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Returning to the Planet of the Apes franchise for 1971's Escape from the Planet of the Apes, soundtrack composer Jerry Goldsmith took the opportunity to write something completely different from his ground-breaking score for the original classic. Just as he had used avant garde compositions and unusual musical instruments to accompany the supposedly alien world of that first film, his score for the third installment mirrored its setting in contemporary (1973) Los Angeles. Adding electric guitar, steel drum and electric sitar to his orchestra, Goldsmith produced a rock-influenced theme and a soundtrack which conjures images the 1970s more than any of the other Apes scores. With declining investment in each successive sequel, however, the Escape soundtrack was the first not to be issued on record. Nevertheless, the music proved very popular among soundtrack music fans and over the course of more than 25 years the demands for an official soundtrack release persisted.

In August 1997, Varese Sarabande completely overhauled previous releases of Jerry Goldsmith's score for the first Apes movie by expanding most of the tracks to their full length as well as adding five previously unreleased pieces. Included as a bonus was a sixteen-and-a-half minute medley 'Suite' of Goldsmith's music from the then still-unreleased score to Escape from the Planet of the Apes (Cat# VSD-5848). The same disc was re-issued by the Colosseum VSD label in Germany in 1997 (Cat# CVS 5848), by Volcano Records in Japan in 1997 (Cat# CPC8-1006) and by the Geneon label in Japan in 2007 (Cat# GNCE-4020).

Varese Sarabande CD

More of the popular soundtrack music also turned up on bootleg CD releases, notably on Pony Express (Cat# PECD 4001), which combined almost 26 minutes of music from Escape with pieces from Goldsmith's The Mephisto Waltz on one disc in 1998, and Soundtrack Library (Cat# CD 026), which combined over 32 minutes from Escape with music from Goldsmith's Damnation Alley, although it repeated some of the tracks. In October 2009 Varese Sarabande finally released the full 28-minute musical score on a separate CD.

Varese Sarabande CD Tracklist:

  • 01 Main Title (02:32)
  • 02 The Zoo (01:09)
  • 03 The Gorilla Attack (00:56)
  • 04 I Like You (01:05)
  • 05 Shopping Spree (02:22)
  • 06 A Little History (01:23)
  • 07 Interrogation (03:18)
  • 08 Labor Pains (01:05)
  • 09 Breakout (00:37)
  • 10 The Labor Continues (03:54)
  • 11 The Hitchhiker (01:06)
  • 12 Mother And Child (03:52)
  • 13 The Hunt (04:08)
  • 14 Final Chapter And End Credits (01:42)

Total time: 29:09

Credits:

  • Composer/Conductor - Jerry Goldsmith
  • Orchestrater - Arthur Morton
  • Producer - Nick Redman, Robert Townson

Notes[]

  • The Suite from "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" included on the 1997 Planet of the Apes soundtrack CD was made up of pieces later identified as: Main Title / The Zoo / The Gorilla Attack / A Little History / Labor Pains / Breakout / The Hunt (part 1) / The Hitchhiker / The Hunt (part 2) / Final Chapter / Mother And Child (part 2) / End Credits.
  • Most of the tracks had different names on the earlier bootleg releases than on the official 2009 CD. Names changed were: Main Title (formerly Main Theme), The Zoo (Testing), The Gorilla Attack (Death), Shopping Spree (Shopping), A Little History (Drugged), Interrogation (Questions), Labor Pains (A Child), Breakout (Escape - part 1), The Labor Continues (Escape - part 2), The Hitchhiker (Hunted), Mother And Child (Family / un-named tracks 13 and 10), The Hunt (The Ship / un-named track 9) and Final Chapter And End Credits (Conclusion / End Title).

External Links[]

References[]

Planet of the Apes - The Original Pentalogy Series
Planet of the Apes (APJ) Movies
Planet of the Apes | Beneath the Planet of the Apes | Escape from the Planet of the Apes | Conquest of the Planet of the Apes | Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Main Ape Characters
Zira | Cornelius | Zaius | Ursus | Milo | Caesar | Lisa | Virgil | Aldo | Cornelius II | Lawgiver
Supporting Ape Characters
Hunt Leader | Julius | Marcus | Galen | Honorius | Maximus | President of the Assembly | Lucius | Minister | Minister | Frank | Mandemus
Main Human Characters
George Taylor | Nova | John Landon | Dodge | John Brent | Mendez XXVI | Caspay | Ongaro | Albina | Fat Man | Lewis Dixon | Stephanie Branton | Otto Hasslein | Armando | Breck | MacDonald (Conquest) | MacDonald (Battle) | Kolp | Mendez I
Supporting Human Characters
Stewart | Maddox | Verger | General Winthrop | General Faulkner | The President | Chairman of the President's Committee of Inquiry | E-1 | E-2 | Inspector Hoskyns | TV Newscaster | Mrs Riley | Mutant Captain | Jake | Jake's friend
Animals
Horse | Gorilla in Zoo
Items / Weapons
Sacred Scrolls | Human Doll | Alpha-Omega Bomb | Grape Juice Plus
Important Events / Battles
Ape Rebellion
Locations
Bellatrix | Orion | Earth's Moon | Ape City | Forbidden Zone | Statue of Liberty | Queensboro Plaza | Radio City Music Hall | Grand Central Terminal | New York Stock Exchange | St. Patrick's Cathedral' | New York City | Jefferson Public School | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Zoo | Forbidden City | Ape City (Caesar's City) | Council
Comics
Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes | Exile on the Planet of the Apes | Planet of the Apes: Ursus| Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern | Kong on the Planet of the Apes | Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes
Soundtrack Music
Planet of the Apes (Soundtrack Album) | Beneath the Planet of the Apes (Soundtrack Album) | Escape from the Planet of the Apes (Soundtrack Album) | Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (Soundtrack Album) | Battle for the Planet of the Apes (Soundtrack Album) | Music Of The Planet Of The Apes
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