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| Silvestri |
Back to the Future: (Alan Silvestri) It may have
taken several years to get there, but 1985's
Back to the Future
came as close to perfection as any of Steven Spielberg's most famous
productions of the era. It's so difficult to make any comedy action film
about time travel without suffering from all the usual pitfalls of
infinite fallacies of logic. Whatever holes that the script for
Back
to the Future may possess, they are negated by an extremely affable
personality, precise pacing, and a knack for capturing the cheesy
romantic atmosphere of popular teenager-aimed flicks of the 1980's.
After shopping the film unsuccessfully through a plethora of studios
throughout the early 1980's, Robert Zemeckis and his concept for
Back
to the Future were eventually green-lit by Spielberg's own fledgling
production house. An embarrassing miscasting of the lead role led to the
re-shooting of a significant amount of the film, though even a frantic
post-production schedule could not derail a project that was so well
conceived in the years prior. The popular contemporary and romantic
elements in
Back to the Future were almost of parody demeanor in
the film's 1985 scenes, from Marty McFly's aspirations to be the next
Eddie Van Halen to his skateboarding skills, his love interest, and his
eventual receipt of a grotesquely monstrous 4x4 truck. But the tongue in
cheek aspects of the plot transferred effortlessly over to the science
fiction elements as well, from Christopher Lloyd's eccentric performance
to his awkward choice of car to use as a time machine. Today, he'd
definitely be on a few of the government's terrorist watch lists. The
silliness of the entire circumstance of McFly's transit back into the
past (including the use of not only time as the villain, but Libyans in
search of stolen plutonium in suburban America) is adeptly balanced by
his mission to lead his parents into each other's arms in the past to
save his own future existence. Several parts of the production's visual
landscape became the stuff of pop culture legend, including the
clocktower at the heart of the studio's fictitious Hill Valley town
square and the pair of streaking, burnt rubber fire tracks that the
time-traveling DeLorean leaves in its wake. Even several decades later,
Back to the Future is a film that defies its age; it could be
made exactly the same way in retrospect today and would be just as
thrilling. Among the reasons the film became a smash hit in the summer
of '85 was its equally popular music, including a collection of songs
that spanned the two time frames with distinction and, of course, Alan
Silvestri's grandiose score.
Looking back, the immense popularity of the song
placements in
Back to the Future in comparison to Silvestri's
contribution was understandable. The 50's songs were staples of their
own era and the 80's alternatives tore up the radio waves when the film
was released. Silvestri, despite providing
Back to the Future
with perhaps his best career achievement, was a relative unknown at the
time, and film scores were suffering from a change in corporate emphasis
in music that diminished their availability on LPs and tapes. The fact
that it took until 2009 before the
Back to the Future score would
receive its own comprehensive album presentation was surely frustrating
during the interim, but no grudge can really be held against the songs
in the production. The two songs written and performed by Huey Lewis and
the News were the cornerstones of the film's advertising, and "The Power
of Love" was a chart-topper that saturated the radio waves and led to an
Academy Award nomination. Although the group's more subdued "Back in
Time" also received significant air time, "The Power of Love" was an
instant classic that has managed to survive the test of time quite well
(aiding in the film's continued appeal so long after its debut).
Anchoring the 1950's era's songs was an important juxtaposition of "doo
wop" style, embodied best by the memorable incorporation of "Mr.
Sandman" and "Earth Angel" to accompany the innocent side of that
culture, and the transition to rock and roll, which McFly
single-handedly introduces by mangling "Johnny B. Goode" on guitar in a
fashion that would make Van Halen proud. A smart collection of songs,
mostly on the 50's side, is used as source material for the radios and
other dance pieces in
Back to the Future, all of which rooting
the film in the appropriate atmosphere of both eras. Even Van Halen
himself makes an important contribution to the film; an unused rough
draft of a song he has previously worked on was used by McFly when he
dresses in his radiation suit and claims to be Darth Vader, blasting Van
Halen's wicked guitar performances from a Walkman into his father's ears
in the middle of the night (truly one of the funniest scenes in the
history of cinema). That song would never actually be used by Van Halen
in any of his future music, and no expanded version of the excerpt heard
in that scene has ever existed. Silvestri provided
Back to the
Future with its remaining source pieces, three instrumentals for the
50's and a few transitions in which his orchestral material was meant to
mingle with (and, in the case of "Earth Angel," overtake) the
songs.
Spielberg originally expressed lingering doubts about
whether or not Silvestri was up to the task of writing a score as
boisterous and thematic as necessary for
Back to the Future. The
composer's history with an orchestral ensemble, especially one pushing
100 members, was very limited. But when Silvestri was half finished with
the score, Zemeckis switched out the temp material with it for a few
scenes, Spielberg applauding what he thought was new temp music when in
fact he had enthusiastically praised what Silvestri had written. Because
of the numerous production changes that affected the film, Silvestri had
the luxury of scoring most of it twice. With the songs taking up so much
time in the film (the first piece of the score is heard 19 minutes into
its running time), the task of revisiting the 45-minute score wasn't too
monumental. Several small pieces of even the second recording of
Back
to the Future still didn't make it into the picture, though that is
due to no fault with Silvestri's material. It is as well organized and
precisely crafted a score ever to exist, a perfect match for the
suspense, fantasy, and sense of humor conveyed by the story. The
composer's thematic motifs and structural tendencies in the work cause
it be extremely cohesive in all of its parts. You could pull any single
cue from this score and within seconds a learned film music collector
will know that it derives from
Back to the Future. That extremely
well reasoned approach is likely why Silvestri simply extended the same
general sound (and in some cases, almost identical cues) into
Back to
the Future Part II four years later. In fact, whatever brevity that
exists in the treatment of any motif in
Back to the Future is
likely rectified by the sequel, despite decreased sound quality and a
sense that there isn't really anything refreshing about the follow-up.
That loyalty to the first score, which extends to a lesser degree into
the third film in the trilogy, is testament to its very effective
applications. The first recording conducted by Silvestri reflected a
darker, more suspenseful variation on the script (in part a result of
the miscasting of McFly), with more expansive dissonant passages. The
mood was lightened for the second and final recording of the score, with
the more frequent employment of the title theme a request directly from
Spielberg. Zemeckis had always requested the score to be "big," but
Silvestri easily enhanced both the bold statements of the main theme's
two halves and the "magical" motif surrounding Doc Brown and the concept
of time travel. A greater emphasis on the thrill of the ride and wonder
of the travel was the ultimate result.
The primary theme of
Back to the Future is divided
into two parts, both based on three-note phrases that prove to be
surprisingly malleable. Arguably the more famous of the parts is the
heroic fanfare, a nine-note sequence that typically finishes the theme
with all the bravado of the ensemble. It's the redemptive half of the
idea, often punctuating McFly's triumphs. It was meant to open the film
with a brief, robust performance, but this cue ("Logo") was dropped from
the finished cut. The theme's first usage is thus as a suspenseful
phrase of disbelief and foreshadowing in "DeLorean Reveal." As McFly
escapes from the crazed Libyans at the end of "'85 Twin Pines Mall," the
theme makes its first heroic charge. While this treatment, very similar
to one in the latter half of "Skateboard Chase," is the most memorable
tone from the score, the idea's translation to romantic strings in the
latter half of "George to the Rescue - Pt. 2" is a key example of the
theme's adaptability. Still, whenever it comes to announcing the arrival
of the score, as in the opening of the end credits suite (complete with
plentiful cymbal accents on almost every note), Silvestri clearly
chooses the fanfare as the primary identity of the work. That said, the
secondary part of his theme for
Back to the Future is the not
only more enjoyable but also the propulsive heart of the score's action
pieces. Easily identifiable due to its distinct, opening three notes,
this often rhythmically rolling theme often introduces the fanfare, as
it does in its first full statement in the aforementioned portion of
"'85 Twin Pines Mall." After McFly has arrived in 1955, this part of the
theme is frequently referenced in solo performances of the first three
notes, sometimes hidden within longer lines of otherwise random phrases.
Solo horn performances at the start of "Lorraine's Bedroom" and "1.21
Jigowatts" are versatile references to the larger adventure. Between the
theme's extensive employment as a source of adventure in "Skateboard
Chase" and "Clocktower," it wouldn't be surprising if this half of the
theme is perhaps more recognizable to some average movie-goers than the
actual fanfare. Silvestri's frequent applications help that distinction;
he uses the theme to draw the romance of McFly's parents into the action
realm, too, not only applying it as a set-up tool in "Tension - The
Kiss," but also integrating it directly (and with high class) at the end
of "Earth Angel." No performance of this theme, in conjunction with its
fanfare counterpart, is as satisfying as the lengthy "Clocktower,"
however, one of the most exhilarating cues of anticipation ever written
for the screen.
Not only is "Clocktower" the highlight of
Back to the
Future, but it also encompasses nearly all of the secondary themes
in the score. The most expertly realized motif to support the primary
themes is a pair of descending three-note phrases for tingling
percussion (with a slightly synthetic sound at times) that punctuates
the fantasy aspect of the film. Established extensively throughout
"Einstein Disintegrated," this idea can then be used by Silvestri as a
stinger to punctuate any precise moment of time travel or destiny
reference on screen. It supplies all of the "magic" in the score,
teasing the senses in a number of "realization" scenes. This motif often
accompanies the theme for Doc Brown, and its solo use during his
resurrection in "'85 Lone Pine Mall" is brilliant. The mad scientist
atmosphere of Doc's own, playfully rhythmic theme is introduced in
"Einstein Disintegrated," extended in "1.21 Jigowatts," and translated
into action fragments in "Clocktower" before returning to an even fuller
comedy incarnation in "Doc Returns." For Doc's more sensitive
interactions with Marty McFly, Silvestri twists the first three notes of
the adventure half of the title theme into a wholesome, dedicated Marty
theme. Although teased in the unused "Logos," the theme is fully
realized on French horn in "Marty's Letter" and "4x4." Because of this
theme's proximity to the adventure theme, it's difficult to determine if
Silvestri intended for Marty's unique idea to be adapted in any cue of
heightened action. The final two themes in
Back to the Future are
both dedicated to suspense and villains. The first is a frenetic
rhythmic piece in the minor key that rambles in various shades of
nervousness in the score's most suspenseful moments. Because of its
fully symphonic representation in "Skateboard Chase" and dominance of
the latter half of "George to the Rescue - Pt. 1," it's tempting to
point to the troublesome character of Biff as the target of this theme,
though pieces of the idea are also heard in "'85 Twin Pines Mall" and
"Clocktower," so it is possibly a more general motif of unsettled
atmosphere. Of more certainty is the
Predator-like military
procession on snare, cymbal, and deep woodwinds heard in "'85 Twin Pines
Mall," accompanying the initial historic gravity of the time-traveling
event and eventually becoming a theme of danger to address the
encroaching Libyans. While the melody on top of this rhythm often
reverts to the adventure half of the primary theme, there's enough
unique character to this idea to call it the official danger motif of
the franchise. It would be expanded upon extensively for
Back to the
Future Part II, which seems to remove the Libyans from consideration
as the owners of the theme.
The main reason for the overwhelming success of
Silvestri's score for
Back to the Future goes beyond any one
theme, however. It's the masterful integration of all of the six or
seven motifs in the score that, along with a keen sense of tone, makes
the work so effective. To think that Silvestri had never even attempted
a large-scale orchestral score of this variety at the time speaks to the
man's mostly self-taught talents. He had literally learned how to write
film music out of a book, though you could never tell that he wasn't
classically educated and trained in the industry for twenty years prior
to
Back to the Future. Aside from an over-reliance on cymbals,
which was likely a choice made to appease Zemeckis and Spielberg's
request for even more bravado, Silvestri's employment of percussion is
phenomenal. A varied drum section, a plentitude of struck metallic
tones, and a flowing harp for the "Enchantment Under the Sea" scenes are
outstanding contributors. The pounding piano in the two "Pine Mall" cues
is a force. The pacing of the percussive rhythms, especially in the
slowly increasing tempos of "Clocktower," are impressive precursors to
Predator. Muted trumpets, one of the changes (from standard open
tones) made to the score in its revision, are eerie in their initial use
after the transition to the 50's; Silvestri cleverly re-opens a solo
trumpet in "Helicopter" to acknowledge McFly's arrival back to the
present. Silvestri scored the identical action in the overlapping "Pine
Mall" scenes slightly differently, a hint that the future (or present,
one could say) has been changed. In the end, though, the instrumental
highlights are the numerous brass explosions, the fully bombastic
enunciations of the title theme's two halves that went on to anchor the
two sequels (and a ride at the Universal theme park). Unlike many scores
with an obvious and memorable pop culture theme of an orchestral nature,
Back to the Future hasn't really become obnoxiously overexposed,
making it a pleasure to revisit. The resurrection of this score for
Back to the Future Part II was too much of a good thing, however,
so perhaps it's for the best that that film isn't well remembered by
many. To a degree, it made sense for Silvestri to reprise most of the
first score in the sequel, because the timeline was meant to include an
immediate transition between the two films. But the level of copy and
paste work in
Back to the Future Part II is, despite the strength
of the material, a disappointment. Silvestri would largely rectify that
problem in
Back to the Future Part III, but by then the scores
had lost the "magic" motif and much of the sense of wonder that the
original had so gloriously espoused.
To the extreme dissatisfaction of many listeners, only
the two sequels received score albums at the time of their releases. The
original
Back to the Future album was a best-seller and featured
a decent mix of the 80's songs, 50's songs, and score cuts. The most
prominently placed songs and score cues in the film were all present on
that product (with the exception of "Mr. Sandman"), the score portion
amounting to about 12 minutes. From a 45-minute score, that wasn't a
terrible deal, especially since the songs are good and the two score
tracks do represent the best of Silvestri's recording (the end credits
arrangement and most of "Clocktower," the latter renamed "Back to the
Future Overture"). Still, this selection was never bound to satisfy film
score collectors, and the score remained one of the most requested
unreleased titles in modern soundtrack history. Bootlegs of poor quality
long circulated on the collector's market. A 1999 re-recording of
highlights from all three scores in the trilogy, conducted by John
Debney, was a vast improvement in sound quality, but enthusiasts
immediately noticed pacing issues in regards to the initial score's
major action pieces. This quibble aside, the re-recording remains a very
good product and those unsatisfied with the slightly muffled sound of
the original score will find the 1999 version appealing. In 2009,
Intrada Records finally filled the void with a limited pressing of not
only the second recorded score for the film, but the first as well. (The
differences between them will probably be more subtle than you expect).
Because of anticipated demand, Intrada pushed the maximum quantity of
this pressing up to 10,000, but even at this number, the album sold out.
They rescued master tapes that were in poor condition (resorting to
Silvestri's personal copies as a backup), though despite a few
inconsistencies in quality from cue to cue (especially "Marty's
Letter"), most of the work sounds good. Intriguingly, the 12 minutes on
the original album sounds slightly more vibrant than the 2009 album's
equivalent cues. Overall, however, the score is beautifully presented on
the 2009 2-CD set, and the recording has been cleaned up to levels of
clarity that will please all but the most discerning audiophiles. The
first CD of this presentation was resurrected alone on a re-issue by
Intrada in 2015. Those who love the film will want to merge some of the
songs from the original album (and maybe even the Van Halen "Darth
Vader" sequence and "Johnny B. Goode" film version for kicks and
giggles) with the majority or all of the score for a fantastic hour-long
experience. There are few films and music with as happy a marriage as
Back to the Future, and the work stands alone as the crowning
achievement in Silvestri's career despite his immense and high-quality
body of work to follow.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Alan Silvestri reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.46
(in 41 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.34
(in 39,966 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert of the 1985 MCA album includes no extra information about the score
or film. The 2009 and 2015 Intrada albums are beautifully packaged, with extensive
photography and notes about the film, score, and album production.
