{"id":5345,"date":"2012-08-06T15:21:25","date_gmt":"2012-08-06T19:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=5345"},"modified":"2012-08-06T15:21:25","modified_gmt":"2012-08-06T19:21:25","slug":"cd-outland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=5345","title":{"rendered":"CD: Outland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>N to O<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Film Score Monthly\/ Released: June 14, 2010<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length:\u00a0CD1: 27 tracks \/ (63:49) +\u00a0CD2: 10 tracks \/ (39:08<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Special Notes: 28-page colour booklet with liner notes and an interview with Michael Boddicker.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Composer: Jerry Goldsmith<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

Outland<\/strong> is Jerry Goldsmith\u2019s last great sci-fi score from a heavily orchestral stance, because by the early eighties the master of action writing (there is no other peer) began to incorporate more synths, significantly changing his instrumental palette, and for a lengthy period, his writing style.<\/p>\n

Perhaps taking a cue from Sean Connery\u2019s overt masculinity, Outland<\/strong> is a massive, muscular score that\u2019s designed to intimidate and unsettle. Writer \/ director Peter Hyams had already mined one of the greatest chase scores ever written when he engaged Goldsmith to score Capricorn One<\/strong> (1977), and the two easily knew what kind of score would work best for a film about a man trapped in an isolated community who must fight for his life when he\u2019s bucked the order and alienated virtually every soul.<\/p>\n

As Hyams describes in the Blu-ray commentary track, Goldsmith\u2019s music just keeps building towards a disturbing end point, but leaving no closure until the finale where harmony and melody (tied to the sheriff\u2019s wife and son) finally end the story. Cues rumble to life, circular and wavering figures gradually increase in density, and many cues close in massive sonic convergences.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just one theme in the film, but each of Goldsmith\u2019s redesigns are amazing, whether elongated into shiny gliding tones (\u201cBlood Test\u201d), or the robust opening sequence (\u201cThe Mine\u201d) which expands on the orchestral and electronic sounds of Logan\u2019s Run<\/strong> (1976) to capture the loneliness of the insular mining town.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also what\u2019s arguably the score\u2019s highlight \u2013 the chase music for \u201cHot Water,\u201d where during a 6 minute time span the theme, in a spiraling version, progresses and readjusts itself to increasingly tense versions. It\u2019s a perfect example of how to score a chase, and specifically address each aspect as cat and mouse eventually converge, scurry and hide, collide and battle, and break apart for another lengthy streak to a new location with new dangers. The main theme is reiterated by various instrumental groupings, and there\u2019s the sharp contrast between brass, the furiously moving strings, and the massive percussion & low brass that give the chase sequence an epic scope. (A real treat in FSM\u2019s CD is an expanded version of the cue, which features music not on the LP, nor in the film.)<\/p>\n

Also note is the portent of \u201cHot Water\u201d \u2013 an early cue called \u201cSpiders\u201d where audiences are treated to seeing an outside miner thinking he\u2019s covered in spiders, and tearing open his suit, causing him to explode. The music is menacing yet compact, and ends with a snarling amalgam of brass and strings, and Goldsmith uses the same concepts for \u201cThe Airlock\u201d where another delusional miner walks into an elevator without his pressurized suit, and explodes into a wet red mess. Like \u201cHot Water,\u201d the cue\u2019s about building tension, and Goldsmith keeps repeating his simple theme on muted brass, adding strings, and then organizing everything into a mordant ballet where light sounds, swirling, strained and heavy sounds thunder with ferocious animosity.<\/p>\n

Hyams notes a parallel to Khachaturian\u2019s writing which is quite appropriate, but it\u2019s the grinding menace that dominates Outland<\/strong> and is such a treat for action fans; the otherwordly elements are there in the form of synths and orchestral scope, but the desperation of the characters is up front in those action cues.<\/p>\n

The small motifs Goldsmith uses are also designed to unnerve, and their repetition ensures audiences are never sure how things will turn out for the hero (ideally speaking), or what lies around the corner. There\u2019s a 3-note figure which recurs like a creaking door left ajar, or tympani hits that evoke someone running outside of a house rapping on windows and doors; both are simple concepts brilliantly developed, and illustrate the details which can add to a film\u2019s illusion of time, place, and permanent state of fear.<\/p>\n

There are a few significant stylist parallels to prior scores \u2013 notably Logan\u2019s Run<\/strong> (in terms of the electronic tones), and Alien <\/strong>(1979), with the main title sequence in score and title design being quite blatant \u2013 but the music of Outland<\/strong> could easily be transposed to an Earth-bound locale, be it a grungy city corner the where police never venture, or a small desert town in a classic western (Hyams\u2019 chief inspiration for writing the script).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a slight saccharine quality to \u201cFinal Message\u201d which signifies the reunion of father and family and their decision to leave a \u2018shithole\u2019 in space for Earth, but musically it\u2019s appropriate because the two styles of writing represent a stark contrast (social & environmental normalcy) to the sheriff\u2019s role as peacemaker among toasty personalities locked up in horrible isolation.<\/p>\n

FSM\u2019s CD features both the original soundtrack album and a full score edition, with expanded and unused cues, as well as \u201cThe Last Battle (Broken Hose)\u201d where orchestrator Morton Stevens adapted Goldsmith\u2019s original version into something more violent, albeit with a smaller group of instruments, and a coarseness reminiscent of the first story segment in Goldsmith\u2019s Twilight Zone: The Movie<\/a><\/strong> (1983).<\/p>\n

Also included: the two source cues by Michael Boddicker featured in the film when Goldsmith\u2019s own versions (released on the LP) weren\u2019t sufficiently sleazy and futuristic; and an alternate \u201cMain Title\u201d version. (Strangely, in his BR commentary, Hyams claims authorship of the title music, for which he recorded a reverse-processed cymbal and wailing superball.)<\/p>\n

FSM\u2019s massive booklet is filled with excellent liner notes and an interview with Michael Boddicker. The mastering is very clean, and comes close to the warm analogue sound of the original LP (which was released both on black and dark green vinyl). The score was also released in 2000 via GNP Crescendo, pairing Outland<\/strong> with Goldsmith\u2019s re-recorded soundtrack album for Capricorn One<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Blu-ray Review<\/a> — Soundtrack Album <\/a>— Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0N to O<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ N to O . Rating: Excellent Label: Film Score Monthly\/ Released: June 14, 2010 Tracks & Album Length:\u00a0CD1: 27 tracks \/ (63:49) +\u00a0CD2: 10 tracks \/ (39:08 . Special Notes: 28-page colour booklet with liner notes and an interview with Michael Boddicker. . Composer: Jerry Goldsmith . . Review: Outland […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[545,1466,1467],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1od","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5345"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5359,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5345\/revisions\/5359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}