Rocktrospectiva: The Heavily Influential "Music From Twin Peaks" Turns 35

Released on 11 September 1990, "Music From Twin Peaks" was a soundtrack album by US composer Angelo Badalamenti, and it was the official soundtrack to the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991). Though mostly instrumental, three tracks feature vocals by Julee Cruise. The soundtrack spawned a single "Falling". 

The series' co-creator David Lynch produced the album alongside Badalamenti and wrote lyrics for several tracks, including the series' theme song "Falling". Music From Twin Peaks, featuring songs written and composed by Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch, is a 48-minute ethereal music odyssey, combining jazz and ambient soundscapes with the dream pop of Julee Cruise… particularly on The Nightingale, in all its haunting majesty.

The album’s opened in the manner in which the soaring Twin Peaks Theme segues into the brooding, yet optimistic Laura Palmer’s Theme is a juxtaposition worthy of any classical symphony. Upon its release, Soundtrack from Twin Peaks placed in several international charts—including the top 10 in Norway, Sweden, Australia and the Netherlands.

Elsewhere, Lynch’s ability to surprise is evident on tracks such as Audrey’s Dance (“it’s so… dreamy”), which is permeated with alarming horn stabs, giving an otherworldly sense to an otherwise jazzy groove. Ditto the orchestral crescendo in the middle of Into The Night (did we really hear that, or imagine it?) and the frantic drumming in the background of The Bookhouse Boys. Unsettling, yet masterful.

The highlight of the album’s B-side for many was undoubtedly Dance of The Dream Man, with its epic saxophone solo – if ever there was a track that made you want to learn how to speak backwards and shuffle around the room in a red suit, this is it. 

Badalamenti discussed how he managed to get inside Lynch’s head and provide a suitable accompaniment: “I could see David was so happy,” he explained. “He had his eyes closed. He was seeing pictures in his head. That music, Laura Palmer’s Theme, set the tone for everything that followed. “The whole mood of the show is in there. I never changed a single note.” The Soundtrack has been awarded and described as the most influential soundtrack in TV history.

 

Music From Twin Peaks Track List: 

 

1. Twin Peaks Theme (Instrumental)

2. Laura Palmer's Theme (Instrumental)

3. Audrey's Dance (Instrumental)

4. The Nightingale (vocals by Julee Cruise) 

5. Freshly Squeezes (Instrumental)

6. The Bookhouse Boys

7. Into The Night (Vocals By Julee Cruise)

8. Nigth Life In Twin Peaks (Instrumental)

9. Dance Of The Dream Man (Instrumental)

10. Love Theme From Twin Peaks (Instrumental)

11. Falling  (vocals by Julee Cruise)