Terminator: Salvation [Original Soundtrack]

by Danny Elfman

Overview

Music is crucial to establishing a movie's feel. It's not just "background." Sometimes a score or theme is so stirring and memorable that the composers become legends known by the mainstream like John Williams (Jaws, Star Wars) and Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). Danny Elfman is well on his way to this lofty status. Millions know his work -- primarily the Simpsons theme. The prolific former leader of the cult new wave band Oingo Boingo started earning Hollywood acclaim for his work scoring movies by director Tim Burton. Elfman has composed the exciting music for 2009's Terminator Salvation, the fourth film in the blockbuster science fiction franchise, starring Christian Bale. Brad Fiedel composed the hauntingly memorable synthesizer-based music for 1984's The Terminator and 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Marco Beltrami took the reins for 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which featured a more conventional orchestral score and a new take on Fiedel's original theme. Elfman's Terminator Salvation work is also orchestral and contains subtle nods to Fiedel's theme while maintaining a consistent vision. The strings, brass, and percussion superbly reflect the moods of the scenes: relentless action, dramatic tension, and emotional vulnerability. It's the deft little touches Elfman briefly adds here and there that give this music depth, most notably ethereal classical guitar lines, soft piano chords, and sputtering percussion. Elfman has 14 compositions on the Terminator Salvation soundtrack and the most powerful are "Opening," "Broadcast," "The Harvester Returns," "Fireside," "Reveal/The Escape," "Final Confrontation," and "Salvation." The last track is Alice in Chains' harrowing "Rooster" from the band's 1992 album Dirt. It's featured in the movie, much like Guns N' Roses' "You Could Be Mine" was used in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (and again in Terminator Salvation as one of many tips of the hat to the earlier films and their die-hard fans). In the Terminator Salvation soundtrack liner notes, director McG says that he chose "Rooster" "primarily because of the existential feel of the track and for the lyric 'Ain't found a way to kill me yet.'" Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote "Rooster" as a tribute to his father, a Vietnam War veteran, so there's a parallel with Bale's John Connor character -- the human resistance's leader in the war against murderous machines in a post-apocalyptic future. Elfman's richly textured music, topped off by the impact of Alice in Chains' "Rooster," makes the Terminator Salvation soundtrack stand tall on its own as a listening experience. ~ Bret Adams

Product Details

Release Date:	05/19/2009
Label:	Reprise
UPC:	0093624975700
Rank:	77613

Tracks

1. Opening
2. All is Lost
3. Broadcast
4. The Harvester Returns
5. Fireside
6. No Plan
7. Reveal/the Escape
8. Hydrobot Attack
9. Farewell
10. Marcus Enters Skynet
11. A Solution
12. Serena
13. Final Confrontation
14. Salvation
15. Rooster

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Danny Elfman   Primary Artist
Alice in Chains   Primary Artist,Ensemble
Thomas Bowes   Orchestra Leader
Rick Wentworth   Conductor

Technical Credits

Danny Elfman   Audio Production,Composer,Producer
Dave Jerden   Producer
Steve Bartek   Orchestration
Diarmuid Quinn   Audio Production,Soundtrack Producer
Marco Cimino   Audio Production
Marc Mann   MIDI Programming
David Slonaker   Orchestration
Jeff Atmajian   Orchestration
Edgardo Simone   Orchestration
Noah Snyder   Engineer
Tom Whalley   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Bill Abbott   Music Editor
Erich Stratmann   Assistant Music Editor
Mathieu Bitton   Design,Art Direction
Dean Anderson   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Carter Armstrong   Audio Production,Soundtrack Producer
Marc Comino   Soundtrack Producer
Victor Kubicek   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Joel B. Michaels   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Alice in Chains   Producer
Dennis Sands   Score Mixer
Peter Cobbin   Recording
McG   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Isobel Griffiths   Orchestra Contractor