Twister (soundtrack)

Two soundtracks were released for the 1996 disaster thriller film Twister: an album consisting of rock-music singles, many of which were exclusive releases for the film and a traditional orchestral film score composed by Mark Mancina. Both the albums featured an instrumental theme song "Respect the Wind" composed and performed for the film by Alex and Eddie Van Halen. Twister: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on May 7, 1996 through Warner Bros. Records in CD, LP and cassettes, while Twister: Motion Picture Score was released through Atlantic Records three months later, on August 13, 1996. An expanded edition consisting of more orchestral music which was not included in the first release was issued by La-La Land Records and released on January 17, 2017.

Reception
Steven McDonald of AllMusic described it as "a diverse assortment, to be sure, with some very enjoyable moments salted amongst the crunchy parts."

Score
Twister marked Mancina's second collaboration with Jan de Bont following Speed (1994). Most of the traditional orchestrations were recorded live. He revealed that his initial score had 42 minutes of music, but after being edited he felt that it was not presented the way it intended to be. The opening track had an outtake which was his and Chris Ward's idea, calling it as an "exciting piece of music, and the orchestra was buzzing" that was quieted by conductor Don Harper. The medley of "William Tell Overture / Oklahoma" was composed on de Bont's insistence to combine those two musical pieces in a single epic cue which he found difficult as he had to maintain those tempos, but the vocals changed throughout the process. Most of the orchestrated tracks were in the film but were not in the score album.

Reception
Rodney Batdorf of AllMusic "on the surface there's a lot of bluster, noise and style—but if you try to remember anything about the actual music, you'll come up dry". Thomas Glorieux of Maintitles wrote "In truth, this is music that most Remote Control composers can't even write. So buckle up and get ready to be blown away!" Writing for Filmtracks.com, Christian Clemmensen said "While most listeners are likely to remember the score for Twister by the snazzy electric guitars in the rousing chase scenes and the occasional choral majesty, the more subtle orchestral touches are certainly the real attraction in the work. These ominous sounds often resemble snarling creatures when merged with the final sound effects within the film and are a fantastically smart use of music for the advancement of the story." Duane Bryge of The Hollywood Reporter wrote the film is "greatly aided by composer Mark Mancina’s soaring, heartland-strained score."

Expanded edition
In January 2017, La-La Land Records released a limited-edition, remastered and expanded album containing Mark Mancina's entire score plus four additional tracks.