Items - CDs/MP3 - Escape From New York
(Out of Production)Music composed and performed by
John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth
Release Date: October 04, 1989
Running Time: 37:00
Label: Varese Sarabande (US)
1. Main Title (3:52)
2. Up The Wall/Airforce #1 (2:29)
3. Orientation # 2 (1:48)
4. Engulfed Cathedral (Debussy) (3:33) +
5. Back To The Pod/The Crazies Come Out (3:00)
6. Arrival At The Library (1:06)
7. Everyone's Coming To New York (2:54) "
8. The Duke Arrives/The Barricade (3:35) ++
9. Police State/Romero And The President (3:21)
10. The President At The Train (2:55)
11. The President Is Gone (2:30)
12. Chase Across The 69th Street Bridge (2:33)
13. Over The Wall (3:43)
Pamela Smith, keyboard +
Written by Nick Castle "
Tommy Wallace, guitar ++
New Expanded Edition Original Film Soundtrack (CD, MP3)
Music composed and performed by
John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth
Release Date: April 25, 2000
Length: 57:31 minutes
Label: Silva America (US) Silva Screen (UK)
1. Main Title (3:53)
2. Bank Robbery (3:30) '
3. "Prison Introduction" (0:20)
4. Over the Wall/Airforce One (2:22)
5. He's Still Alive/Romero (2:12) '
6. "snake' Plissken" (1:41)
7. Orientation (1:47)
8. "Tell Him" (1:46)
9. Engulfed Cathedral (Debussy) (3:31) +
10. Across the Roof (1:14) '
11. Descent into New York (3:37) '
12. Back to the Pod - Version #1 (1:34) '
13. Everyone's Coming to New York (2:24) "
14. "Don't Go Down There!" (0:19)
15. Back to the Pod - Version #2/The Crazies Come Out (2:09)
16. "I Heard You Were Dead!" (0:09)
17. Arrival at the Library (1:06)
18. "You Are the Duke of New York" (0:16)
19. Duke Arrives/Barricade (3:35) ++
20. President at the Train (2:28)
21. "Who Are You?" (0:27)
22. Police Action (2:27)
23. Romero and the President (1:43)
24. President Is Gone (1:53)
25. 69th Street Bridge (2:43)
26. Over the Wall (3:42)
27. "The Name Is Plissken" (0:25)
28. Snake Shake (3:58) '
Previously unreleased '
Pamela Smith, keyboard +
Written by Nick Castle "
Tommy Wallace, guitar ++
CD Reviews
Ign.com By Glen Oliver
Film Score Monthly By Jason Comerford
Sci Fi.com, Sound Space (pdf) By Jeff Berkwits
Soundtrack.Net By Messrob Torikian
Tracksounds! By Christopher Coleman
Purchase, reviews and track listening here (CD), MP3 Purchase Here
A Note from Producer
It was 1980, and I had just finished my first sound design assignment for the feature film STAR TREK - THE MOTION PICTURE. The film's editor was Todd Ramsey, who then went on to edit ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK for John Carpenter. Todd introduced me to John and advised him that I was a musician as well as a sound designer. John came over to my home, checked out what I was up to and said to me, "OK, let's do it." This meant that he would score ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK in my home studio and that was it! We had the latest technology of the day, an ARP Quadra, ARP Avatar with 16 step sequencer, a Prophet 5 programmable analog synthesizer, and a Linn LM-1 drum machine. Everything was recorded to the analog 24 & 8 track tape. This was before we had synchronization with video, so I recorded a track with dialogue from the scene, and we used that as a guide for timing the cues. The whole process was primitive by today's standards, it was about creating music for film, and John said, "There's only one rule to follow, there are no rules." There was no intention to make a soundtrack record while we were composing the score. The whole idea was only brought up after the film came out. John had me edit the record (no CDs back then), which was for released on vinyl, so there was a 22 to 25 minute limit to each side, due to the physical restraints of the medium. Now it's 20 years later, and I am going back into the original tracks to make a CD. As I went through the cues, all the memories of the sessions returned. It was a wonderful experience to learn from John about music for films. The tracks themselves were clean, but the original mixes were created before there was console automation that we take for granted today. For this pass, the analog tapes were transferred to a Soundscape RED digital workstation, and all the clean up and mixing was done within the computer, which did editing as well as the mix. I took more advantage of stereo separation as well as cutting out all the analog noise of tracks that are not playing any material. Dialogue was included in the CD to help tell the story as you listen. The film still holds up as well as the music we created for it.
