The arrival of the Stranger Things Season 4 finale has been so anticipated that its debut reportedly crashed Netflix overnight.
For fans of the retro ’80s sci-fi/horror show, the synthesized soundtrack, by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, sets the tone. Their soundtrack to the show is created with a huge range of vintage and analog gear.
Like the show itself, the score builds on the ’80s sci-fi/horror styles. But Dixon & Stein, in many ways, go beyond iconic ’80s film scores, in both the sheer volume of original music that they’ve created for the show, and in the way they’ve created themes, sounds and textures that are used thematically throught the series.
Now the epic 80-track score, Stranger Things 4 – Original Score from the Netflix Series, is available, digitally via Lakeshore Records and on vinyl via Invada Records.
You can preview the score via the embeds above and below.
The four seasons of Strange Things soundtrack work by Dixon and Stein, if you’re honest about it, are much more impressive than any of 70’s/80’s soundtracks of Tangerine Dream or John Carpenter.
The Koyaanisqatsi tracks they dropped in season 4, though, showed that even old Philip Glass can beat them all.
comparing Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter to Dixon and Stein is akin to Comparing The Rolling Stones and The Beatles to Backstreet Boys and N’Sync. without John Carpenter there would be no Dixon and Stein.
John Carpenter’s music is iconic, but it’s also ‘budget Oldfield’. His most memorable theme, from Halloween, is a low-budget take on the ‘Exorcist Theme’ – the beginning of Oldfield’s Tubular Bells.
Tangerine Dream’s soundtrack work is 90% garbage, mostly excerpts or remixes of older tracks. Listen to any of those soundtrack albums and they really are execrable, even to fans of their best work from the 70s and 80s.
The best TD scores are: Sorcerer, which is pretty good and captures their 70s sound; Risky Business, which features about 5 minutes of new music, plus some needle drops of their older work; and Thief, which is the best soundtrack they ever did.
Most of the other scores they did were for third-string movies, and you can tell that TD did them for the money and just phoned in the work.
The Stranger Things soundtrack, on the other hand, features hours and hours of original music. It’s well written, it’s got great analog sounds, it’s experimental in places, it showcases a huge range of moods, and it uses melodies and sounds thematically. And they’ve created four seasons of music that make a consistent whole.
This, the first Utopia and Succession all have pretty good main themes I think
sound tracks to TV shows. *eyes roll*
I’ll wait for the Gilligans Island re-release, or maybe F-Troop.
Because you’re a John Williams fan? Yes, he wrote the Gilligan’s Island theme. Actually, is that you Mr. Williams that is posting? A little bit jealous?
overhyped Gen-Z time sink
weak-sauce complaint that fails to demonstrate critical thinking
I saw it too
I thought the music created for Strange Things is freaking killer!
@Koyaan – at very best Tangerine Dream lite 😀
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein created four seasons of original music for Stranger Things.
Can you name a Tangerine Dream soundtrack that didn’t recycle their old music?
Didn’t think so.
“Flashpoint”.
The stranger things synthesizer theme is like Jump by Van Halen, everyone plays it nowadays 😀
I use to like arps 🙂