Aliens Vinyl Soundtrack Review - Record Store Day 2021 35th Anniversary Release

Not a lot of sequels can say they are as good or better than the original. But James Cameron can make magic happen. Both Aliens and T2 are pretty much perfect films. Aliens took the risky approach of changing the tone of the original and pivoting styles from sci-fi horror, to sci-fi action. James Horner’s musical score was instrumental in providing that tonal differentiation from the original.

For Record Store Dat 2021 Varѐse Sarabande re-released the now out-of-print original 1986 vinyl pressing of the Aliens soundtrack, pressed onto Acid Blood Vinyl. As discussed in The Matrix Record Store Day Soundtrack release review, Varѐse Sarabande does not typically do anything fancy or introduce much novelty into their newer vinyl releases. I myself like a splash of novelty just to make a new release a little bit more fun. In this case the Acid Blood vinyl is just enough novelty to satisfy my desires.

The Soundtrack Release

This score, regardless of album presentation has infamously been known to be a mess. James Cameron reportedly cut James Horner's score to pieces in the editing room and it caused a significant rift between the filmmaker and composer for many years. You can hunt down various versions of the score including expanded versions, theatrical versions and even a composer version which is what James Horner intended for the film.

As an album it is a fine listening experience as presented in this release even though it is missing numerous cues that are available on other releases. Similar to the Goonies Record Store Day release featuring select tracks from the score,  if you are looking for the full score you'll need to consider other releases, which on vinyl the best alternative is the expanded Mondo release of Aliens. It is however difficult to find a copy these days.

This record excludes the music from many sequences which some I miss and others I am okay without. Cues such as the Landing Preparation feature extensive militaristic snare drum percussion which feels like you are attending a troop regiment inspection. It works okay in the film but I have no desire to listen to that track ever on its own.

I'll echo my comments from the Goonies album in that this satisfies my desire for Aliens music. I do own the full soundtrack on other formats so I don't mind the original presentation on vinyl as it makes for a fine listening experience.

The Music: The Horneriest Score of All Time?

This is one of the most James Horner James Horner scores there is. Horner is extensively criticized for self plagiarism. This film score is a prime example of such self referencing. Listeners typically fall into 2 camps, you either criticize him for it, or don't care at all and love it! I'm in the latter camp. I love pretty much anything he has done, but even I will admit there are a lot of references to other films he has done, not just reference, just straight up repetition of cues. If you love the music to The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock, well you are in luck, because this score is more of the same. The literal same.

There are countless cues that are direct copies from his two Star Trek outtings. Several keys cues are copied verbatim. I don't think that affects the film unless you're a die hard Horner fan and that Klingon attack theme takes you out of the film.

There is so much great material in the score that any Horner repetition is overshadowed by the overall effectiveness of the music in this film There are many parts of the film that are just genuinely frightening or eerie. Other moments that are just militaristic percussion driven action cues that propel the film forward with a bold energy. It really serves to stylistically separate this film from its predecessor.

The Record Pressing

The pressing sounds very good with a lively and spacious sound. It handles the rich dynamic range of the score very well going from quiet reflective moments to terrifying shrieks. It’s a quiet pressing that allows those subtle moments to really flourish without any background noise.

The Album Artwork

Keeping with the spirit of repressing that original release, this new RSD release features the same artwork as the original. The front jacket images uses the original key art for the film which is very welcome. I always enjoy the “vintage” artwork of 80s film posters and this makes me feel like I have a piece of that original in my collection. I do enjoy when new artwork is created for a release, but sometimes the new artwork ends up being worse and takes away from the record presentation. In this case I am very happy with the artwork as is.

The back cover features the track listing as well as stills from the film.