Silvestri's intended use of music for Predator contains several motifs for the three or four basic situations in which the story's characters find themselves (all of which touched upon by Debney in the 2010 sequel). It was, therefore, a highly organized and precisely mapped score. Unfortunately for Silvestri, his music would suffer the same fate as Michael Kamen's in McTiernan's Die Hard the following year, with most major cues cut and rearranged throughout the film. Despite these questionable edits, the score is still remarkably effective. In a casual sweep of the music, the collection of motifs may seem to be an unorganized mass of jungle-induced sprawl. But the alien predator is provided with its own theme of descent that is wondrous in its string tones (and heard during its arrival). The American commandos counter with the score's most memorable idea, a simple, militaristic procession of piano and percussion. This six-note phrase, which is forcefully accompanied by precise rotations in the percussion section, is extremely distinctive. The commandos are also given a subtle motif for their efforts to run, hide, and complete their rescue mission. A slow fanfare of dread for the villain is hinted at in the score, expanded significantly by Debney in his sequel. A tribute to fallen friends is presented by a solo trumpet during scenes of mourning. A timpani-pounding running rhythm is perhaps the most driving element of the score, pushing the characters to their inevitable doom in the middle portion of the film. In many of these themes, a incessantly pounding piano in its lowest octaves is a menacing constant. Silvestri utilizes some stock horror techniques with brass hits and string strikes, but usually proceeds with a more consistent rumbling of ambient suspense that utilizes well-integrated electronic elements. Despite the use of the synthesizers, the score comes across as a symphonic powerhouse, alternating between Silvestri's racing action cues and suspenseful preparation material. A slight touch of fantasy in the aforementioned, descending string motif heard in "Main Title," "Building the Trap," and "The Pick-Up and End Credits" aides the science-fiction aspect of the score. The highlights of the work are the opening and closing sequences, as well as the "Jungle Trek" cue that presents the running theme's low brass and piano ostinato in its most engaging form. The final cue was unfortunately re-scored with the solo trumpet motif, signaling the loss of Schwarzenegger's team, whereas originally the score called for a repeat of the opening space motif (of descending strings) that had represented the alien, thus revealing in the end that Schwarzenegger was the true "predator" that the title suggests.

Overall, it's one of Silvestri's most primal but sophisticated efforts all in one, assisting the film greatly in its success. The history of Predator on album has been a difficult one, though. A fictional label called "Alien Records" presented three different bootlegs of Silvestri's score between 1997 and 2001. Some included the song "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard (featured in the film) or other Silvestri works, like seven minutes from Blown Away. Others included four minutes from Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and the "Silver Pictures Logo Theme," and even others had a sampling of music from Predator 2 and/or Schwarzenegger quotes from the original. A fourth bootleg, utilizing the first "Alien Records" cover, had no label, while the three under the "Alien Records" umbrella had the label number 27569. These bootlegs were widely passed around in CDr form so many times since they first hit the market in 1997 that some of them eventually had only the Predator score and no bonus material. The important thing to note is that all of the bootlegs had the same roughly 70 minutes of Silvestri material from the score. Their sound quality did vary from album to album, however, ranging from average to very good. Finally, in 2003, Varèse Sarabande released an official offering of the score as part of its Club series, with superior sound and a complete presentation that easily eclipsed all of the bootlegs. A detriment to the Varèse album, however, is the addition of Elliot Goldenthal's mutilation of the 20th Century Fox theme from Alien 3 at the start of the product. Its inclusion on this product makes no sense given that Predator predates Alien 3, and, besides, who wants to listen to a piece of Goldenthal's often obnoxious avant garde tendencies in a completely unrelated context? This limited Club release enticed owners of the bootleg to seek a crisp-sounding, official release of this cult score, though casual listeners did not have an overwhelming need to upgrade. As of the end of 2003, the issue became moot when the Varèse product sold out and itself shot up to $75 in value. In 2010, Intrada Records slightly rearranged the score from a better, digital source and added another 3,000 copies to the market. Also unfortunately including the Goldenthal intro, this product does have less tape hiss distraction. It sold out within a day, and in response to the wishes of the fans, composer, and studio, the label again rearranged the contents (adding short fragments and finally placing the cues in proper order) for an unlimited commercial pressing in 2012. Despite this history, Predator has always deserved repeated attention on album because of its enduring quality. Percussion enthusiasts, step on board.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download