Firstly, let it be known that I absolutely love Christopher Young's score for the first two Hellraiser film. Hellbound Heart is definitely in my Top 5 scores for the genre of Horror. Lyrical, Gothic, mesmerizing and beautiful stuff!
I was recently turned onto the band Coil after the appeared in a Pandora Internet radio playlist and I've just begun to collect a few of their albums. One I picked up is titled Unnatural History II (Smiling in the Face of Perversity) and — lo and behold — a few tracks include Hellraiser references, even one titled "The Hellraiser Theme".* I did a little research online and through wiki discovered that they originally were scheduled to score the film at director Clive Barker's personal request (as he is a big fan) but dropped out after only contributing 10-20 minutes (also collected in a complete EP The Unreleased Themes of Hellraiser). I couldn't find any reasoning for it, does anyone have any clue what happened? This unused score is really perfect stuff. Very Goblin-esque, using synths and prog rock equally well. Any fans of classic horror scores from the 80s should definitely check this stuff out!
I vaugely remember Barker saying that Coil's score "made him want to vomit". But not that it was bad, simply that it was too visceral with the imagery.
(I think I read that in the book "Splatterpunks".)
Thanks for the reply LeHah! I'd certainly like to see how Coil's music would make the film different. I've also heard of that book — is it a good one to pick up?
Josh, no problemo. I was actually thinking of first posting it on your's and Holly's Facebook walls! I know you guys dig on the Horror stuff like me. Sharing it with the FSM community seemed just as productive (if not more). It's tough to contribute to the site when your only tool for online communication is a fucking iPhone. I really miss having a computer!
Thanks for the reply LeHah! I'd certainly like to see how Coil's music would make the film different. I've also heard of that book — is it a good one to pick up?
There will be a much better book to pick up if you're interested in the story. I'll let you know when it'll come out.
Thanks for the reply LeHah! I'd certainly like to see how Coil's music would make the film different. I've also heard of that book — is it a good one to pick up?
Its pretty good. It has a couple really good stories in it like "The Midnight Meat Train" and "City Of Angels" but its edited by Paul Sammon who has an ego that could fill the Grand Canyon.
I picked up Unnatural History II last year and have been enjoying it a lot.
Great, another Coil fan! My favorite track on Unnatural History II is "Another Brown World." I'd love to use that as a cue in one of my own Horror films. Also, you've just got to love this beautiful album artwork...
The other Coil albums I've collected are Time Machines (this one I love), Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 1 (my least favorite but still not without some great material), and Unnatural History III. What other of their albums should I next pick up?
I've heard this rejected score but I can't associate it with Hellraiser whatsoever after being familiar with the Young material. Barker made the right choice for this. It doesn't always work out when you ask your favorite band to score a movie (King & AC/DC on Maximum Overdrive).
I love the Coil Hellraiser themes, creepy stuff. There are 6 tracks in all and they are all on that cd, pretty cool. I have them added at the end of Youngs Hellraiser on my ipod.
6. The Hellraiser Theme [#] 10. The Hellbound Heart 11. The Box Theme 12. No New World 13. Vanishing Point 14. The Main Title
and I heard the same about why the music was not used, just too creepy and sick, but in a good way.
I love the Coil Hellraiser themes, creepy stuff. There are 6 tracks in all and they are all on that cd, pretty cool. I have them added at the end of Youngs Hellraiser on my ipod.
6. The Hellraiser Theme [#] 10. The Hellbound Heart 11. The Box Theme 12. No New World 13. Vanishing Point 14. The Main Title
and I heard the same about why the music was not used, just too creepy and sick, but in a good way.
I still love Youngs music in both movies.
Go Moonie! I'm thankful you don't have tin ears for electronic music like some of the other old fogies on this site. Your appreciation of Horror scoring is top-notch.
I never expected my favourite group to pop up at FSM... But of course, given the Hellraiser story, it should be nothing unexpected.
There's an interesting more or less detailed account of why the score was rejected in one of the last Fangoria magazines - an interview with Stephen Thrower (who used to be in Coil between 1984 and 1988). Clive Barker most definitely wanted to use it, but the studios went another - more traditional - way with the film and score.
As for the other important albums, I would *strongly* suggest their old works: "Scatology" (1984), "Horse Rotorvator" (1986) and "Love's Secret Domain" (1990). Also, their last album "The New Backwards" is great.
I've loved Coil since 1987 and have been following them ever since. Unfortunately, John Balance/Geff Rushton (their singer who formed the group as a solo project in 1982) died 6 years ago, so Coil is history.
Thanks Burnie. I will be tracking down those albums next. It really upset me when I originally learned of Balance's untimely death. After those first few albums I heard, I was curious as to what they were up to these days. That siad, those DVDs sound very alluring as I have enjoyed the clips of live performances I've found on YouTube.
As an aside, it was really cool to learn that J.G. Thirlwell (AKA FOETUS, Steroid Maximus, and Manorexia) had collaborated with Coil in the late 80s. Thirlwell is a genius, and he's used the influence of Coil well. His 2010 Manorexia album, The Mesopelagic Waters, is just sublime. It doesn't feature any new music, necessarily, but some of his earlier work performed by a string quartet and pianos. It's my favorite album this year so far.