- Alan Howarth, March 12, 2000
About This Release
For this expanded CD release, Silva Screen Records went back to the original multi-track music masters and commissioned Alan Howarth to create a newly remastered stereo mix that would bring this landmark score into the 21st Century.
Howarth had made extensive edits to the score for its original album release. However, for this new presentation on CD it was decided to restore the music to its original film version. This disc contains all of the music from the original album release, as well as a number of previously unreleased cues such as "He's Still Alive/Romero," "Across The Roof," "Decent Into New York" and "Back To The Pod - Version #1."
This release also features for the first time two sequences that were never used in the final version of the film. The first is "The Bank Robbery," a tense underscore for a deleted bank robbery sequence that is only mentioned later in the story. 'Snake' Plissken's participation in the Atlanta heist leads to his arrest and sentencing to the New York Maximum Security Prison, and was intended to open the film. This prologue was deleted after several preview audiences indicated that it diminished the introduction of the character by seeing him captured so early in the film.
The second is "Snake Shake" which was intended to play under the end credits for the film. Director and composer John Carpenter felt that it was to light in tone and at odds with the film's darkly ironic ending. This was eventually replaced by a reprise of the Ennio Morricone-flavored main theme that became musically synonymous with the anti-hero, 'Snake' Plissken.
Alterations
A review from Mr. "alan5973" on Amazon.com
Being a huge fan of the music of John Carpenter I was very excited when I saw this disc, having already purchased the original version years ago. Having said that I must tell you that this new remastered version may seem great to some but for others, you may find yourself somewhat irritated. I decided to listen to the original album and following each track, listen to the remastered version to see what the differences were. The sound quality is much better, yes, on the newer version but it seems to me that some sounds have changed and have been remixed. Take the Main Title for example. After the drumbeat intro and the first backing sounds we should hear the synth playing the Main Title Theme. In the newer version, it has been changed to a piano, quite possibly an electric one. Other sounds seem to be added to this track that were not there before which begs the question: Is this a Remastered CD or a Remix CD? Also, anyone hoping for the complete version of the Main Title will be very disappointed to learn that it is not included (the extended end credits version would run longer). I made a copy off of my laserdisc, connecting the opening and end credits together to have this version, since it is only available by another composer (Daniel Caine) who pays homage to Mr. Carpenter (see: Halloween The Best Of John Carpenter). Another major note is that the track, President At The Train has been shortened from 2:55 to 2:28, deleting the last 27 seconds off of the track, which for me is the best part (the shrieking noise as a body jumps in front of Plissken and what follow are lost). The best part is the inclusion of 6 previously unreleased tracks, although The Bank Robbery, which was used for the original opening sequence that was later deleted, was available on Promotional Copies of Big Trouble In Little China. For this reason as well as the sound quality, this disc is worth getting. But in my opinion, not all the tracks came out very well. Arrival At The Library (1:06), which has been switched, speaker wise (the sounds from the left on the original version are now switched to the right on the newer version) and 69th Street Bridge (2:43) both sound a little muddled as if they couldn't decide what the main instrument would be throughout the piece. I don't know why Track 28, Snake Shake, says below it, End Credits, since it was not used in the End Credits of the film but it is a nice bonus just the same. The dialogue added is a nice touch but does interfere at times with the beginnings or endings of the tracks before or after them. Please understand my rating is not aimed at the music (I love Mr. Carpenter's work and own every score he has done from Dark Star to the present), it is for the technical aspect, which, to me, seems flawed, that my rating is centered towards. When I go see a movie and I hear the music for the film and like it I want to go and buy the soundtrack (or score) with the idea that it will sound exactly the same. When it doesn't sound the same it is a huge disappointment. As I said, for most people, it may make little difference. But to purists, like myself, it matters a great deal.
