FIRESTARTER (OST)

Tangerine Dream are well known and revered for their movie soundtracks and have produced some wonderful pieces that are often better than the movie itself. They tend to focus on the more supernatural side of things and this is no exception. 'Firestarter' is a 1984 film that would make a good edited down Twilight Zone episode. Like the soundtrack there are parts that are compelling and peak my interest but there are also some mediocre moments that mar an otherwise excellent effort. I read a quote worth repeating here that the three band members had invested their film soundtrack earnings into their own studios, as Edgar Froese recalls: "I was always looking around for soundtrack work to get things going, as one can imagine that it cost a lot of money. The aim was that each member of the band had his own recording place to work independently and prepare things, because if there was just one big studio and one member was working or trying to do his sound research, then the others would be just hanging around and waiting."

The movie was based on a novel by Stephen King, starring Drew Barrymore, Heather Locklear and Martin Sheen that bombed at the box office and now is more or less sought after in order to catch a very young Drew in her moodiest role as a girl with supernatural powers where she is able to catch things alight with her mind. As the film progresses she is given permission by her father to 'burn it all down baby, burn it all down' and when pushed by authorities wanting to take her away she does just that. It is both amusing and fascinating to watch her immolate one police car after another and when she's done she turns her kinetic power on the people, causing absolute mayhem and a paroxysm of fire and explosions result. I remember noticing amidst the carnage an engaging pulsating soundtrack so naturally I looked up who were the composers and was delighted to discover it was Tangerine Dream.

It is difficult to piece together where each track is used in the movie though Charly the Kid is certainly a highlight and memorable as we are introduced to the troubled girl with a hidden talent for incendiary justice upon those who stand in her way.

I was amazed and perplexed to discover that according to director Mark L. Lester, Tangerine Dream never actually saw the film and instead offered the music to him and told him to use whatever he thought would be required. The pulses of synth buzzes are intermingled with glistening keyboard chimes and there are some dark passages towards the end of the album. The last four tracks are particularly creepy. In any case the music does seem to work well enough in a similar way to how John Carpenter used his music in films. It evokes the right emotion in the right context and overall the 'Firestarter' soundtrack is an engaging collection of tracks that captures the eighties sound.