Heavy Metal

About the Music

Music is a pivotal ingredient in creating the terrifying and mysterious, futuristic world seen and heard in "Heavy Metal." So it was natural when filmmaker Ivan Reitman met with composer Elmer Bernstein, one of the most acclaimed as well as prolific musicians in motion pictures, since they had collaborated three times previously on blockbuster films of a more conventional nature: "Animal House," "Meatballs" and "Stripes."

Bernstein accepted his most challenging offer, to score "Heavy Metal," after he also met with director Gerald Potterton and some of the artists to go through the screenplay and storyboards. As if he was a novice working on his first film, Bernstein dedicated himself to creating an epic soundtrack and enlisted London's 96-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to record the music.

Bernstein's body of work in motion pictures is awesome and historic. He's been nominated for the Oscar l3 times, winning for "Thoroughly Modern Millie." In his fourth decade as a film composer, his resume is a veritable catalogue of modern films from "The Man With The Golden Arm" (l956) through his most recent Oscar nominated effort for l993's monumental "The Age of Innocence."

Bernstein's working modus operandi is very simple: "To score is simply to be a dramatist, to have rapport with the characters." His filmography mirrors the history of American film; he has scored 180 motion pictures including classics like: "The Ten Commandments," "The Magnificent Seven," "Hud," "True Grit," "Cape Fear," "The Grifters," "To Kill A Mocking Bird" and "The Birdman of Alcatraz." He most recently scored l995's "Devil in a Blue Dress," received a Tony nomination for his Broadway musical, "How Now Dow Jones," and has composed scores for television.

Scoring "Heavy Metal" was a landmark undertaking -- considering that it had to be interwoven with original music by 13 notable bands and solo performers. The artists include: Donald Fagen True Companion ; Black Sabbath The Mob Rules ; Stevie Nicks Blue Lamp ; Eagles' Don Felder Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride) and All of You ; Grand Funk Railroad Queen Bee ; Cheap Trick Reach Out ; Sammy Hagar Heavy Metal, Riggs Heartbeat and Rader Rider ; Devo Working in the Coal Mine * and Through Being Cool ; Blue Oyster Cult Veteran of the Psychic Wars ; Nazareth Crazy? (A Suitable Case for Treatment) ; Journey Open Arms ; and Trust Prefabricated.

* Only one song: Lee Dorsey's 1966 R & B hit Working in The Coal Mine (written by Allen Toussaint) wasn't new.