Alien 3 (Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

With Alien 3, Elliot Goldenthal popularized the postmodern classical aesthetic so dominant throughout Hollywood scores of the 1990s. A rigorously intellectual work that navigates with surgical precision between traditional orchestral beauty and modernist dissonance, its eruptions of symphonic anarchy remain extraordinarily potent. Goldenthal's emphasis on operatic elements and religious themes lends Alien 3 a gravitas the interstellar horror genre typically lacks, not to mention a visceral intensity absent from previous scores in the Alien franchise ? themes like "Adagio" and "The Entrapment" are moments of remarkable catharsis. By no means an easy listen or even a conventionally likable effort, Alien 3 is as challenging as it is rewarding, and mandatory for all serious enthusiasts of film music.