From the soundtrack.net review by Messrob Torikian
The other problem with this CD is the bad remixing of a few tracks. While most of the remixing is fine, there are a couple of tracks that suffer from it. One is Engulfed Cathedral. The original version as heard in the film had the low notes, which serve as the backbone of the piece, flow into one another. This piece accompanies Snake’s flight into the prison at night. It’s a beautiful piece now marred by the new version which has these low notes clipped. The other track that suffers is Over the Wall, which now sounds like cheesy B movie synth music borrowed from a video game. I suppose an apt comparison would be hearing your favorite piece of music conducted by someone other than the original conductor. Sure, the notes are the same, but the pacing and the feel of it are simply different and it rubs you the wrong way.
Foreign Releases
(Out of Production)French (1987/Milan Records)
(Out of Production)German (1988/Colosseum Schallplatten GmbH)
(Out of Production)Japanese
(Out of Production)Extended Edition
Compilations
(Out of Production)John Carpenter Greatest Hits Volume 1
Music composed and performed by
John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth
Release Date: July 15, 1999
Label: Varese Sarabande (US)
2. Main Title (3:52)
3. Up The Wall/Airforce #1 (2:29)
4. Engulfed Cathedral (Debussy) (3:33) +
5. Chase Across The 69th Street Bridge (2:33)
6. Over The Wall (3:43)
Pamela Smith, keyboard +
(Out of Production)John Carpenter Greatest Hits Volume 2
Music composed and performed by
John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth
Release Date: July 15, 1999
Label: Varese Sarabande (US)
17. The Duke Arrives/The Barricade (3:35) ++
18. Everyone's Coming To New York (2:54) "
Written by Nick Castle "
Tommy Wallace, guitar ++
(Out of Production)Big Trouble in Little China Promo CD
Music composed and performed by
John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth
Release Date: 2000
Label: Super Tracks Music Group (US)
14. Atlanta Bank Robbery (3:31) (Bonus Track) (Never Before Released)
(Out of Production)Choice Cuts: Wicked Sounds of Horror (CD)
Release Date: October 12, 1999
Label: Milan Records (US)
3. Main Title From Escape From New York (3:52)
Escape From L.A.
(Out of
Production) (MP3 Available)
Music From And Inspired By John Carpenter's Escape From L.A.
Various Artist
Release Date: July 16, 1996
Label: Lava, Atlantic Records (US/Europe)
1. Dawn - Stabbing Westward (4:35)
2. Sweat - Tool (3:36)
3. One - White Zombie (4:00)
4. Cut Me Out - Toadies (3:03)
5. Pottery - Butthole Surfers (2:55)
6. 10 Seconds Down - Sugar Ray & the Bluetones (3:40)
7. Blame (L.A. Remix) - Gravity Kills (3:51)
8. Professional Widow - Tori Amos (4:32)
9. Paisley - Ministry (4:49)
10. Fire in the Hole - Orange 9mm (3:09)
11. Escape from the Prison Planet - Clutch (4:55)
12. Et Tu, Bruté? - CIV (2:17)
13. Foot on the Gas - Sexpod (4:00)
14. Can't Even Breathe - Deftones (4:53)
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are in the film.
CD Poster (Comes with the CD)
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(Out of
Production) (MP3 Available) Original Motion Picture Score
Music composed and performed by
Shirley Walker & John Carpenter
Release Date: August 27, 1996
Length: 34:04 minutes
Label: Milan Records (US/Europe)
1. Escape From New York Main Title (2:07) (A)
2. History of Los Angeles (2:09) (B)
3. Snake's Uniform (0:58) (C)
4. Submarine Launch (2:36) (D)
5. Sunset Boulevard Bazaar (2:03) (D)
6. Motorcycle Chase (2:23) (D)
7. Showdown (1:27) (C)
8. Beverly Hills Surgeon General (4:10) (B)
9. The Future Is Right Now (2:00) (D)
10. Hang Glider Attack (2:30) (D)
11. The Black Box (1:14) (D)
12. Escape From Coliseum (1:53) (D)
13. Helicopter Arrival (2:05) (D)
14. Fire Fight (2:49) (D)
15. Escape From Happy Kingdom (1:30) (D)
16. Crash Landing (1:38) (D)
(A) Music by John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
(B) Music by John Carpenter and Shirley Walker
(C) Music by John Carpenter
(D) Music by Shirley Walker
CD Reviews
MainTitles By Thomas Glorieux
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Liner Notes
In 1997, an antihero named Snake Plissken took us on an unrelenting tour of a penitentiary called Manhattan. Guiding him through this slice of future hell was the music of director/composer John Carpenter, a self-taught synthesist who'd been playing his own scores since Dark Star, Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween. His eerie music for Escape From New York, written in association with Alan Howarth, turned the decaying Big Apple into a haunted jailhouse. It was a spare electronic atmosphere that would become the soundtrack for many Orwellian action fantasies.
