With no liner notes to crib some kind of commentary from, I am left with an observation fueled by an anecdote.
Way back in the late 80's or very early 90's, a friend shared that he had struck up a conversation with a fellow film student that was studying film composition. The usual suspects were discussed, of course. Some were singled out for praise by this nameless student (Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, etc.), while others were dismissed as being unexceptional hacks (Pino Donaggio and Richard Band).
When my friend brought up the film scores of John Carpenter, this student's response leaned toward dismissal. While some of Carpenter's work might be iconic, overall his compositions were hampered by what he called a lack of musicality. Whatever that meant (or means)...
Which is just my longwinded introduction to help explain why, as much as I adore John Carpenter's iconic themes and soundscapes, I think his score for Christine is one of his most formless and, truth be told, unmemorable works.
Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, and Escape from New York were all blessed with themes that, in their own idiosyncratic way, were every bit as memorable as what John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith had been composing during that same period of time. I will even go so far as to put Chariots of Pumpkins from Halloween III Season of the Witch on that list, because it is as identifiable as those other aforementioned themes.
Yet this Carpenter/Howarth joint for Christine lacks a memorable central theme, at least on the original score front. Christine's defining and iconic theme is Bad to the Bone, by George Thorogood & The Destroyers, which fits the feel, tone, and style of the film like a glove.
So does Carpenter/Howarth's compositions Arnie's Love Theme, Obsessed with the Car, The Rape, and Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury). Yet, while they are easy enough to recognize as the work of John Carpenter, when in association with Alan Howarth, they also lack a certain creative zest. They sound good, but there is nothing about them that ever stuck in my heart or my memory.
Perhaps this was the result of Carpenter's dour post-Thing temperament, as Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness, and They Live all had memorable themes. Even if they did lack that pesky element of "musicality" the unknown (to me) film student pointed out, so many years ago...
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