Young, Intrada, Species

INTRADA Announces: SPECIES
Composed by CHRISTOPHER YOUNG
Conducted by Pete Anthony
INTRADA Special Collection Volume 77


In the 1995 MGM film Species, the story begins with a seemingly human child held in a government facility, yet the girl is actually the product of an alien transmission that enabled Earth scientists to combine extraterrestrial and human DNA. The head of the project, Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley) orders the destruction of the young creature, Sil. But Sil escapes before the execution can take place, quickly grows to adulthood and begins a rampage in Los Angeles. Fitch gathers a team of unlikely experts to track down and kill the creature. The personnel include an “empath” who can read others’ thoughts and feelings (Forest Whitaker), a sociologist (Alfred Molina), a biologist (Marg Helgenberger), and a government contract killer (Michael Madsen). The twist in Species is that Sil is by all appearances a beautiful human female, played as a young girl by Michelle Williams and as an adult by actress and model Natasha Henstridge.

No stranger to scoring science fiction or horror films, composer Christopher Young delivered a complex and highly intense score, bringing Sil to musical life. From the main title, one can tell the score will be singular. The opening titles ("Species") paint an ethereal picture of outer space with strings, chimes, harp and hushed flute pulses and understated percussion, as well as a feminine chorus. But it's not all ethereal and feminine, for like Sil herself, beauty is only one the outside. This is a dark, often exciting, often dissonant work. As written for the film, the score features numerous short cues and stings, particularly early in the action where a great deal of crosscutting shows the team assembling while Sil escapes, grows and infiltrates human society. For this first-ever release of his score, Young combined some cues and presented others out of film order for an enhanced listening experience. He’s also included material that went unused in the film. Like many films since the 1990s, Species features a heavy sound effects mix that competes with the the score in the onscreen sound mix; but now the detail and thrust of Young’s music can be fully appreciated in this crisp and dynamic sounding album presentation.

This release is limited to 3000 copies.

INTRADA Special Collection - Volume 77
Retail Price: $19.99
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For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.5889/.f

Excellent, excellent score. Great choice by Intrada.

No, i am not a fan of these limited edition gigs, definitely not buying it nor do i remember when was the last time i bought any of those re-releases and limited edition thingies.

Pff, it's a great choice. Everything is. Maybe you and I and the next dude won't buy that, but the labels' marketing with the limited edition craziness always works. I bet there won't be any copies left in a week's (or 2, or less) time.

I'd estimate that almost half (if not more) of those who are buying it already have the previous version.

Same here. But i guess you DO know we're the minority on this one.

A new Christopher Young release always worth celebrating - especially as a lot of his earlier stuff was released as limited "promos". I for one have only been able to get a CD-R of this promo and part of my purchase of this new release is to replace my CD-R.

Apparently there was an Intrada-produced composer promo that has ~40-45 minutes of music - http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/cata … vieid=9028

I've never been quite sure how available this was when it was originally produced.