Cut to 2013. This time the asylum is post-apocalypse Los Angeles, a new place for our fascist government to send its exiles. And once again, Snake Plissken is back in urban hell, at the bidding of an even slimier President. Synth music once again guides Snake, but this time it's fuller, weirder more fun. There's a different vibe going on here, one that tells Carpenter's fans that Shirley Walker is along for the ride. Together, they've expanded the sound of Escape From New York into a unique fusion of computer samples and ethnic instruments-all topped off with the blast of a full orchestra.
Composing music for Hollywood action pictures had traditionally been a guy's playground until Shirley Walker got into the testosterone game. An instrumentalist who worked her way up through the system, Walker would gain recognition for her orchestrating and conducting work with such star composers as Brad Fiedel, Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman. Her symphonic talents played no small part in the grand, orchestral sound of True Lies, Backdraft and Batman. Before she would score such TV shows as Space: Above & Beyond and Batman - The Animated Series, Walker was given her cinematic break by John Carpenter on Memoirs of an Invisible Man. This successful collaboration made her the ideal composer to help Carpenter redefine the sound of Escape From New York.
"There's a Hollywood style that I've always stayed away from," Carpenter remarks. "Shirley describes me as a minimalist in terms of my music. I use a lot of repetitive lines, as opposed to the Max Steiner Mickey-Mousing that everybody does now. But when you're making a big film like Escape From L.A., you have to reach out to the audience with an orchestral feel. Because that kind of music isn't my strongpoint, I wanted to team up with a composer who had the symphonic experience. Shirley was the first person I thought of, and she said 'Why not? Let's do it!"'
"This sequel was an opportunity to get away from the big orchestral stuff that everybody in town knew I could do," Walker comments. "I was able to compose in another style, starting with an homage to John Carpenter. His music is very direct, minimalist and synthy. Using John's approach made me think about what would happen if I didn't play everything. At our first meeting, we talked about how to retain that quality for Escape From L.A., while bringing a symphonic element to the film. Though it's there throughout the score, we wanted the orchestra to become noticeable halfway through the film, and to build exponentially from there."
Carpenter and Walker devised a collaborative process that divided the score between them. The director composed his ideas at a home studio, often writing without the benefit of looking at his film. A tape of the improvisations was sent to Walker's studio the next day, whereupon an orchestrator transcribed Carpenter's work. "I'd see where John's music was going," Walker says. "I'd rewrite it, and pick up the tempo if I felt a scene needed more drive. I basically tailored John's material to fit the picture."
The duo's first task was to adapt the Escape From New York theme for the 21st century. "The theme was written in 1981 when Alan and I were using Prophets and other old synthesizers," Carpenter recalls. "I wanted to bring its sound up to date with the latest musical technology. Tom Milano, our music editor, tracked the original melody lines into the opening of Escape From L.A. Because the theme was a little slow, we re-sequenced it and sped up the tempo."
"My challenge was to change the theme without distorting it," Walker follows. "I did a demo version on my computer. When John heard it, he said 'This is always the way I wanted the theme to sound.' I tried to give it more of an industrial vibe in the studio, but John preferred my first approach. So I peeled off the layers of what I'd added until we had the theme sounding just right with a simpler melody line and a guitar."
Carpenter and Walker each wrote a new theme for Snake Plissken. Walker's suspenseful motif first appears as Snake's Challenge, as he boards a submarine for L.A. This synth version picks up instrumental muscle until it turns into a full-blown orchestral climax for Snake's airborne escape from the Happy Kingdom. Carpenter's theme is a comic, "cowboy noir'' take on his anti-hero, one that lets Snake truly become the Man With No Name.
