The Terminator [Soundtrack]

This is the BEST music from the trilogy by far.For years we had to make-do with the other release which had only 6 tracks from the score and 5 songs used in the movie [The songs have obviously dated,but when you watch the movie & hear them,its like you've gone back in time with The Terminator too!!!]Anyway they finally got around to releasing this score filled C.D. and if movie scores are your bag and you liked the original movie this is a must have.It really gets down to business!.Its already known that the next two movies had huge budgets compared to this,yet its far superior to Brad Fiedel's work on the second ...and the "other guy" that did T3's score!Buy it,you won't regret it.

Brad Fiedel's 'The Terminator' is a soundscape, unparalleled. His unique creation of an industrial-electronic score gives Jim Cameron's 1984 classic a vital sensory dimension that is intrinsic to the film's success and it's enduring legacy. That 'The Terminator' is one of the most famous films of all time it would not be illogical to suspect that Fiedel's score is highly appreciated and acknowledged as a clear influence on synth based industrial and electronic music that has followed in the 25 years since its release. What is illogical is that it is NOT highly appreciated today or even accorded its visionary status. That this 'Definite' edition of the soundtrack, which was released in 1998, has been out of print for a few years now is not only baffling but saddening. While I will not postulate at length why I think Fiedel's score has largely been ignored by today's listeners, I will attempt to qualify why I think this album is deserving of a much higher appreciation and why it most certainly should not be out of print but still selling well today.

The tale of an unrelenting killing machine from the future methodically hunting down its target in 1980s L.A. made for a visual delight in more ways than one. But the films delivery would not have stuck so well with its audience if it was not for the mechanical thumping, droning, clanging beats and the unnerving and even at times emotive synths that played out over its unfolding. Fiedel set out to compose a score that was "strictly mechanical in nature" to accord not only to the terminator itself but to the bleak dystopian wasteland of the future that was frequently alluded to and the sheer terror that the film's protagonists have to endure in their survival against the machine. A few basic elements make up the theme track and these elements are repeated for the most part for the rest of the album. First we have the percussion which in the opening track is muffled but thumps along with a tense energy rounded by a steel drum. The percussion is layered with droning synths that fade in and out like a slowly rotating beam from a lighthouse. Then the higher pitched keyboard notes enter to give the song its focus (often what some refer to as the "du du dooo" melody). The same formula is used for much of the album as already stated, but their construction is mixed up with varying pace and sharpness to suit the scenes over which it accompanies. The exceptions are with track 5, 13 & 18; the first being a lighter, sweeter natured piano tune to represent Sarah Connor's soon to be extinguished innocence, the latter two songs are alterante versions of the love theme, using just piano and oboe, that gives the score its emotive even plaintive counterpart to the harsh, unsettling, industrial assault that pervades most of the album. The love theme is a tender gem and adapts to the love scene by matching Sarah and Reese's intimacy. The polar end to this delicacy is the thudding, energetic, visceral chase themes of tracks 6, 8, 9 & 14. Track 6 introduces Reese's "troubles" as he runs from the police. Again we have the underpinning percussion, staccato but flowing. The invasive synths are very much recognizable as the product of the 1980s but have a charm to them that is not all comforting but compelling. Tracks 8 & 9 are what could be the highlight of the score. It is here, during the first chase from the terminator, that Fiedel lets rip the furious industrial beats that make this score so exciting. Both tracks are over six minutes long as they weave in and out of the narrative. In track 8 we have the tense build up to the terminator's discovery of Sarah in the club then the shoot out followed by the alley and car chase. Cameron excelled himself in directing those scenes, Fiedel did have the work for him. When Sarah and Reese have a brief respite in the garage we have this nefarious but subtle electronic hum as Reese tells Sarah about the future. Then when the terminator re-discovers them the energy bursts back out at us with the same beat as the alley chase but topped now with piercing, high pitched notes. In track 14 we have a sudden departure from the love theme to the rage of the tracks 8 & 9 this time the relentless, unnerving synths ring out the loudest. On track 12 we have what could be the hero's theme of Reese in the future but this is then juxtaposed by the attack of the terminator on the bunker. Tracks 15-18 set the final chase sequences, each track expertly matches what plays out on screen; the collapse of the terminator on fire, his frigthening resurrection, the corridor and factory chase, Reese's final blows on the terminator, Reese's death, the second rise of the machine, its stalking of Sarah through the claustrophobic machinery and then its ultimate demise. Listening to the tracks without the visual does not divorce us from the action, it plays it for us through a different sensory perception, the end result is the same, proving Fiedel's mastery at scoring films.

Some might suggest that this score is dated. While it is unmistakeably 1980s in character, I feel it does not fall foul of being no longer relevant. The sounds are as exciting, unsettling, and stirring as they ever were (all tracks have been remixed and remastered for this 'Definite' edition). Regarding the bass effects throughout the album, the quicker paced songs are great on a good sound system. Occasionally the layering of synths to the underlying beats seem awkwardly timed, but I stress this is a rare occurence and does not detract from the albums enjoyment.

Whats apparent to me is how much the sounds on this score prefigured the rise of electronic music from the 80s onwards. I am not suggesting Fiedel was the first to use synths and industrial beats, that would be naive. But I would assert he was one of the first to deliver it with such a powerful execution. It would be another 4 years until Ministry burst forth with their industrial fury on 'The Land of Rape and Honey' and another 5 until NIN appeared and who subsequently came to popularise industrial in the 1990s. Fiedel's score should have pride of place as the father of the fusion between industrial rythym and electronic sounds.

Fiedel followed later with the soundtrack for the sequel T2. This time he expanded his instrumental focus to demands of the film and its setting. It's a generally lighter but much smoother, refined approach that befits the film but with the exception of tracks 2 & 3 on that album, it doesn't get near the energy or tension that you have with this album.

If you love the film, I would propose it's a foregone you'll appreciate this album. I would be a happier man if this album came to get the recognition it deserved. But until then I'll keep listening and dream furiously.

In the 1990's two different cd's of the soundtrack to the 1984 The Terminator were released. The first was a soundtrack that consisted of a few tracks of Brad Fiedel's score, and all the pop music especially recorded for the film. The second was this; the supposed complete score composed by Fiedel for the film. However even though it is called Definative, this cd suffers from the same problem a lot of film soundtracks released during this time do. It is not 100% complete. For the most part everything heard in the film is on this cd, but there are a few missing cues and the track Garage chase is slightly different to the final version heard on the film. More than likely Fiedel just recorded all this music and then when the film was finished some edits were made, or it was the opposite; but either way what we have here isn't the complete score.

Nevertheless I give this soundtrack a 5 because for the most part everything is there, it's just a shame about the missing cues.

I recommend this cd to any fan of retro synth music, dark sounding unique soundtracks, and or the Terminator.

I also recommend that anyone buying this should also get the original soundtrack too, that soundtrack not only includes the pop music but an alternate more raw sounding factory chase,future remembered, tunnel chase and terminator arrival score.