Not everybody has a soft spot for David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal SF novel “Dune”. Maybe it was the acting, or the special effects, or the almost-necessary shortening of the story (to which even the Sci-Fi Channel 2000 miniseries fell victim in different areas), who knows? A canvas as broad and deep as “Dune” doesn’t lend itself easily to film, where a story is expected to be told in under three hours. But the music…well, you may not agree with me here, but the music was almost perfect for the film.
Some film music fans have decried to use of rock-music-as-score in such films as Ladyhawke, but with Dune, the rock group Toto struck a perfect balance, occasionally adding the odd contemporary touch to what was largely an orchestral score augmented by synths and samples. Not bad for 1984, really.
If I have an issue with Toto’s score from Dune, it is that it sometimes drones along, not really developing thematically, which is a potential pitfall encountered anytime a rock musician experiments in a new medium. In places it’s almost annoyingly repetitive, and in other places it’s surprisingly fresh, such as the “Robot Fight” cue. As far as the arrangements and the balance of traditional and modern instruments go, the Dune score is 
an excellent mix of old and new, with all the grace of an Alan Parsons instrumental rock opera.
One last caveat – there are at least three different versions of this soundtrack available; some have around 20 tracks, while the one I listened to weighed in at 30 tracks. I’m not sure if the longer version is still available.
- Prologue / Main Title (3:20)
- Guild Report (0:55)
- House Atreides (1:44)
- Paul Atreides (2:22)
- Robot Fight (1:23)
- Leto’s Theme (1:47)
- The Box (2:41)
- The Floating Fat Man: The Baron (1:15)
- Departure (1:14)
- Trip To Arrakis (2:37)
- Sandworm Attack (2:52)
- Betrayal / Shields Down (4:31)
- First Attack (2:49)
- The Duke’s Death (2:07)
- Sandworm Chase (2:40)
- The Fremen (3:08)
- Secrets Of The Fremen (2:25)
- Paul Meets Chani (3:08)
- Destiny (2:57)
- Riding The Sandworm (1:27)
- Reunion With Gurney (1:42)
- Prelude: Take My Hand (1:03)
- Paul Takes The Water Of Life (2:52)
- The Sleeper Has Awakened! (3:24)
- Big Battle (3:09)
- Paul Kills Feyd (1:55)
- Final Dream (1:26)
- Dune: Desert Theme (5:33)
- Dune Main Title – demo version (1:26)
- Take My Hand (2:43)
Released by: SuperTracks
Release date: 1997
Total running time: 72:40
