Soundtrack
| Nightbreed (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film score by Danny Elfman | ||||
| Released | March 20, 1990 | |||
| Recorded | 1990 | |||
| Genre | Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 46:46 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Producer | Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek | |||
| Danny Elfman chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| SoundtrackNet | |
| Filmtracks | |
| Musicfromthemovies | (favorable) |
| Original Tracklist | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |
| 1. | "Main Titles" | 2:40 | |
| 2. | "Dream" | 1:03 | |
| 3. | "Scalping Time" | 1:54 | |
| 4. | "Into Midian" | 2:31 | |
| 5. | "Meat For The Beast" | 2:10 | |
| 6. | "Resurrection Suite" | 3:37 | |
| 7. | "The Initiation" | 2:50 | |
| 8. | "Poor Babette" | 1:41 | |
| 9. | "Uh-Oh Decker" | 1:39 | |
| 10. | "Boone Transforms" | 0:56 | |
| 11. | "Rachel's Oratory" | 1:04 | |
| 12. | "Party In The Past" | 0:51 | |
| 13. | "Then Don't Say It!" | 1:28 | |
| 14. | "Carnival Underground" | 3:23 | |
| 15. | "Boone Gets A Taste" | 2:44 | |
| 16. | "Breed Love" | 1:52 | |
| 17. | "Mayhem In Midian" | 1:43 | |
| 18. | "Baphomet's Chamber" | 2:01 | |
| 19. | "Farewell" | 0:59 | |
| 20. | "2nd Chance" | 1:34 | |
| 21. | "End Credits" | 4:33 | |
| 22. | "Country Skin (Performed by Michael Stanton)" | 4:15 |
The score was composed by Danny Elfman and conducted by Shirley Walker, who also wrote the additional cue "Charge of the Berserkers" for the films climax and received an onscreen credit. Elfman said of his score, "Once again it was time for me to stretch out... Combining dark/fun/sweet/tribal all into one. The great joy in the score for me, other than working for Clive Barker, was being able to use the children's voices and a whole slew of ethnic drums and instruments together with an orchestra, in an attempt to bring a unique musical tone to the film." Barker said "Danny is an extraordinary talent. The most uncompromised portion of that entire movie is the score."
In an article on Danny Elfman, described as a rising composer in Hollywood who had just scored Tim Burton's Batman and was about to score Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, Entertainment Weekly's Ron Givens noted that Nightbreed wouldn't get as much attention as these two big-budget movies, yet Givens praised Elfman's "needle-sharp crescendos and creepy choral plainchants" and added: "Seldom has scary-movie music been so spiritual."
The song "Country Skin" is a country-and-western rendition of the Oingo Boingo song "Skin" (which appears on the 1990 album Dark at the End of the Tunnel), it was written by Elfman and performed by country singer Michael Stanton. It can be heard in the film, played on a radio. It was available as a bonus track on the CD and Cassette version of the soundtrack.
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