Survivor – music by Russ Landau & David Vanacore
“Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made.” The classic line from Spaceballs seems to be appropriate here. Even while the Survivor series was airing, you could order bags and T-shirts with the Survivor logo or sayings like, “The Tribe has spoken”, “Don’t vote me off”, and “Tastes like chicken.” Some even organized Survivor-themed parties, complete with Tiki torches. So, it was inevitable that the music CD would be released. But is it worth it?
If you are a fan of the series, the answer is a resounding yes. This CD contains most of musical themes that were used in the series. While most of the CD sticks with a tropical theme (dare I say World Beat or New Age?) that matches the setting of the series, it does divert on occasion to an occasional techno beat or an Asian theme.
The familiar themes are all there. We have two versions of “Ancient Voices” music which was used during the opening credits, and which is instantly recognizable as being “This Is Survivor”. Another familiar theme is the “Survivor Yell”, which was played at the beginning of each episode to recap the events of previous episodes. And, yet another theme, “Tally The Vote”, was very familiar during tribal council portion of each episode. The other music was played as background during the show.
From listening to this CD, I was reminded of how much music plays a role in a show. I have the funny feeling that if I turned off the volume during the show, it would have appeared to be a boring vacation video. But, with the volume on, the music became part of the story telling. It set the mood of the moment, heightened the emotions of what was going on, or punctuating certain moments. The simple act of extinguishing the torch of a voted-off survivor, as told by the music, became WHAM! Game Over, followed by a tinge of sadness. That’s good sound editing.
However, I also got the sense that there were also budget constraints involved with the music of this show. After listening to this CD several times, I got the sense that at some points, it was someone who was working 
on a synthesizer generating the music, sometimes working against a production deadline. In this case, it works in the show’s favor.
There is no doubt that changes are in store for the music for Survivor II: Australian Outback. The tropic theme won’t work there, but there will no doubt be an aboriginal theme.
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- Ancient Voices (Extended)
- New Frontier
- Big Drama
- Explorer
- I Can See It
- My Tribe
- Chase Race
- The Strong Will Survive
- Survivor Yell
- Confrontation
- Snake Island
- Mud Bath
- Buzzed
- Island Council
- Rituals
- Voices Of Heaven
- Gold
- Tally The Vote
- Ancient Voices (Main Title Theme)
Released by: TVT Records
Release date: 2000
Total running time: 64:01
After some less-than-exceptional animation releases such as 1995’s Pocahontas (which I was turned off by the commercials alone) and 1996’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (which I found depressing), Disney managed to recover some of its lost magic with 1998’s hit Mulan. This movie is based upon an ancient Chinese poem about girl named Fa Mulan who, when her father is called into service to defend the China against the Huns, steals her father’s armor and goes into her father’s place by pretending to be a man, and ends up becoming a legend.
If you were as disappointed by Men In Black: The Album as I was, then maybe, this CD should be renamed Men In Black: The Apology. As it is, you will probably have a hard time finding it at the store. Here is a helpful hunt: The Album CD has a picture of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith on the cover and “VARIOUS ARTISTS” on the CD seal, while The Score has MIB prominently on the cover with J and K standing in the I. Even the store clerk at Tower Records was confused, and handed me the album instead of the score.
Avoid this CD at all costs. Especially if you hate rap music.
The CD insert is a long strip, with photos on one side of the strip, and credits for each song on the other side.