Forty years after Ellen Ripley returned to face the Xenomorph, James Horner’s celebrated score to Aliens returns to vinyl. Arriving November 13 via Varèse Sarabande, the 40th Anniversary Edition will be available in three new color pressings.
Collectors can choose from the wide-release Silver vinyl, Barnes & Noble’s exclusive Alien Green, or Varèse Sarabande’s appropriately otherworldly Xenomorph Glow, pressed on glow-in-the-dark vinyl.
→ PRE-ORDER ALIENS (40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
WELCOME BACK, RIPLEY
Released in 1986, James Cameron’s Aliens picked up the story of Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, following her deadly encounter with the Xenomorph in Ridley Scott’s Alien.
For the sequel, Cameron turned to James Horner to compose the score, beginning a creative partnership that would eventually lead to Titanic and Avatar. Horner conducted the London Symphony Orchestra for the recording, with the sessions taking place at Abbey Road Studios.
AGAINST THE CLOCK
Aliens was being edited and completed right up against its deadline, leaving Horner just two weeks to write the score.
Working under that pressure, Horner created music that could move with the film’s shifts between creeping suspense and all-out action. The process strained his relationship with Cameron, but the finished score earned Horner his first Academy Award® nomination.
The pair wouldn’t collaborate again for several years. By the time Cameron was preparing Titanic, however, he knew he wanted to return to Horner. Their reunion ultimately developed into a long-running partnership that continued through Avatar.
LISTENING NOTES
“Aliens Main Title”
Start here for Horner’s take on the eerie world Ripley has reluctantly returned to. It wastes little time bringing the unease back.
“Going After Newt”
The title tells you exactly where you are in the story, but Horner makes the journey feel anything but straightforward. A good pick for hearing the score ratchet up the tension.
“Ripley’s Rescue”
One of the cues where the score’s action side takes over, matching Ripley’s determination as the movie races toward its final act.
“Futile Escape”
For the sound of Aliens with the pressure gauge firmly in the red. Horner piles urgency on top of an already frantic situation.
“Bishop’s Countdown”
Few things generate tension quite like a countdown, and Horner makes sure you feel every second. Put this one on loud.
GAME OVER? NOT QUITE.
The circumstances surrounding the making of Aliens may have been difficult, but Horner’s music became an integral part of a film that went on to become a sci-fi landmark and set the stage for one of his most important creative partnerships.
Four decades later, the Silver, Alien Green and Xenomorph Glow pressings offer three new ways to bring that score back to the turntable.
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