Scream 2 (soundtrack)
The music to the 1997 slasher film Scream 2, the second instalment in the Scream franchise and a sequel to Scream (1996) featured an original soundtrack album consists of 15 songs by various artists from the R&B, rap and rock genres; excluding two ("One More Chance" and "The Race") only 13 of them appear in the film. Released as Scream 2: Music from the Dimension Motion Picture by Capitol Records on November 18, 1997,[1] the soundtrack achieved commercial success, charting at number 50 on the Billboard 200 charts,[2] and spent there for over ten weeks. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, signifying that the album achieved sales in excess of 500,000 units.[3]
Scream 2 is scored by Marco Beltrami, who also composed the predecessor, although Danny Elfman would write a choral piece titled "Cassandra Aria" which would be reprised as the finale track of the album. Excerpts from Hans Zimmer's score for the 1996 film Broken Arrow, in particular guitar work by Duane Eddy, for the character Dewey Riley, replaced the original themes that have developed for the character. Beltrami would explain in an interview that Zimmer's piece was used as a placeholder for his incomplete score during the test screening, but as the test audience were more receptive to it, the studio influenced to keep Zimmer's piece, reducing his composition "Dewey's Theme" to minor use during more serious scenes involving the character.[4][5]
The score also influenced several other composers work such as Elliot Goldenthal, Ennio Morricone and Christopher Young. Initially, the score was released along with its predecessor in a dual album on July 1998, and a complete score was released in a limited edition format on October 2016.
Soundtrack
| Scream 2: Music from the Dimension Motion Picture | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | ||||
| Released | November 18, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | 1970–1997 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 1:02:09 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Scream soundtrack chronology | ||||
| ||||
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Scream" | Master P | Master P, Silkk The Shocker | 3:30 |
| 2. | "Suburban Life" | Kottonmouth Kings and AK Brothers | Kottonmouth Kings | 3:34 |
| 3. | "Rivers" | Sugar Ray and McG | Sugar Ray | 2:50 |
| 4. | "She's Always in My Hair" | Prince | D'Angelo | 6:19 |
| 5. | "Help Myself" | David J Matthews | Dave Matthews Band | 4:31 |
| 6. | "She Said" | Ed Roland | Collective Soul | 4:51 |
| 7. | "Right Place, Wrong Time" | Malcolm "Mac" Rebennack aka Dr. John | The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | 3:16 |
| 8. | "Dear Lover" | Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Nate Mendel | Foo Fighters | 4:33 |
| 9. | "Eyes of Sand" | Emerson Hart and Tonic | Tonic | 4:16 |
| 10. | "The Swing" | Art Alexakis and Everclear | Everclear | 2:59 |
| 11. | "I Think I Love You" | Tony Romeo | Less Than Jake | 2:03 |
| 12. | "Your Lucky Day in Hell" | E and Mark Goldenberg | Eels | 4:26 |
| 13. | "Red Right Hand (DJ Spooky Mix)" | Mick Harvey, Nick Cave, and Thomas Wydler | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | 8:23 |
| 14. | "One More Chance" | Kelly and T Smoov | Kelly | 4:14 |
| 15. | "The Race" | David Arquette, Gabe Cowan, and Sammy Music | Ear2000 | 2:03 |
| Total length: | 1:02:09 | |||
Reception
AllMusic's Stephen Erlewine was highly critical of the album, believing the content was an attempt to compensate for the previous film's lack of a hit soundtrack, but the attempt had failed, creating an "uneven" album of songs not "good enough to make [the artists'] own albums", awarding it only 2 stars out of 5.[6]
Charts
| Chart (1997–1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[7] | 50 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[8] | Gold | 500,000^ |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Score
The Scream 2 original score was, as in Scream, developed by Marco Beltrami and was released on July 14, 1998, by Varèse Sarabande on a CD which also contained tracks from the score of Scream entitled "Scream/Scream 2".[9] The commercially released score for both films was found to be lacking many pieces heard in either film, consisting of only nine tracks – "Stage Fright Requiem", "Love Turns Sour", "Cici Creepies", "Deputy for a Friend", "Hollow Parting", "Dewpoint/Stabbed", "Hairtrigger Lunatic", "Sundown Search" and "It's Over, Sid" – with a runtime of only 17 minutes, compared to nearly 90 minutes of score developed for the film and the more common 30–45 minutes of music found in other original scores.[9] The release was also found to be missing the track "Cassandra Aria" by Danny Elfman, described by soundtrack-review site Filmtracks as "a frenzied, choral-enhanced three minutes".[10] The length of the released score was considered disappointing with some reviews considering the track omissions the result of the high fees required to be paid to composers in order to release their music commercially.[9][11]
The influence of several other famous composers could be heard in the score including Hans Zimmer, Elliot Goldenthal, Ennio Morricone and Christopher Young. In particular excerpts of the Hans Zimmer's score to Broken Arrow, particularly the tracks "Brothers" and "Secure", featuring guitar work by Duane Eddy, would become a component of the theme tune of the character Dewey Riley. Filmtracks was complimentary to the score, appreciating Beltrami's evolution of his work in Scream but remarked that the most memorable music of the film would be from other composers, Elfman's contribution "Cassandra Aria" and the samples from Zimmer's score, finding the replacement of Beltrami's work for the Dewey character with Zimmer's work "effective". Ultimately, the album was called unsatisfying without Elfman's piece but better than the score for the first movie and it was awarded 3 stars out of 5.[10]
The Scream 2 score was, as in Scream, developed by Marco Beltrami and was released on July 14, 1998, in a dual-pack with the score to Scream by Varèse Sarabande. The commercially released score was found to be lacking several pieces used in the film, with a runtime of only 17 minutes compared to the more common 30–45 minutes normally found in original scores.[9] Included in the missing pieces was the track "Cassandra Aria" created by Danny Elfman, described by soundtrack-review site Filmtracks as "a frenzied, choral-enhanced three minutes" that remains unreleased as of March 2011[update].[10] The length of the released score was considered disappointing and blamed on the fees required to be paid to musicians in order to release their music.[9] The influence of several other famous composers could be heard in the score including Hans Zimmer, Elliot Goldenthal, Ennio Morricone and Christopher Young. In particular excerpts of the Hans Zimmer's score to Broken Arrow, featuring guitar by Duane Eddy, would become a component of the theme tune of the character Dewey Riley.
References
- ^ "Scream 2: Music from the Dimension Motion Picture". Amazon. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- ^ "Scream 2 – Original Soundtrack". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 12, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
- ^ "RIAA's Gold and Platinum program". RIAA. RIAA.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
- ^ Wes Craven (Director) (December 12, 1997). Scream 2 - Commentary by Wes Craven, Patrick Lussier & Marianne Maddalena (DVD). United States: Dimension Films. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
- ^ "An Evening with Marco Beltrami on the Phone". BSOSpirit News. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Scream 2 Original Soundtrack Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
- ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
- ^ "American album certifications – Various – Scream 2". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Carlsson, Mikael. "Scream/Scream 2". Music from the Movies. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2007.
- ^ a b c Clemmensen, Christian (July 21, 1998). "Scream/Scream 2". filmtracks.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
- ^ Goldwasser, Dan (August 9, 1998). "Interview". Soundtrack. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2011.