cience-fiction buffs are likely most familiar with the name
John Harrison due to his role as director of SCI FI's recent adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. What relatively few fans know is that he's also a talented musician who has penned melodies for numerous well-known horror movies. One of his earliest assignments was on George A. Romero's 1985 picture, Day of the Dead, for which Harrison crafted a spirited score that has just been issued, for the first time on CD, by Numenorean
Music.
The album opens with "The Dead Suite," a protracted work with a running time of almost 20 minutes. Harrison performs this electronic composition on a variety of keyboards, nicely displaying both taut and relatively tranquil motifs. Three shorter instrumental cues—"Breakdown," "Escape Invasion" and
"The Dead Walk"—are sequenced immediately after the first number, and are in turn followed by a pair of would-be pop songs, "If Tomorrow Comes" and "The World Inside Your Eyes," featuring overwrought vocals and wailing guitars.
The five remaining cuts are collectively presented as "Bonus Music and Effects Tracks." A noticeable deterioration in sound quality, along with abundant ambient noises, signal that these pieces were in all probability lifted directly from a print of the film. "Diner of the Living Dead" includes ravenous moans and screams intermingled with pulsating artificial tones, while "Dead Calm" showcases footsteps overlaying an anxious beat. The recording concludes with the aptly titled "Dead End," a lengthy selection that mixes gunfire, groans and numerous other audio elements with Harrison's throbbing themes.
Diehard Dead fans will be extremely grateful
In the comprehensive liner notes, Harrison explains that when writing the score for Day of the Dead, he sought to not only fashion "music to drive the action, to convey the dread, to shock and surprise," but also to generate contrasting themes that would provide "occasional hope or a moment or two of serenity." Such a delicate balance can be difficult to achieve, especially given the confines of the production's comparatively paltry budget and the inherent deficiencies of 1980s-era electronic
instruments. While the soundtrack does not entirely overcome these limitations, for the most part the melodies do adequately suggest an atmosphere of trepidation, terror and, at appropriate times, comfort and solace.
"The Dead Suite" is undoubtedly the key cut on the collection, introducing the various leitmotifs in roughly the order they appeared within the picture. A meticulous, methodical rhythm drives the work, producing an apprehensive air that's counterbalanced by what Harrison describes as a "Caribbean cum rock opera motif." Light percussion and an aggressive guitar in some of the subsequent cues, such as "The Dead Walk," further emphasize the dangerous milieu. The two pop tunes, though unquestionably dated, remain likable and are mercifully neither intrusive nor insufferable.
Despite providing a few interesting moments, the "Bonus Music and Effects Tracks" are largely superfluous, with loud sounds regularly overwhelming the underlying themes and jarring melodic shifts—obviously designed to accentuate the on-screen action—creating an unintentionally uneasy feeling. Dedicated fans of Romero's Dead trilogy will likely find they can't live without the Day of the Dead soundtrack, but the average movie-music maven can probably forego purchasing this competent but clearly nonessential CD.
