Mad Max (soundtrack)

Mad Max (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by Brian May
Released 1980
26 October 1993 (CD release)
Genre Film music
Length 37:25
Label Varèse Sarabande
Producer Scot Holton
Brian May chronology
Patrick
(1978)		 Mad Max
(1979)		 Snapshot
(1979)
Mad Max soundtrack chronology
Mad Max
(1979)		 Mad Max 2
(1982)

Mad Max (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a soundtrack album for the 1979 film, Mad Max, composed by Brian May. It was released on vinyl in the United States in 1980 by Varèse Sarabande,[1] followed by a CD release on 26 October 1993.[2]

Overview

Composer Brian May first got in contact with director George Miller and producer Byron Kennedy after director Richard Franklin played the two May's score for his then-upcoming film Patrick (1978).[3] Because the score resembled the work of Bernard Herrmann, May ultimately won the assignment of composing music for Mad Max.[4] "The sort of score they wanted was the sort that Bernard Herrmann and Co. did in Hitchcock films," recalled May, "because they had a big action movie and they needed a score to propel it along and give it a lot of bite and energy. So it just happened that they were rather friendly with Richard Franklin, and they were at his house for dinner one evening when he played them the music for Patrick."[3]

Combining classical orchestration with mechanical sounds, May's work on Mad Max is notable for its distinctive soundscape that interacts with the film's diegetic sounds.[5] "Mad Max was a strongly energized score in the violence/action department, and for that they wanted a totally non-melodic score," explained May. "It was very jagged and shearing, and George particularly wanted me to antagonize the audience by making them feel uncomfortable. Sometimes we had jagged notes going against dialog so that the audience would feel frustrated."[3] Such effects were developed through the application of stingers by way of brass and percussion instruments.[6]

May went on to win the Australian Film Award for Best Original Score for his work on Mad Max.[7]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
AVForms[9]
GoldenScore[10]

The musical score for Mad Max has received generally positive reviews. Quentin Billard of GoldenScore called it "one of the most impressive symphonic scores of Brian May", adding, "The darkness and brutality of his music for the film [...] accentuates the constant unease throughout the film."[10]

In a retrospective review, Paul Andrew MacLean of Film Score Monthly wrote, "May's score lent incalculable scope to the film, making it larger and more furious. Coupled with furiously staccato writing and Stravinskian time signatures, the result was a strident, metallic score, perfectly underscoring the film's barbarous, high-velocity car culture."[11] Chris McEneany, writing for AVForms, similarly praised the soundtrack, describing it as "often harsh, wild and blood-curdling". He later added, "Far more narratively structured than the two scores that followed in the Mad Max Trilogy, but no less violent, ballsy, headlong and rubber-burning, this is a classic thriller score from an era that was the change."[9]

Track listing

All music composed by Brian May.

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Main Title"   2:03
2. "Max the Hunter"   2:10
3. "Max Decides On Vengeance"   2:40
4. "The Final Chase"   1:47
5. "The Terrible Death of Jim Goose"   1:02
6. "We'll Give 'Em Back Their Heroes"   1:13
7. "Pain and Triumph"   2:15
8. "Dazed Goose"   0:35
9. "Foreboding in the Vast Landscape"   2:08
Total length:
 15:53
Side two
No. Title Length
10. "Declaration of War"   1:30
11. "Flight from the Evil Toecutter"   2:25
12. "Pursuit and Tragedy"   1:55
13. "Jesse Alone, Uneasy and Exhausted"   1:40
14. "The Beach House"   1:55
15. "The Nightrider Rave"   1:20
16. "Jesse Searches for Her Child"   0:55
17. "Rampage of the Toecutter"   1:47
18. "The Crazing of Johnny the Boy"   2:05
Total length:
 15:32
Bonus track (1993 CD release)
No. Title Length
19. "Outtakes Suite" (in 5 parts; indexed) 6:00
Total length:
 6:00

Personnel

Production[8][12]

  • Brian May – composer, conductor
  • Chris Kuchler – executive producer
  • Tom Null – executive producer
  • Scot Holton – producer (Varèse Sarabande)
  • John Acoca – editor, preparation
  • Roger Savage – recording engineer
  • Richard Simpson – mastering engineer
  • Rick Goldman – plating

Additional music

Additional music featured in Mad Max:[13]

Title Musician(s) Key Scenes/Notes
"Licorice Road" Nicco Gazzana Performed in the nightclub by actress Robina Chaffey; the vocal track was sung by Creenagh St. Clair. Gazzana also plays a member of Toecutter's gang.[14]
"Jessie's Theme" Nicco Gazzana Performed by Joanne Samuel as her character plays the saxophone for her family.
"Rocker" AC/DC Spoken by Nightrider over the CB radio.[14]
"Rollin' into the Night" Akira Kushida Replaced May's score during the end credits of the original Japanese release.[15] An EP was released in Japan featuring both the standard version of the song as well as an instrumental version.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Osborne, Jerry (2010). Movie/TV Soundtracks and Original Cast Recordings Price and Reference Guide. Port Townsend, Washington: Osborne Enterprises Publishing. p. 353. ISBN 0932117376.
  2. ↑ "Mad Max". Varèse Sarabande. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Flanagan, Graeme (10 October 2013). "A Conversation with Brian May". CinemaScore (published 1983) (11/12). Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Hannan, Michael (2010). "The Brian May Collection: Two Decades of Screen Composition" (PDF). Screen Sound Journal (1): 60. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Harley, Ross (5 August 1998). "Mad Max: Creating a sonic character". Settling the Score. Australian Film, Television and Radio School: 16–32. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Hayward, Philip (18 May 2004). Off the Planet: Music, Sound and Science Fiction Cinema. Hertfordshire: John Libbey Publishing. p. 119. ISBN 0861966449. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "AFI Award Winners: Feature Categories 1969-2003" (PDF). AACTA Awards. Australian Film Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2004. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Mad Max (Original Soundtrack)". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  9. 1 2 McEneany, Chris (17 September 2013). "Mad Max OST Soundtrack Review". AVForms. M2N Limited. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  10. 1 2 Billard, Quentin. "Mad Max: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". GoldenScore (in French). Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Andrew MacLean, Paul (6 May 1997). "Film Score Daily: Brian May (1934-1997)". Film Score Monthly. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Mad Max". Australian Soundtracks. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "Mad Max Music Credits" (PDF). Ozmovies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Story Notes for Mad Max". AMC. AMC Networks. 1 January 2013. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "串田アキラ , Akira Kushida , ブラウン・ライス , Brown Rice / mad max / 7inch ♪". Takechas Records (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "Quoi de vieux au pays du Soleil Levant ?". The Dead Still Alive (in French). 27 January 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
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