Buy it... if you appreciate Christopher Young's standard combination of wondrous, thematic beauty and jarring, stock horror techniques.

Avoid it... if you've heard a portion of the score's beautiful but chilly title theme on a compilation and expect the entire score to reflect that style of harmonic appeal.

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Species: (Christopher Young) Amongst alien horror stories set on Earth, Species is a little more campy in its sexuality and plentiful in the area of loose ends, though the 1995 story's popularity would lead to a terrible sequel. The original plotline details the pursuit of a human/alien hybrid on the loose in Los Angeles, a creature with enhanced DNA that not only produces the physique of Natasha Henstridge (well into her journey to cult film fame), but also threatens to replace normal humans on the planet altogether. With the help of an odd group of decent actors tracking down this alluring beast (a clan led by the always intellectually frightening Ben Kingsley, of all people), Species is easily a college town kind of film. Anytime the designer of the lead alien receives more press time than the major players on the crew, perhaps you know when a production has gone astray. The combination of ridiculously graphic horror, silly premise, and overt sensuality made Species a perfect assignment, of course, for composer Christopher Young, who has made a living in the horror genre (from college-aimed trash to the mainstream). When thinking of the stereotypical sound that summarizes Young's usual horror compositions of the era, the music of Species exists as a very predictable entry. Its combination of chilling beauty and stark, striking horror cues represents Young at his most romantic in the horror genre and continued to establish him as an artist who can switch between tonal harmony and dissonant chaos at a moment's notice. For Species, you have two twists on an otherwise normal horror outing for Young: first, the element of outer space adds the necessity for some wondrous cues of scientific discovery, and secondly, having a beautiful woman at the center of the story (who desperately wants to procreate) creates a need for sexual enticement or, perhaps, an edge of slightly off-kilter romance. The remainder of the score for Species exposes itself as a somewhat regular endeavor for Young, with the expected, jarring chase cues of high horror merging Young's usual output with perhaps some influence from James Horner's Aliens at times.

The most consistent elements of Young's work for Species are the use of single lengthy, unharmonious notes extending on brass or strings in the background of nearly every cue (sounding like counterpoint intentionally set at a misaligned measure or pitch) and the employment of brass in its very lowest ranges to push the broad and sinister, lower scope of the horror atmosphere. The latter technique is often how Young adds the scariness into his music. Balancing this effect is an excess of precise (and perhaps deceptively feminine) elements in the highest treble region, led by an enhanced role for flutes that carries a pulsating motif to accompany the hybrid creature's desire to procreate. Still, the majority of Species consists of crashing, high-strung cues of straight-forward terror. The string section is often let loose, seemingly performing several different avenues of quivering dissonance at maximum volume within their own ranks. A meandering piano occasionally pounds on extremely low notes to coincide with Young's usual employment of a drum array and broad cymbal crescendos to set jarring rhythms to the action. Higher percussion often tingles at the spine in its lighter, metallic forms. Young's ability to establish a motif and then yank it around in these moments of fright is effective; he starts a motif and then cuts it off dramatically, repeating this process, and eventually forcing the listener (or audience) to expect the unexpected. The script's proud series of false scares forced this format upon Young. Pulling the whole ensemble down in a single, descending note is a technique that the composer uses to almost resemble a failing machine, and the technique gives the listener an equally effective sinking feeling. All the dissonance aside, however, Species is best known for its four fantastically beautiful performances of its surprisingly solemn title theme and related ideas. The awe and beauty of space is captured by Young in a very slow, mellow, and elegant theme for plucked bass strings, swirling violins, soothing choir, and, once again, broad brass in the lowest registers. The use of a wood block to keep the rhythm of this theme adds to its chilling effect; the idea has been best described as "cold," which is indeed a very accurate description.

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As beautiful as these fantasy portions are, the musical identity of Species is distant and alienating (no pun intended). In "Fever," the original opening titles re-assigned to a scene later in the film, Young's theme is at its most interesting, moving at a heightened pace of swirling orchestral activity that better engages the audience. This general harmony and the mystique of the concept merge to form the score's one true moment of lovely wonderment in "Protostar." If you strike the redundant "Species" cue and combine the extended title theme performance in "Star Bright" with "Fever" and "Protostar," you have ten minutes of the most enticing Young horror material to exist. Unfortunately, the remainder of the score is more functional than memorable, serving its purpose without really crossing back into the realm of these other cues. On album, the score has been a favorite of Intrada Records. It was pressed promotionally by Young and Intrada in 1997 as part of a five-CD promo set (of which Species and Virtuosity were typically the most popular). Long after the price of that album skyrocketed on the secondary market, Intrada revisited it in 2008, pressing 3,000 copies of an expanded Species presentation as part of its "Special Collection" series. This version was rearranged and actually remixed in some cues by Young himself (reducing percussion); like the promotional album for In Too Deep, this one represents the score as Young wants it to best be heard. Of the over twenty minutes of additional material, half is solely synthetic and only the cue "Fever's Fever" hints at the highlights that already existed on the previous promo. The remaining orchestral cues represent minimalistic filler material and the three synthetic bonus cues (from the middle portion of the film) tacked onto the end of product are a curiosity but understandably lack the slightly whimsical precision that the symphonic players provide to the rest of the composition. Ultimately, owners of the promo who only revisit the score infrequently need not tear the spine out of a person to get a hold of the expanded version, though anyone starting fresh will obviously be best served by the latter product. Additionally, a gorgeous suite from this score was recorded for Silva Screen's "Space and Beyond" compilation near the time of the score's release. Species remains a work best represented by a 10-minute suite on a compilation of Young's various horror works. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

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For Christopher Young reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.3 (in 23 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.99 (in 7,951 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.