," Goldsmith
provides an eerily chilly synthetic sax rendition of this theme in "Take
it Easy" before unleashing its full character in light rock fashion in
"The Wedding" at the end. The progressions eventually changed in a few
places over the length of the entire idea, but for the many lovers of
The Russia House, the theme is immediately recognizable; casual
listeners may not even notice a difference. The rejection of the score
for
Alien Nation allowed Goldsmith to take the theme with him
once again, translating it into its stunning jazzy incarnation in
The
Russia House. Despite the hardships that Goldsmith experienced in
the middle to late 1980's in regards to the rejection of his music (led
by his masterful work for Ridley Scott's
Legend),
The Russia
House was not only the kind of highly personal and redemptive
assignment that the composer had been waiting for, but also an
opportunity to beautifully apply a defining theme that he would later
declare as one of the personal favorites of his career. He would even
adapt an altered version of the melody for the end of
The
Vanishing a couple of years later. Some might argue that to label
Alien Nation as simply a footnote to
The Russia House is
unfair to the former score. But let's face it,
Alien Nation is a
somewhat mindless and underachieving score at best and
The Russia
House is considered by many Goldsmith collectors to be a classic on
the level of
Hoosiers and
Under Fire in terms of emotive
quality. Meanwhile, with the predictably troubled post-production of
Alien Nation having shed Goldsmith's score, Sobel stepped in and
provided music that largely eliminates the fantasy element and instead
concentrates on the urban thriller environment. His synthetic
instrumentation is not terribly different from Goldsmith's to the
average ear, with some of the keyboarded tones sounding like direct
carry-overs and the general sound quality of the two works largely
indistinguishable in their best mastered forms.
In his take on
Alien Nation, Sobel doesn't
restrain the jazz and light rock elements in the demeanor of his motific
development for the "Main Title" and the character theme in "Coming
Home," saxophone and guitar joining electric bass and the drum pads for
the occasion. The action and suspense sequences rely heavily on a
wailing electric guitar, which, as at the start of "Monster Lives," is
immensely irritating and badly dates the score in its decade.
Rambunctious passages for just percussion and droning bass don't
particularly help, either. More anonymous than Goldsmith's original
effort, the Sobel replacement score arguably better fits the film's time
and social commentary sans the fantasy element. Neither score is worth
much consideration outside of the sentimental connection with
Goldsmith's character theme, and for a for a long time, few fans had the
opportunity to hear this rough draft of the theme on album. Goldsmith
enthusiasts had long circulated bootlegs of
Alien Nation, but
these roughly 40-minute presentations almost always featured extremely
unsatisfying sound quality. In 2005, with the death of Goldsmith still
fresh in mind, Varèse Sarabande released 47 minutes of
Alien
Nation in perfect sound quality. The 3,000-copy pressing sold out
quickly, likely taking advantage of collectors eager to hear six minutes
of what amounts to a demo recording of the favorite theme. This material
is appealing on the strength of the melody and not necessarily because
of the cold or pop-like renderings; only the tingling flow of metallic
effects in the background connect the two highly disparate scores'
performances. Outside of these six minutes, Goldsmith's
Alien
Nation isn't worth exploring unless you're attempting to maintain a
complete collection of the composer's works (or liked
Runaway for
some reason). In 2013, Kritzerland re-released the same presentation of
the Goldsmith score with a few minor edits but also included the
original album arrangement that Sobel had prepared for his score but
went unutilized. Unlike other Kritzerland offerings of 1,200 copies,
this one didn't sell out in short order, a clear indication of the
quality of music. Sobel's material is generic 1980's cop-thriller muck
indistinguishable from countless equivalents, and it's no wonder the
recording took so long to debut on album. In the end, if
The Russia
House melts your heart every time, then allow your loyalty to that
score the luxury of either of the
Alien Nation albums' rough
foreshadowing of that classic. Just don't expect much else of interest
at this juncture.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.28
(in 113 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.3
(in 142,365 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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