"When it comes to heroes and film music, a lot of people want to hear this orchestral 'da da da da duhhhh!"' Walker laughs. "It's got to be big chords, big brass, big percussion and all of that stuff. John wrote a great new theme for Snake Plissken which I added a harmonica and hammer-dulcimer to. When we heard those instrumental colors, John and I went 'Yeah! This is a western! This guy's an outlaw and a gunfighter!'"
"There's a lot of humor to the movie," Carpenter adds. Escape From L.A. is an adventure that keeps you riveted to the screen but doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a dark, dark film, yet you find yourself laughing through it. Shirley and I haven't written a happy, peppy score. Snake goes into a very dark and strange city and we needed to bring the audience along with a dark and strange score. But we're also having a good time with the music."
Carpenter and Walker devised Escape From L.A. as a musical roadmap for the dystopian future. Its journey begins with the military's icy synths. Then various grooves and ethnic instruments are introduced for the "neighborhoods" that Snake blasts his way through, finally climaxing in his orchestral get-away.
"I think the audience already knows Snake's character and what's he's gone through," Walker says. "This film puts Snake in a new environment and I wanted the music to do something different every time he turns around. It's not just a different street he's on. It's a different universe. It's as if the music is playing Snake's thought process. It has to figure out what the ground rules are so he can get from Point A to Point B and survive."
With Escape From L.A., Shirley Walker and John Carpenter have created a daringly unique score, fusing their musical backgrounds into a new sound for action scores, one that's as technologically new as it is symphonically old-fashioned.
"There was a fluidity to our collaboration that I've rarely experienced as a composer," Walker remarks. "Traditionally, directors are overwhelmed with the process of finishing a movie. But here we were having fun tooling around when we were supposed to be finishing the movie! Escape From L.A. has allowed me to write music that's completely different from anything I've composed before."
"I described myself to Shirley as 'the carpet guy,'" the director concludes. "I lay down music to support scenes. But I couldn't have pulled Escape From L.A. off, because this is a film that's more driving than anything I've composed before. While Shirley has carried on the spirit of Escape From New York, she's made it bigger, better and completely unique."
- Daniel Schweiger
Foreign Releases
(Out of Production)Japanese Music From And Inspired By John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. CD (1996/Lava, Atlantic Records)
(Out of Production)Japanese Original Score Album From the Motion Picture CD-R (1996)
(Out of Production)Taiwanese Music From And Inspired By John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. CD (1996/Lava, Atlantic Records)
Singles
(Out of Production)The One - White Zombie
Release Date: 1996
Label: Atlantic Records (US/DE)
1. The One (Radio Edit) (3:35)
2. Et Tu Brute? (CIV) (2:20)
3. 10 Second Down (Sugar Ray) (3:40)
4. The One (Album Version) 3:59
Blame (Promo) - Gravity Kills
Release Date: 1996
Label: Lava, Atlantic Records (US)
1. Blame (L.A. Remix) 3:52
2. Blame (Snake Remix) 3:54
3. Blame (Original Version) 4:35
Compilations
(Out of Production) (MP3 Available)Choice Cuts: Wicked Sounds of Horror (Film Score Anthology) (CD, MP3)
Release Date: October 13, 1996
Label: Milan Records (US)
9: Los Angeles 2013 (Escape From L.A.) (2:10)
(Out of Production)Les Films Du Futur (2xCD)
Release Date: October 30, 2001
Label: Milan Music (France)
1: 16. History Of L.A. (2:10)
2: 08. Escape From New York (2:08)
50 chefs-d'oeuvre du Cinéma (50 Soundtrack Hits) (MP3)
Release Date: February 17, 2009
Label: Editions Milan Music (France)
25. Escape From New York - Main Title (2:10)
50 Classic Horror Film Themes (MP3)
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Label: Editions Milan Music (US)
40: Los Angeles 2013 (Escape From L.A.) (2:10)
Weird and Scary - The Ultimate Scream! in Film Scores (CD, MP3)
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Label: Editions Milan Music (US)
5. Escape From L.A. - Main Title (2:10)
Halloween Film Theme Classics (MP3)
Release Date: October 20, 2009
Label: Editions Milan Music (US)
4. Escape From New York - Main Title (2:10)
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