Total Recall:
The Deluxe Edition

Composer Jerry Goldsmith remembers a classic's inventive music for you wholesale.

	Total Recall: The Deluxe Edition
	By Jerry Goldsmith
	Varèse Sarabande
	73:58 minutes
	MSRP: $17.98 CD

Review by Jeff Berkwits

erry Goldsmith has written some of the most influential scores in Hollywood history, including the themes for such notable science fiction films as Planet of the Apes, Alien and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Another of his most vital--though often overlooked--SF creations is the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic Total Recall. While an album featuring some of that movie's music was issued when the feature debuted in 1990, the new Total Recall: The Deluxe Edition presents all of the melodies showcased on that platter plus approximately 30 minutes of previously unavailable cues.

Beginning with a puissant tune titled "The Dream," Goldsmith generates an intense orchestral atmosphere that magnificently amplifies the on-screen action. Vigorous brass and drums accent "For Old Times' Sake," "The Big Jump" and "The Massacre," just as pensive compositions like "The Space Station" and "Where Am I?" offer quieter yet still profound interludes. Soft, mournful motifs dominate the somber "Without Air" and the ominous "Lies," while a furtive feeling overlays foreboding works such as "Identification" and "Remembering."

An unexpected highlight is a source cue--penned by Goldsmith--furnished as a hidden track following the CD's tranquil closing cut, "A New Life." This ditty, which runs for only about 50 seconds, is an intentionally innocuous commercial jingle that concludes with a woman slyly singing, "For the memory of a lifetime ... Rekall, Rekall, Rekall." The 12-page booklet accompanying the disc contains exhaustive liner notes, written by album producer Robert Townson, examining the expert manner in which the melodies enhance the motion picture.

Capstone to a stellar career

In a career that has spanned almost half a century, Goldsmith has consistently crafted film music that's inventive and edgy. As a result, his compositions are often underappreciated when initially released, yet gain in prestige as time passes. This is precisely what has happened with Total Recall. Although at times the tunes are suggestive of fellow composer Basil Poledouris' similarly skillful work on Conan the Barbarian, this impressive expanded CD offers SF movie fans a rare opportunity to revisit and revel in a stunning, action-oriented score.

"Clever Girl" is one of the film's key cues, with deep strings, blaring horns and skittering electronic noises transmuting the themes for both a confused Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) and his nemesis Richter (Michael Ironside). Far less frantic is the expansive "The Mutant," which, through shimmering notes and soaring violins, expresses a mystical, hopeful air. Among the 17 formerly unreleased cuts, standout numbers include "The Nose Job," with its pinging artificial sounds and booming brass, and the thrilling "A New Face."

With the exception of the hidden bonus track, the melodies on the disc are also presented in chronological order, thereby revealing the ingenious manner in which the composer developed and altered the motifs for the various characters and locales. Goldsmith remains an imaginative and inventive tunesmith, but it has been some time since he formulated a score as consistently complex and exhilarating as Total Recall. Listening to Total Recall: The Deluxe Edition is therefore an eye-opening and extraordinarily invigorating experience.

This collection, with its added music, exemplifies an exciting trend in classic soundtrack re-releases. Whether hearing revamped discs like Superman: The Movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture or the "expanded edition" of John Carpenter's The Fog (which I haven't yet covered in this column), it's fun to encounter formerly unissued tunes from old SF favorites. -- Jeff

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