Alien (soundtrack)

Alien
Soundtrack album by Jerry Goldsmith
Released	1979
Genre	Avant-garde Classical
Length	33:37 Original 126:18 Complete Edition
Label	20th Century Records Original T-593 Intrada Complete Edition
Producer	Jerry Goldsmith
Alien film series soundtrack chronology
Alien (1979) Aliens (1987)
Alternative cover
Cover of the Intrada Complete Edition

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The iconic, avant-garde score to the film Alien was composed by Jerry Goldsmith and is considered by some to be one of his best, most visceral scores. Rather than focusing on themes, Goldsmith creates a bleak and dissonant soundscape that fits the film's dark and intense atmosphere, with only a few "romantic" cues.

The music was performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Lionel Newman. However, the music was not originally used or heard as intended. The score was substantially cut for the film's released versions, and some recordings from other sources were added, notably portions of Goldsmith's original score for the 1962 film Freud (which were that film's Main Title, as well as the tracks Charcot's Show and Desperate Case), and the first movement () from Howard Hanson's 1930 "Symphony No. 2, Romantic" for the film's end credits.

The complete intended score was first released as an isolated track on a 1999 20th Anniversary DVD edition on 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (it has subsequently appeared on budget DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film). On November 15, 2007, Intrada Records released this same intended score with additional alternate score tracks and the original LP program in a 2-CD set. This release is the first to publish Jerry Goldsmith's complete score remixed and remastered from the original 1" master tapes. Mondo Gearing re-released the soundtrack, in summer 2015 with a new artwork designed by Tyler Stout.

credits for the original edition by 20th Century Records