Christopher Young
With a background as a jazz instrumentalist, Christopher Young often incorporates elements of rock, jazz, and especially electronic music into his dynamic orchestral film scores. After emerging on low-budget thrillers and horror films in the early '80s, his scores for A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) and Hellraiser (1987) led to steady work on horror, thriller, and sci-fi films throughout the '90s. Along the way, he also composed music for movies such as John Dahl's drama Rounders (1998) and the boxing biopic The Hurricane (1999). The 2000s brought work for directors ranging from Lasse Hallström and Curtis Hanson to Sam Raimi, including Raimi's Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). Young's projects in the 2010s included The Monkey King (2014) and The Monkey King 2 (2016) for Hong Kong director Cheang Pou-soi.
Beginning his musical career as a jazz drummer, Young was inspired to pursue film composing after hearing the work of Bernard Herrmann. He studied music at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, and followed his bachelor's degree with further study at North Texas State University. Young moved to Los Angeles in 1980. There, he took classes at the UCLA Film School and studied with legendary composer David Raksin. It wasn't long before he found work scoring low-budget horror productions like 1982's The Dorm That Dripped Blood and 1984's The Power, and action films including 1985's Barbarian Queen. Later that same year, his music could be heard in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, which he followed with other more enduring films, such as 1987's Hellraiser and Flowers in the Attic.
In the '90s, Young was an in-demand composer for horror films (1995's Tales from the Hood), science fiction (1995's Species and Virtuosity), and thrillers (1995's Copy Cat, 1998's Hush), due to his exuberant, suspenseful style. He also worked on the occasional drama, including his Emmy-nominated score for 1996's Norma Jean and Marilyn and films such as 1998's Rounders and 1999's The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington.
In 2002, Young earned a Golden Globe nomination for his music for the 2001 Lasse Hallström drama The Shipping News. Highlights of his other work in the decade included the horror films The Grudge (2004) and Ghost Rider (2007), as well as the Sam Raimi films The Gift (2000), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007). He continued to compose a steady stream of scores in the 2010s, including The Rum Diary (2011), based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel, and Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas (2013). The action fantasy films The Monkey King and The Monkey King 2 followed in the mid-2010s, and in 2017 Young wrote music for the virtual reality video game Wilson's Heart, which featured voice work by Hollywood stars including Peter Weller, Rosario Dawson, and Paul Reubens. In 2019, he provided the soundtrack for the film adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary.
© Marcy Donelson /TiVo
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The Piper (Original Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Intrada on 16 Apr 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hellraiser 30th Anniversary Edition (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Lakeshore Records on 15 Sep 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Fly, The Fly II (Original Motion Picture Soundtracks)
Howard Shore, Christopher Young
Film Soundtracks - Released by Varese on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Empty Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Hollywood Records on 23 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Deliver Us from Evil (Original Motion Picture Score)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Madison Gate Records on 27 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ghost Rider (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Madison Gate Records on 16 Feb 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (Remastered Special 30th Anniversary Edition) (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Lakeshore Records on 5 Oct 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Rum Diary (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Pop - Released by Lakeshore Records on 25 Oct 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Shipping News (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Milan on 8 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rounders (Music From The Miramax Motion Picture)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Varese Sarabande on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Big Kahuna (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Varese Sarabande on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2015 Remaster)
Film Soundtracks - Released by WaterTower Music on 28 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Judas Kiss (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Citadel - Mafy on 7 Apr 2000
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Set It Off (Original Motion Picture Score)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Varese Sarabande on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Creation (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Lakeshore Records on 8 Jul 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
50 States Of Fright: "The Golden Arm" Michigan (Original Soundtrack)
Soundtracks - Released by Notefornote Music on 9 Jul 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Drag Me to Hell (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Lakeshore Records on 5 Aug 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sinister (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Varese Sarabande on 19 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Offering (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Millennium Media Records on 13 Jan 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Uninvited (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Lakeshore Records on 22 Jul 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Hurricane (Original Score)
Film Soundtracks - Released by Geffen* on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo