Itunes has uploaded snippets of the Prometheus soundtrack to their website. There are previews for all 25 songs composed by Marc Streitenfeld. Click the picture below to listen to the tracks.
Update: You can now listen to the full length soundtrack here on Youtube.
and War Wager with the funniest shit I've read all day.
So many different moods and themes; part adventure, dread, terror and tragedy. Easily one of the best scores if heard in a long time. Listening to 'Friend from the past'... lil bit of pee came out. Curious to see whats happening on screen when it's played.
http://lalalandrecords.com/AlienResurrection.html
You all are freaking impulsive, or I just have terrible timing.
Anyway, I agree with you Cvalda... I've been playing the score on repeat on my MP3, and though I love it, most of the tracks I really stop to listen to seem to be in the beginning, besides Collision, and that Alien theme of course catches my ear, but you're right, it just ends.
It's started over several times and I barely noticed until I recognized that awesome (but short) Planet track. I've also been staring at the track listings for awhile trying to make sense of them, it does seem very thrown together and doesn't flow. But then again, the order suggests that it's random and will be fairly different from the arrangement in the film.
Dunno what to think, but I'm gonna be all over that Resurrection score as soon as humanly possible. I listen to it all the damn time on Youtube, but upon reading that, my pants have filled with audio glee.
Didn't work, though.
Indeed. I'm not big on A:R, but it does have a very interesting, beautiful score. Very haunting.
Hey, Cvalda, take a look at this:
Spoiler
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmyQQ6SogZ0
Hardly.
It's just very good music.
One should never go into something expecting it to be "just not as good as the classics." That's why everything turns out so lame anyway.
of the Doom flick, the writer David Callaham wrote "There was no way I was going to match Doom 3 in terms of atmosphere and scare factor." That's... Giving up, right off the bat.
It is entirely fair to rate the Prometheus score next to it's fellow Alien soundtracks. It's fellow movie soundtracks for that matter. It should be able to stand on it's own two feet and be incredible. There's no reason not to expect that.
I also feel that those films are really a whole different animal from the Alien films. Leone's films have their own thematic underpinnings and these vast, operatic scores; Jaws is a big high adventure monster movie; Conan is another big epic thing, and Star Trek is this sweeping brand unto itself. Alien and the subsequent films are these dark, creepy suspense pictures - it's just a different breed, I feel. And I think the Prometheus score is doing its own thing, too, different from what came before. But just because something is not John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith's finest works doesn't mean I don't think it can rate. I always found Howard Shore's score for Seven to be excellent, but I would not try to match it up against Jaws, Conan or Trek - it's something totally different. Perhaps not as instantly memorable, but it works for me.
Hello Speedymax,
I am not sure what you mean in your statement: "No, that's just a whole other tier and not what was intended for them or those films, either". Are you talking about the original Alien soundtrack, or are you talking about the compositions I linked to? And if it is the latter, what do you mean that they were not "intended" for those films. Sorry, I am confused.
Also, I can't stand the over-played leitmotif for the "shark". You will notice I picked two Williams works from Jaws, which do not feature this device. Instead, they are exquisite examples of William's ability to compose in the very complicated baroque fugue/counterpoint form...while still maintaining a beautiful, romantic lyricism.
Cheers.
Also, I think it's a little unfair to look at the score for a new movie and immediately try to compare it to Morricone's Leone films or iconic themes like Jaws or the Star Trek theme. I think the new score is quite alright, and appropriately different from what came before. And I love the scores for the first two Alien films, I think they're masterful and I remember them to this day, but would I put them in the category of any of the linked tracks above? No, that's just a whole other tier and not what was intended for them or those films, either. Same with Prometheus. Star Trek was a massive television and film franchise - Leone's films were their own breed - Jaws had a leitmotif for a shark. The Alien films are different. And that's fine. If we're going to immediately handicap something for not being an eternal masterpiece right out the gate, why bother?
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is how it is done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pMtLWJlwhQ#ws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A-HvZPx-68#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgLIDc68yHw#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuE9QlV833U#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-rHdSWZLpQ#
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeyMXBPi4Oo#
Yes.
But I tend to not listen to soundtrack albums in isolation much. I turned off the Goldsmith and Horner scores eventually.
Maybe contextuallizing the music with the film may help?
As an addendum, and Imho the score for Alien Resurrection was one of the worst scores that I've ever heard.
I completely concur, Cvalda.
There are too many tracks...none of them long enough to develop any theme or motive. Obviously, that is not the composer's style. As for me, if I am going to listen to a complete score, I want there to be strong themes and melodic content...especially if it is expected to stand on it's own, as a musical experience. And let's face it, if someone dishes out the money for the score, one presumes that they intend to listen to it multiple times (like any album). So, I think that the score has to be able to stand by itself, outside of the context of the film. IMHO, this Prometheus score fails this test. Again, I realize, just my opinion.
IMHO, here are a few examples of film scores that can be listened to, in their entirety,
Thanks! I love Two Steps from Hell.... and Audiomachine. As if I wasn't weird enough in all other respects, when people ask me what sort of music I like...
"Oh, you know, orchestral stuff"
"Yeah, what sort of thing? Beethoven..?"
"No, stuff from... er, you know, movie trailers"
"What?"
"Trailers. For films"
Door slams in face
So true. I think that the fact that this is a completely different film to Alien only properly dawned on me once I heard the score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETFMhYm0lRc#
Eew coool... a great idea.
Space Jockey and Collision are terrific! I wish there was a little more of that maybe. But I've included the trailer music into my album, and that raises the feel of the whole lot.
Many of the Prometheus themes are so so sad.
This wouldn't really shock me, but I've thought a lot about the Alien movies and maybe our preconceptions of what Prometheus will be, and I have to say that it feels like a very different tone.
Alien was a horror movie. I mean, it scared the shit out of almost everyone that watched it, and the music reflects this. I honestly don't remember being too broken up about the crew getting killed, despite the fact that I liked them, but the point is that the focus was on the horrific and alien nature of the creature and how scary everything was. There was more "oh god, how do we get out of this nightmare" than sad reflections on the loss of life.
Prometheus, on the other hand, has this sprawling revelation to it, and the characters are going to be pressed into making huge, earth-shattering decisions in the midst of this horrible, alien discovery and death. I think the score reflects this heavily, and can't help but feeling this huge sense of something that makes what happens to the crew something that we didn't feel in Alien...
Even Alien3, which is a great basis for comparison though still a superior score, greatly increased the emotional tugging with tracks like Lento and of course Adagio. More human elements...
I don't know, and am gonna stop before the serious rambling begins. What do you guys think of this? How do you feel if you agree or disagree?
Hmmm, maybe, although I tend to associate that part of the theme with the opening and closing of the film as perceived by Goldsmith - so more to do with the human aspect, or the Nostromo. Not that I'm suggesting the 'friend' is a cameo of the Nostromo.
Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised by the soundtrack. Obviously it doesn't feel quite as real and fluid as Goldsmith, so I'm assuming that it isn't played by a philharmonic orchestra, which would give it more oomph, and I have to admit that the HGW stuff is currently evoking a little bit too much Star Trek (which I'm hoping I'll disassociate once the music is married to visuals), but I like what I hear as themes throughout.
Goldsmith is still tops, but it's good that this score evokes some what he did and some of the more effective moments of Goldenthal. Fortunately I'm not hearing Horner much, if at all. His score, despite being played by the London Symphony orchestra and having a richness because of it borrowed too heavily from previous work or other composers work (a temp track issue I guess), so never found much favour with me.
Having collected soundtracks for more than 30 years I can't say I'm totally blown away by the Prometheus score, but I think it works well enough and is a sight better than most modern action/sci-fi film scores. I've listened to it a few times now and the tone it's creating as a complete piece comes across - it's not just an exercise in thumps and crashes and stings and driving beats - which was my concern.
I kind of think "Friend from the Past" may be the original Space Jockey.
Anyone else think
Spoiler
I wasn't expecting a masterpiece either, so count me into that percentile. I am loving it and am pretty sure that in context it will do the job nicely.
Obviously, and right away, Jerry Goldsmith Strietenfeld is not. End of debate. That being said, this score reminds me of some of the classic Bible films in its ominous tone. I'm hearing 'Going In' at the moment and it's creating the right tone for me, and there's just enough melody that I feel like this score not only does the job, but does it wonderfully. There are even a couple of moments that remind me of Elliot Goldenthal's ALIEN3 score and yet, Streitenfeld maintains his own perspective.
I'm beyond surprised as I was waiting for and expecting something absolutely mediocre. He brought his A game, and even without context, I know I'm somewhere as beautiful as it is dangerous. Perhaps I'm in the small percentile, but, yeah, I love this score.
When the music is a masterpiece you can listen to it with our without any Movie scene, it inspires you to think in something.
i sometimes just find myself listening to the Jurassic Park, Terminator or even Ghost Busters theme.
Again i am not saying the track is bad, it's really good but unfortunately it's not something i would find myself hearing if not watching to the movie.
half of it because its a horror soundtrack, on the other hand, i feel like i can put the whole cd
of Prometheus and listen to it completely anywhere. i remember listening the Alien cd in my car and just when the light turned
green, i panic when a track start very loud... it was funny...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfwe-4ph3g4#
You people are better.
I don't think it's fair to a score to judge it thusly. That's not its' purpose, which is to compliment and/or enhance a film.
Some of Alien3 is straight ear-grating, anxious, and plain awful. It's supposed to be, because people are being murder-death-killed on screen. Listening to apart from this, though, can be off-putting. I've had many of my friends give me WTF face when these parts start playing.
But let's keep it real: Alien3 is truly one of a kind. The original Alien score is also great, but Goldenthal got crazy with A3 so much that it stands out to this day.
Kind of another dynamic to this whole debate... A3 is not your average score. It's actually my all-time hands down favorite behind Khatchaturian's Gayane "Adagio," which isn't a score itself but was used heavily in several films.
Fixed.
In my opinion, you risk looking like a big ass if you pass final judgment on a movie score without even seeing the movie it was scored for.
Alien3, without the film, is at times staggeringly beautiful, and at other times a total chaotic mess. I mean it's a basic thing to say, but there's just so much talk of disapproval when we don't even know how the film will feel or how the score will work with it.
Blade Runner is the same. It's amazing music by itself, but it fits the film like a glove. I don't think it would work with any other film, and if I could've heard it before I'd seen Blade Runner, it would've seemed very strange indeed.
I think that's more important than judging it as some stand-alone piece of music. It has to work with the vision and theme of the film, first.
An example that always comes to mind is Terminator: Salvation. That score was one I consider very underwhelming, especially considering the ridiculous composer they choose for it (Elfman, really?) but when listened to by itself, I actually really like it. I just don't think does anything for the film. Most of the time as I watched it, I could barely remember any music at all.
/Two cents.
I like it very much. Very evocative...which nicely complements the somber tone of the film.
YIKES !! You really are hard-core.
Even with "modern" composers, I still prefer those compositions featuring a strong melodic structure. If the composer also happens to be a virtuoso, all the better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_mQiL19XmI#ws
More like Stockhausen, Babbit, vladimir ussachevsky, and that school of things. I like some 12 tone as well, but for me stuff really picks up post wwII.