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 and Humanoids from the Deep
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Being the young, impressionable composer that he was in 1980 (a remarkably young age of 26), Horner freely admits that he was strongly influenced by other composers and their works. In interviews done in the early 1980's, Horner goes so far as to admit that Jerry Goldsmith was an enormous influence for him early in his career, explaining some of the overlaps in electronic experimentation with the orchestra. He also can provide several names of classical composers whose motifs were inspiring for him. Thus, at a time when Horner was too young to "rip off" himself, he took the opportunity to quote some old favorites. In the case of Battle Beyond the Stars, Corman was looking for music similar to, if not identical to Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and it was ironically Horner's ability to so well incorporate that material into his own that got him noticed. As you must recall, the early 1980's were the time when space fantasies and sword and sorcery films were at their height, with John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith re-establishing the power of the full orchestra in film music. Corman wanted to take advantage of that sound, but on a fraction of the budget. Thus, the kid Horner was given only 62 orchestral players to simulate the adventurous sound of the London Symphony Orchestra. What surprised everyone is that he succeeded. In the end, though, what Horner composed for Battle Beyond the Stars was simply too complex for the musicians to perform. The composition is superb, and there are unconfirmed reports that David Newman conducted the score. But the performance, while inspiring in its enthusiasm, is sometimes lacking in the brass section. An entire series of brass performances 3:40 into the end titles is mangled. And yet, there's something about the mistakes that enhance the Corman B-film atmosphere --it all fits together with the costumes and sets into one cheesy result. It is no coincidence that Corman used Horner's music for the film in countless of his other B-flicks. Nevertheless, the score for Battle Beyond the Stars is a riot. The references to Star Trek: The Motion Picture are plenty, with rumours that the blaster beam in Battle Beyond the Stars was performed by the same musician, with the same crisp metalic edge that no modern synthesizer can imitate. The third track pays tribute to the Klingon sequences in Goldsmith's score, with entire motifs with the blaster beam and other percussion providing a cheap, yet fun, imitation. What's interesting to note in and amongst all of these obvious "influences" is the process of Horner testing out motifs and ideas that would later become staples of his career. In and around all the obvious Goldsmithisms from Star Trek, Alien, and even A Patch of Blue in Battle Beyond the Stars are the fledgling ideas that would later be fleshed out in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Aliens. Even more ironic is that those Horner sequel scores would both come on the heals of Goldsmith originals, with Goldsmith being Horner's inspiration before any of this ever started. Now that is great luck. In short, people kept their LPs of Battle Beyond the Stars all these years for a reason. It's a great score, even with all of its flaws. While Humanoids from the Deep came after Horner had matured a little more, it lacks the spunk and personality of the previous score. The performance is significantly better for the latter score, but the horror genre was not as exciting for Horner as the space sci-fi had been. Even for a film with giant fish going after women with giant boobs, the music Humanoids from the Deep is substantially less interesting. Much of it lingers in the murky depths, and the moments of action are less complex. The sound quality on the score is an issue to be dealt with. Humanoids from the Deep has better sound quality than Battle Beyond the Stars, but both offer better sound on this newest CD release than either the LPs or the CD bootlegs that have been drafting around the secondary market the past few years. The new CD release from GNP Crescendo makes the bootleg completely obsolete. The sound quality in the Battle Beyond the Stars section varies greatly from cue to cue, with some sequenes muffled considerably, but others vibrant and impressive. In either case, the exciting personality of Battle Beyond the Stars can easily make the listener forget about its age. For fans of Horner and Goldsmith, this album will be an enjoyable listen, as long as you don't take it too seriously. It is what it is, and if you can't enjoy Battle Beyond the Stars in the context of both Corman and Horner's youth, then you need to relax. For Horner fans, specifically, this is a must-have album exhibiting the score that led to every project you've heard from Horner since.
Humanoids from the Deep: ** Overall: ****
The insert includes extensive notes about the films and their music, as well some old CinemaScore interview excerpts with James Horner. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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