The production of
Aliens fell behind schedule in post-production, leaving Horner less than two weeks to write the score to the finished film, rather than the six weeks he had initially been promised. The producers were unwilling to give him any more time, and he was booked to begin scoring
The Name of the Rose (1986) shortly afterwards.
Aliens was Horner and Cameron's first collaboration; Horner called it a "nightmare". Horner's schedule was so tight that the music for the climactic battle between Ripley and the queen was written overnight. Cameron first heard the score while it was being recorded by the orchestra and did not like it, but it was too late to make changes.
Brad Fiedel's synth-inspired tracks for
The Terminator had allowed changes to be made quickly based on feedback, but Cameron had no experience managing orchestral music. Cameron cut the score up, using pieces where he believed they fit best, and inserted pieces of
Jerry Goldsmith's
Alien score and hired unknown composers to fill gaps. Cameron said in a later interview he thought the music was good, but did not fit the scenes he had filmed. Horner's "alien
sting" sound was initially used only once, during the scene with the cocooned woman, as Cameron disliked it, but he eventually used it throughout the film. Unused portions of Horner's
Aliens score were repurposed for
Die Hard (1988). Despite the lack of time, Cameron and producer Gale Ann Hurd requested frequent changes to the music and made last-minute changes to the film's edit, which forced Horner to re-write the music. The combination of a lack of time and constant changes resulted in a falling-out between Horner and Cameron, who did not work together again until
Titanic more than a decade later. Despite the difficulties during the score's production, it was nominated for an
Academy Award in 1986. The soundtrack album was released the following year, in 1987. ==Style==