side from excellent acting and dazzling special effects, the best
SF TV shows and motion pictures usually offer music
that creatively enhances the on-screen imagery. This aural element is
particularly important when dealing with alien-oriented story lines, as both
the sights and sounds must be appropriately eerie and exotic for audiences to
become wholly engrossed in the action.
Watch the Skies offers an assortment of tunes that in one way or
another reflect Hollywood's ongoing infatuation with extraterrestrials.
Following an adaptation of Bernard Herrmann's prelude to the classic flick
The Day the Earth Stood Still, the CD features 15 cuts culled from
relatively contemporary SF film fare. Themes to such well-known movies as
Species, Contact, They Live, Men in Black,
Predator, Alien and Independence Day are included, along
with previously unreleased selections from TV productions like
Roswell, The Tommyknockers and Dark Skies. The album also features an unusual
instrumental devoted to the amusement park attraction Aliens - The
Ride.
Most of the cues are reproductions performed by ensembles such as
the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, although a few numbers--like the
main title to the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers--are
original recordings. Since many of the replica renditions were initially
generated for other collections, the liner notes contain information
identifying sources for the facsimile works, along with concise commentaries
on all of the compositions.
From E.T. to The X-Files
Watch the Skies presents SF fans with an ingenious
assemblage of famous standbys, fresh selections and rather offbeat readings
of familiar scores. Despite the fact that nearly three-quarters of the music
featured on this album is already available elsewhere, the artful
intermingling and creative juxtaposition of the sundry tunes make the CD
surprisingly dynamic and desirable.
Babylon 5 buffs will certainly relish a suite written by popular
series composer Christopher Franke that's dedicated to The Tommyknockers.
And on the next cut, which spotlights the epilogue to the short-lived
television program Dark Skies, they'll also be introduced to the
equally thrilling work of keyboard player Michael Hoenig, who, like Franke,
was formerly affiliated with the rock bands Tangerine Dream and Agitation
Free. Meanwhile, X-philes should find the classically imbued version of The
X-Files theme quite entertaining, while folks seeking less mysterious
music will savor Michael Chertock's soothing medley of melodies from
E.T.
Notwithstanding a couple of intentionally inventive interpretations, most
of the counterfeit cues are rendered in a fairly straightforward manner,
providing listeners with a reasonably representative (though by no means
comprehensive) sampling of recent speculative soundtrack efforts. Although
more original performances would have enhanced the disc, Watch the
Skies supplies SF-music aficionados with an engaging overview of how
Hollywood harmonically portrays the extraterrestrial entities that so often
play an integral role in many speculative movie and TV adventures.
