26 tracks / (79:08)

One of the toughest things to get accustomed to is an expanded release of a score whose reference point (and first exposure for listeners) was an album comprised of themes edited into tight suites – something common to soundtrack albums, but more so with several Jerry Goldsmith scores.

Unlike The Boys from Brazil (1978), Capricorn One (1978), or Alien (1979), the original 1983 album of Goldsmith’s Twilight Zone: The Movie [TZ]  was fairly chronological – the only exception being Marius Constant’s  TV show theme and Goldsmith’s “Overture” that came first instead of last on the LP.

FSM’s new CD basically presents the entire score (53 mins.) in chronological order, as well as offers some alternate cues and the original album edits in the CD’s bonus section (26 mins.). In terms of sound quality, the original Warner Bros. album, mixed live in four-track track stereo, contains a similar level of bass oomph as the LP; FSM’s CD is of note not just because it wasn’t pressed on noisy, B-grade noisy vinyl, but due to the fact this expanded CD release comes from the 24-track elements that were recorded simultaneously by recording engineer and original album producer Bruce Botnick.

More importantly, though, is a greater clarity of subtleties that were kind of buried in the original album mix. The most notable are peripheral synth chords and drones that gave the first segment, “Time Out,” a contemporary feel while still remaining stylistically faithful to the small orchestra and chamber writing that was typical of the original TV series.

Even from musical standpoint, “Time Out” forms the best intro and lead-in to the film because it recalls the show’s musical style and establishes some continuity with the TZ universe, provides the right dose of nostalgia for fans, and integrates delicate contemporary sounds so we’re not jarred by the film’s later segments that feature much bigger sounds than the TV series could have afforded.

The new material in FSM’s suite include an electronic bridge and a short theme reprise with electronica (“Questions”) that was snipped out so the first third of the suite’s first half led straight into the hard percussion of the last third. There’s also a brief synth intro that precedes the hard percussion chase music with Goldsmith’s wonderful use of a ticking motif as well as layers of bass-friendly drums, cascading piano, and glimmering xylophone.

The biggest improvement, in terms of new music, is with “Kick the Can,” the sappy Steven Spielberg ode to staying young at heart (and if possible on a physical level). The suite opens with a gorgeous theme recitation on solo harp (“Harp and Love”) that’s a far better transitional element from “Time Out” because it eases one into the schmaltz that permeated the second.

An orchestral rendition follows afterwards (“Weekend Visit”), and the melodic sweep and undeniable melancholy are reminiscent of Goldsmith’s Islands in the Stream (1977), probably one of the finest symphonic portraits of a bullying father trying to emotionally reconnect with his sons as well as earn some dignity near the end of his life.

Both aforementioned cues, plus the brief “Kick the Can” theme fragment and the elegiac “Night Games” are wholly new, whereas the last cue – a big one running  just over ten minutes – is what was excerpted on the album. The use of the latter cue made sense from a narrative point because it dealt with the theme in all of its primary permutations: mystical, euphoric, and drippy schmaltz. As with the album edit, the final bars include Scatman Crothers’ short vocal part as he taps his stick against a white picket fence.

The best-represented segments on the original LP were “It’s a Good Life” and “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” because they featured meaty dramatic transitions between unease, hope, and paranoia.

The new material for “Good Life” consists of all the creepy incidental material written for the teacher’s entry into the boy’s weird house, and there’s a great percussion and synth stab that’s guaranteed to make listeners jump. “Cartoon Monster” and “Teach Me/No More Tricks” are slightly longer, and the rich interplay between hesitant strings, pensive woodwinds, swirling synth effects, and a crazy horn seem much clearer in the crisply mastered CD.

A major plus with the CD is the great balance among sonics previously buried in the flatter album mix, and remaining faithful to the resonating bass and percussion Goldsmith favoured during the early eighties. Before he became too enamored with synths and gave them more prominence in his work, Goldsmith’s mastery in action and suspense and horror genres was evident by creating unease through mostly pure orchestral sounds; the highpoint of the era remains Poltergeist, because even though the score has its share of electronic elements, its snarling, carnivorous quality stems from amazing brass effects and percussion stabs that assault like booming thunderclaps.

Percussion and aggression were the only aspects Goldsmith mined for “Nightmare,” and the fourth and final segment musically returned audiences to the minimalist structure of the show, as well as a template for its most successful shockers: one man slowly going crazy in isolation, or while the world watches with hard indifference or complete disbelief.

The album suite was a favourite to blast loud because of the way a twitchy theme just keeps building with more layers of orchestral density, yet remains within the hard design of screechy fiddles, fat vibrato, and swelling tension.

The new material includes “No Smoking,” an unused cut that would’ve given the segment its only bout of lightness. The cue’s highlight is the counterpoint between string bass and synths; fiddles and celli tease the lead character with swipes of the main theme, and there’s a playfulness between the piano and trombones.

The main reason for dropping the extra material from the original album edit, as well as cutting down sections, was probably to keep the tempo hard and fast after the first string-only intro, and minimize theme repetition. “Nightmare” is basically about one man going cuckoo because of the same group of stressors – fear of flying, lousy co-passengers, and a gremlin on the wing – and it its unedited form on the FSM CD, the “Nightmare” suite is actually a bit uneven because some of Goldsmith’s cues also functioned as slow-burning, sudden-ending stabs.

Of note, however, is the short cue (“Hungry Monster/Engine Failure”) that should’ve been on the LP because it’s the film’s proper (and very tongue-in-cheek) final cue. The LP just cross-faded the last bars of “Hungry Monster” with the Constant’s TZ theme, but those preferring the original album order can program the CD accordingly.

In addition to the album edits, there’s an alternate blend of cues for “Kick the Can” (which includes a take of the final bars without Crothers’ vocals), the pop source pieces for “Time Out,” plus the cartoon music Goldsmith scored for “It’s a Good Life” – music that foreshadows one of his last scores, Joe Dante’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003).

In the fat CD booklet, FSM  has used this opportunity to also add a lot of backstory to the film and score, so in addition to a concise telling of the film’s production (minus the obvious grim details of the Twilight Zone tragedy), there are recollections by Joe Dante, a beautifully detailed retrospective by producer/engineer Botnick, and cue synopses that also refer to unused material on the CD, and the film’s original story selections – Spielberg was to have made “The Monsters are Due Out on Maple Street” instead of “Kick the Can” - that were changed after the deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children during filming of the “Time Out” segment.

There’s also details of a deleted hospital scene that was shot when the idea was to have “Nightmare” lead into “Good Life,” with a post-traumatic John Lithgow arriving at the hospital where Kathleen Quinlan worked. (Naturally none of these details nor any excised material were included on Warner Bros.’ perfunctory DVD.)

For series as well as Goldsmith fans, this album is a must-have. Pity the film, deserving or not, will never be honored in such a manner.

© 2009 Mark R. Hasan