Five Songs From The 80s & 90s That Helped Define Five GreatHorror/Sci-fi Movies

One of the things I have noticed in the new millennium which I have wondered about, is that there seems (definitely in modern horror movies, and to a strong extent with Science Fiction movies,) a noticeable absences of mainstream bands making music that one could say defines the movies in music terms!

What do I mean for this? Well of course there is always composed music, like the composed music that John Williams (Jaws) has done for a lot of the biggest Science Fiction films of all time, in this case what I mean is, music such as what Rob Zombie (Halloween) has done for his movies... And Rob Zombie has done a great with this!

In the case of Rob Zombie, he has always done some truly kick ass songs for (I can't say all, because I haven't seen all of them,) but almost all of his movies! So as a little reminder of what bands did for Horror & Science Fiction, I thought that you guys would enjoy:  Five Songs From The 80s & 90s That Helped Define Five Great Horror/Sci-fi Movies!

For number 5: The Cure: Burn (1994) from: The Crow soundtrack:

For number 4: Gerard McMann: Cry Little Sister (1987) from: The Lost Boys soundtrack:

For number 3: Rage Against The Machine: Wake Up (1999) from: The Matrix soundtrack:

For number 2: White Zombie: The One (1996) from the soundtrack for: Escape From L.A.:

For number 1: Guns 'N Roses: Sympathy For The Devil (1994): from the soundtrack for: Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles:

There are a lot more out there, but I would say that these are some of the better ones, and I hope that these remind you of some of the awesomeness that was soundtracks for horror and science fiction in the 1980s and 1990s

A Major Contribution To Horror And Science Fiction Movies: The Soundtrack

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] James Horner composing music for a soundtrack to a movie.[/caption]

You know I will be honest with you and say that one of the biggest contributions that the music industry has given to the world of film, rather it be on the big screen or on the small screen is the, 'Soundtrack'!

You might be asking yourself though... Well what about, 'Musicals'? Well the truth is, is that there are some great musicals out there, I am going to have to say though that Soundtracks really take the cake when it comes to the more important of contributions... There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. Universally, rather it be on the big screen or on the small screen Soundtracks compliment the movies or TV series that they are supposed to go to pretty nicely!

2. Now this is just my opinion, but almost every musical TV episode, or music based TV show that I have ever scene has always and so far from what I can tell, will always universally suck!

And this is pretty universally true for the horror & science fiction genre as well!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Believe it or not, a truly fun soundtrack![/caption]

What I mean by this is that rather it be on the small screen or on the big screen, Soundtracks tend to play an extremely important role in the production they are connected to. A couple of great examples of this:

A: Psycho (1960): Universally, the arrangement that music composer, 'Bernard Hermann' put together for this classic horror/thriller by: Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo) was so well made that in a lot of respects, I think with out this maestro's work, this movie would never have become the insane cultural icon that it is today!

B: Star Trek... I know, I know, I do tend to use this example an awful lot, but it is true! I mean no matter who the composer or musicians are, who are associated with the latest movie or TV series, generally speaking truly help make the movie the historic epic that we all see on the big screen!

Now those are a couple of great examples of some soundtracks that have totally helped make these Horror or Science Fiction movies the true masterpieces that they were when they first came out, and the cultural icons they are today!

And there is another side of soundtracks that I thought that I would mention here that are really important... That is the talent they bring in to work on these movies!

Rather they be composers like, 'John Williams' (Jaws), or heavy metal super stars like, 'Rob Zombie' (Halloween), producers generally bring in some truly amazing talent! A couple of examples are as follows:

John Williams' score from, Star Wars - Episode 3: A New Hope (1977):

http://youtu.be/2Mo0dSHFGPg

Rob Zombie's 'House Of 1,000 Corpses' from the movie he directed with the same title:

http://youtu.be/WT_f2UFNj3U

Charles Bernstein's famous score from, A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984):

http://youtu.be/tn_DjzN8410

Marilyn Manson: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These) - (1995) - Song Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

You know, as weird as people claim that Marilyn Manson is... And lets be honest here... This dude is pretty out there, I have to admit that his music is pretty awesome! I mean he takes metal to a whole new level, making it that borderline scary type of metal that I believe mostly only true goths really enjoy...

And you know what? His cover song for his 1995 EP, 'Sweet Dreams' was pretty much that level of awesomeness!

A remake of the classic 1980s song by the, 'Eurythmics', Marilyn Manson's song took the Eurythmics classic synthpop/new wave song and gave it the horror movie revamp!

What I mean by this is that  generally speaking the Eurythmics song was fun, and I imagine it could translate pretty well in to the soundtracks of certain Science Fiction movies of the 1980s... Marilyn Manson did that, but for Horror... As a matter of fact, I would say that this song could be a universally fun song to add to most horror movie soundtracks... As a matter of fact this song can already be heard in such horror movies as, Trick 'r Treat (2007), House On Haunted Hill (1999) and in the trailer for the Sci-fi/Fantasy movie, Wrath Of The Titans (2012)! And as for the small screen it can be heard in the pilot episode of Fox's hit TV series, 'The Following'!

[caption id="attachment_2897" align="aligncenter" width="458"] Marilyn Manson doing, 'Sweet Dreams' live in 2003![/caption]

The only problem with this song is that while it is definitely a fun one, it is also one of those songs that takes a certain type to listen to it and enjoy it... Basically it doesn't translate well to fans of other musical genres...

http://youtu.be/QUvVdTlA23w

 

Anthrax - Bordello Of Blood (1996) - Song Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

You know I'll be honest and admit that I started of my music collection by starting off collecting soundtracks...  You would not think that there is really anything wrong with that, but I will be honest with you and say that there is!

Don't get me wrong, I mean Music from soundtracks are legitimately great songs... But there is something

about having a collection of songs from various musicians that is not quite the same as holding a nice clean fresh album from which this album originated from...

Now the truth is, is there are a couple of truly awesome things about holding on to a soundtrack... First off, in my opinion listening to a soundtrack is a little bit more about remembering the movie that the person obviously really enjoyed (I mean especially if they are going out to buy the album!) Also another thing I have come to discover in my search for great music is the fact that some times... Just sometimes, a song maybe on a soundtrack but for whatever reason never quite made it on to an album... And a great example of this is, Anthrax's, 'Bordello Of Blood' from the Bordello Of Blood soundtrack!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The cover for the soundtrack for, 'Bordello Of Blood' (1996)![/caption]

Now I am gonna admit that about half way in to this song it changes drastically from being a truly awesome song (maybe one of the best that I have ever heard from a soundtrack,) to being just, 'good'...

But the beginning of this song is truly amazing! I mean it harkens back to the great darker metal bands of the 80s, and the sound that they came up with for this song I suspect may truly be and inspiration for some of the crappier death-core metal bands that have come out in the last 5 or 10 years... (I know that may sound really bad... But it ain't...) The other thing that I thought that I would mention here about it is I do suspect that the tunes they created for, Bordello Of Blood, may have in some way, instrumentally, lyrically. how ever you wish to go about it,  at least to some extent have influenced, 'Disturbed'!

In the end, this song as it turns out was actually so good that it was not only used on the, Tales From The Crypt Presents: Bordello Of Blood (1996) sondtrack but was also in and of itself turned in to a single!

http://youtu.be/F9-KxCXYeO0