''Dune'' is an original

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

album for the 1984 film ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

''. Most of the album was composed by the rock band Toto—their first and only film score—but one track was contributed by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop a ...

Roger Eno Roger Eugene Eno (born in Woodbridge, England, in 1959) is an English ambient music composer. He is the brother of Brian Eno. Early life and education Roger Eno began euphonium lessons when he was 12 years old, and entered Colchester Institute ...

and

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...

. The soundtrack album was first released in November 1984. An extended version with an altered track listing was released in 1997. Both versions are currently out of print on traditional media such as CD but with the increasing popularity of download and streaming services, have gained improved exposure through such channels as

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...

Background

The instrumental soundtrack was recorded by the band Toto (minus lead singer

Fergie Frederiksen Dennis Hardy "Fergie" Frederiksen (May 15, 1951 – January 18, 2014) was an American rock singer best known as the former lead singer of Trillion, Angel, LeRoux and Toto, as well as providing backing vocals for Survivor. He contributed to hit ...

), accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Volksoper Choir, conducted by

Marty Paich Martin Louis Paich (January 23, 1925 – August 12, 1995) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kento ...

, father of Toto keyboardist

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...

. "Prophecy Theme" was composed for the movie by

and Daniel Lanois. There are unverified rumors that Eno composed an entire earlier ''Dune'' soundtrack, although only "Prophecy Theme" and some incidental background music survived in the final film version. The first release of the soundtrack contained select cues in their original film order, plus two pieces of dialogue from the movie that served as bookends for two tracks ("Prologue" and "The Floating Fat Man (The Baron)"). This first issue was released by Polydor Records. The album includes an alternative take of the "Main Title", that had not been used in the film. An extended version containing additional cues was released in 1997 on PEG Records, an independent label division of Polygram. On this issue multiple tracks had mastering problems which resulted in audible distortion in the form of a 'wobbling' effect. Furthermore, many cues (particularly in the second half of the expanded CD) were mislabeled and placed out of film order. The album includes the film version of the "Main Title", and an original demo of the main title music. There are several differences between the music on the two soundtrack albums and that heard in the film. For example, the end title theme, "Take My Hand", is heard on the soundtrack CDs minus the orchestration heard in the final film mix. The version of "Robot Fight" on the original soundtrack is heard in the theatrical version, while the version on the expanded CD is only heard in the extended "

Alan Smithee Alan Smithee (also Allen Smithee) is an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project. Coined in 1968 and used until it was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild ...

" TV version of the film. The cues "Riding The Sandworm" (from the expanded CD) and "Dune (Desert Theme)", "Prelude (Take My Hand)", "Paul Kills Feyd" and "Final Dream" (from both soundtrack issues) are not heard in the movie, and are replaced by either repeated or alternate cues. However, the television version does restore "Paul Kills Feyd" in its original place in the movie, and "Dune (Desert Theme)", which was intended as the end title music, is replaced by "Take My Hand." Composer

James Newton Howard James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...

made his film score debut on the film, co-composing the cue "Trip to Arrakis" with Paich.

Track listing

Original Polydor release

PEG reissue

Personnel

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

– guitar *

– keyboards *

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and M ...

– keyboards *

Mike Porcaro Michael Joseph Porcaro (May 29, 1955 – March 15, 2015) was an American bass player known for his work with the rock band Toto. He retired from touring in 2007 as a result of being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was t ...

– bass guitar, percussion *

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working o ...

– drums, percussion *

Virginia Madsen Virginia Gayle Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress and film producer. She made her film debut in ''Class'' (1983), which was filmed in her native Chicago. After she moved to Los Angeles, director David Lynch cast her as Pr ...

– narration on "Prologue" * Kenneth McMillan and Paul Smith – dialogue on "The Floating Fat Man (The Baron)" * Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Production

* Tom Knox – score engineer / score mixer

References in other media

"Main Title" was likely partially inspired by the composer's Ronald Stein's score for the horror movie ''The Haunted Palace'' (1963). Motives featured in the "Main Title" can be heard in the following soundtracks: * "Main Titles / Terrorist Attack" in Scrooged (1988) by Danny Elfman * "Skeletor" in ''Army of Darkness'' (1992) by Joseph DoLuca * "Setting the Stage","End of the Quest" in ''Baldur's Gate'' (1998) by Michael Hoenig * "Trilogy" in ''Red Faction'' (2001) by Dan Wentz, unofficially "The Consul's Theme" in ''Half Life 2'' Beta (1999-2004) * "I am Lord Voldemort" scene in ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (2002) by John Williams * "Menu Theme" in ''Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death'' (2003) by Thomas Bible * "Metal Battle" in ''Spy Kids 3: Game Over'' (2003) by Robert Rodriguez * "Battle for Freedom" in ''Final Fantasy XII'' (2006) by Hitoshi Sakimoto * "Sovereign's Theme" in ''Mass Effect'' (2007) by Jack Wall * "The Part Where He Kills You" in ''Portal 2'' (2011) by Mike Morasky * "Main Theme" in ''The Babadook'' (2014) by Jed Kurzel * "The Golden Circle" in ''Kingsman: The Golden Circle'' (2017) by Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson * "The New Order" by Aaron Kenny (2018) * "Stillsuits" in ''Dune'' (2021) by Hans Zimmer

Additional notes

Catalogue: (CD) Columbia 8237702, (CD) Polydor 823770-2, (LP) Polydor 8237701, (CD) Polygram International 823770

References

External links

Dune at Toto99.com

Download preview page at Apple iTunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dune Albums produced by Brian Eno Music based on Dune (franchise) Single-artist film soundtracks Science fiction soundtracks Toto (band) albums 1984 soundtrack albums Polydor Records soundtracks