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Swarm, The (1978)
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Reviews
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  Inspired action scoring,
by Alex (August 21, 2007)
Jerry Goldsmith's scoring of 1978's disastrous killer bee flick is, like most of the scores on the now-deceased composer's resume, better than the film it was written for. His music is at times intentionally cacophonous, such as in tracks like “The Black Mass”, wherein Goldsmith treats the orchestra as though it was itself a swarm of insects. It’s a nifty and effective scoring technique, even though it makes for a somewhat difficult listening experience. There’s a heroic brass motif used intermittently throughout the score, most notably in the elaborate and lengthy “The Bees Arrive”, “The Bees Inside” and “Train Wreck/No Effect”. The score has some odder moments as well, such as the strangely surreal and comedic “The Boys and the Bees, Part 1” and the short, goofily orchestrated “The Lollipop”. The more dramatic moments are definitely a highlight. Throughout the score a love theme develops, first hinted at near the end of the track “Get Him Out”, then again in the ominous “High Toxin”, developed further in “Oh Maureen/The Boys and the Bees Part 2”, but finally given a full rendition in the beautiful “A Gift of Flowers”. It’s a lovely and bittersweet theme that is heard again intermittently in some of the later aftermath cues (‘Out of the Closet”, “Rita and the Doctor”, “Tommy’s Dead”) but unfortunately never reprised to the same extent again. This is made up with the awesome ‘End Credits”, which takes the heroic brass motif and at last lets it soar. It’s a great piece of action writing, and I’m not surprised it’s since been used in several “Best of” compilation releases, both for the composer and the disaster film genre itself.
My First Jerry Goldsmith Soundtrack
by Luis M. Ramos (July 24, 2004)
It's kind of hard for me to write this review since we have just lost one of the most important musical voices in movies. Jerry Goldsmith was one of the great composers the film industry has ever had, and with his passing, an era may have just ended. However, I think his legacy will endure in all of us soundtrack fans. As a matter of fact, right now I'm listening to the Prometheus release as I'm writing this review.
The original Warner album release was the first Goldsmith score I have ever bought, and I was quite astonished by his action music that I said to myself that was a man worth listening to, so I started collecting Goldsmith's albums ever since. In time he became my favorite composer after John Williams.
Thank God for Prometheus Records for releasing an expanded edition of this spectacular score, written for an Irwin Allen film. The entire music is here on this CD. It has given me the chance to revisit some of the material which was initially released in the Warner album, and it has also given me the chance to listen to the new material, which makes this a complete album.
I love the action tracks, especially 'The Black Mass', 'The Bees Arrive', 'Train Wreck/No Effect' and, more importantly, 'The Bees Inside'. I also feel touched by more emotional cues such as 'A Gift Of Flowers' and 'Oh, Walter'. And I don't want to forget to mention how exhilarated I feel whenever I listen to 'End Title'. All this variety of emotions are felt on this album.
As I said before "The Swarm" was my first Jerry Goldsmith score ever and, as I'm listening to it, I realize he is no longer with us. He will surely be missed.
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