After the main fanfare, the second major theme in Independence Day is one that represents both the American president and the more compassionate side of humanity. You hear this theme in agonizing capitulations during scenes of the aftermath of the initial attack and most prominently in "The President's Speech." This idea holds a fair amount of the running time late in the "End Titles" suite and, as in much of the score, is often elevated in tempo to match and blend with the patriotic theme. The sometimes sappy nature of this theme is augmented more often by choir, and it's easy to hear that Arnold was attempting to maximize the melodrama in this idea. The third theme represents the alien invasion, or at least it seems as though Arnold intended that to be the case. This theme was originally set to open the film with overwhelming force and dread, as the aliens pass the moon and approach Earth, but was replaced with a more generic, tense crescendo. Regardless, whether this idea was meant to accompany the aliens or a broader sense of devastation is somewhat moot, for Arnold utilizes it extensively as a fanfare of doom in the first half of the score. From its descending progressions performed by massively ominous brass layers to its subtle fragments during the earlier scenes of the film, Arnold carefully reminds the audience of the idea so well that it's one of the more distinctly memorable villain's themes in recent times. Its underlying rhythmic movement, propelled with resounding depth by Japanese and African drums, creatively spells "DIE" in Morse code. There are other thematic ideas of secondary stature that supplement these three major identities in Independence Day, too. A sensitive solo woodwind and horn theme for Captain Steven Hiller's (Will Smith) relationship with his family is heard in both "Cancelled Leave" and, more extensively, "Wedding." There's not surprisingly a hint of Horner's Apollo 13 that bleeds through in this theme, but given the motif's overall brevity, the impact of the similarity is minimal. Another consistent theme exists for Mary McDonnell's somewhat lame portrayal of the First Lady, an unnecessary character. Arnold nevertheless gives her a tender, somber theme heard initially at the end of "First Lady Found" and explored for several minutes in "The First Lady Dies." Unfortunately, you'll catch yourself thinking of the lyrics "tomorrow never dies" during the main phrase of this theme, for it heavily foreshadows the softer sections of the composer's first Bond score the following year. Finally, meandering choral progressions meant to stir up wonder and awe are heard in "Area 51" and "Alien Ship Powers Up," giving a traditional, 1950's sense of fantasy some due respect.

The instrumentation in and itself serves as a great factor in the cohesion of Independence Day. The fact that Arnold never resorts to the synthetic realm (aside from some very subtle bass enhancements on keyboard), as well as the complexity of the simultaneous lines of action in the louder sequences, is likely what caused many listeners to compare this work to that of John Williams. The percussion section is often disregarded for its rampant snare tapping, but the "Base Attack" cue offers a stereo-bouncing effect of struck metallic effects (anvils and cow bells?) in its third minute that remarkably synchronizes with the ensemble's frequent use of full octave spans (more of this in the score would have been awesome). A tambourine in "International Code" supplies additional depth to the Russian-style vocals for a brief montage of resistance across the world. That cue, in many ways the highlight of the entire score (and film), appropriately infuses some stereotypical Arabic progressions (comparable to Stargate in its waning moments) and Morse code-like effects. In the brass section, a wildly blaring, descending figure is used for the alien destroyers' actual firing mechanism, and that motif is applied as a foreshadowing tool at 2:05 into "Base Attack." Arnold even allows the trumpets to wildly meander off tone at 3:05 into "Evacuation" to augment the mounting panic. The strings, while often frantic in their contributions, unfortunately seem to get lost in many of the more ambitious cues, though they nicely anchor Arnold's favored character cues. Flute and/or piccolo usage in Independence Day is perhaps the most entertaining, shrieking with reckless abandon in several of the most hyperactive cues, including wildly manic, seemingly independent lines late in "Base Attack." Overall, Independence Day is a highlight of film music in the 1990's, a carefree expression of popcorn-ready bombast not equaled in its ferocity during the early years of CGI-dominated pictures. At a time when blockbuster scores were headed in the direction of Hans Zimmer's synthetic and simplistic constructs, Arnold's score was a blazing continuation of a previous generation of orchestral force. In the subsequent decade, he never approached the same level of spirit, with the disintegrating collaboration with Devlin and Emmerich highlighted by a seldom-noticed theme for the American military in Godzilla that reprises some of the nobility of Independence Day. There has always been talk of a sequel, but while by 2010 the organization of that production was beginning to roll in earnest, Arnold has remained coy, making statements that suggest that he'd be extremely hesitant to return to the concept.

On album, Independence Day was severely mistreated in its initial RCA/BMG offering of 1996. That album featured versions of cues eventually replaced in the film version of the score, most notably the opening track. Its arrangement of only about half the score was tragic in the absence of much of the score's best majestic and tenderly harmonic material. For some, the presentation was strong enough, the choir mixed well to provide depth without adding volume. The "End Titles" arrangement is in many ways the best suite of the three major themes, and the last two or three minutes of that track are used frequently in fireworks displays around America, not to mention everything from small-town band performances to Memorial Day ceremonies in large American cities. But Independence Day always required better treatment, especially considering the mass of music from the middle portion of the film that was represented only by "Aftermath" and "El Toro Destroyed." Confusion was caused when later pressings of the commercial album substituted the film version of "1969 - We Came in Peace" without any notation, causing fans to not know which version they were purchasing until they listened to it. Released two days before the film's opening, the original RCA/BMG pressing was not only short, but it offered lousy packaging that only printed the track titles on the CD itself (an illogical faux pas that should lead to the firing of any album art director, regardless of excuses about deadlines). An expanded album was promised late in 1996, but one was never released (reportedly due to financial restrictions, but the lawsuit was a possibility as well). It was thus only a matter of time before the bootlegs appeared on the market, and for a short time during their main debut in late 2000, they were actually featured at regular soundtrack specialty outlets. While substandard attempts to bootleg Independence Day had been floating around for a few years, the first mass-produced bootleg of the score hit their shelves as the sixth part of the so-called "World Records" bootleg series. Many variants have existed since, though all of them offer top-notch sound quality (outside of some minimal upper-range hiss). In 2010, La-La Land Records' official presentation of the complete score was limited to 5,000 copies and manages to exceed the bootlegs in overall editing and sound quality. The 2-CD set contains a plethora of alternate recordings and a few major cues absent the choir as well, though some collectors may be satisfied with the bootlegs, which really did contain all the absolutely necessary music. Still, Independence Day is the kind of spectacular score worthy of ultimate album treatment, and the 2010 product, despite its expense, is a highly recommended item for any serious collector of digital age film music.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download