It's a doubly monumental day for soundtrack collectors, with two hotly-anticipated expansions of monumentally popular soundtracks unleashed today by La-La Land Records.

The first almost doesn't need an introduction - so excited have we been at Second Disc HQ, long before and after its advance announcement - but John Williams' score to Steven Spielberg's Hook is the first bounty of the day. Spielberg's fantastical sequel to James M. Barrie's immortal Peter Pan - where the onetime boy who wouldn't grow up has become a corporate raider (Robin Williams) who must remember his heritage when his neglected son and daughter are captured by a vengeful Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman).

Though neither the usual critical nor commercial megahit Spielberg is typically associated with, Hook is arguably one of the best and most underrated gems in the director's long collaboration with his favorite composer. Williams was firing on every cylinder for this assignment, penning over two hours of deeply thematic, almost operatic music for the film. Several songs were written with legendary lyricist Leslie Bricusse, Williams' partner on the Oscar-nominated "Somewhere in My Memory" for Home Alone a year earlier. As the set's liner notes by Daniel Schweiger finally, definitively reveal, many of these themes (including the Oscar-nominated song "When You're Alone") were penned for a wildly different version of the film that would have seen the story told as a full-blown, Broadway-esque musical.

While none of the fabled musical demos appear on the new double-disc set, what is present is over an hour of unreleased music, including alternate and unused cues. And that's on top of the 75 minutes that was included on the original Epic Records CD - all lovingly produced by Legacy Recordings' Didier C. Deutsch and Mark G. Wilder and personally supervised and approved by The Maestro himself.

Could it get as exciting after that one? Happily, the answer is yes! Hit the jump to learn about the return of The Robe!

Produced by 20th Century-Fox, The Robe was almost literally a story too big for the screen. (It was the first film exhibited in Fox's then-new CinemaScope widescreen format.) Based on the Lloyd Douglas novel, the film tells the tale of Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton), a Roman military tribune whose life and faith are changed when, while present at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, wins his robe in a game of lots. Fox's film score guru Alfred Newman composed and conducted the score in glorious stereo, but it wasn't heard on record in true stereo until Varese Sarabande's 2003 expansion of the soundtrack. La-La Land's new pressing is newly remastered by Dan Hersch (the film's audio elements were recently restored anew for a Blu-Ray release) and features slightly more music.

Hook is limited to 5,000 units and The Robe to 2,000. You'd do well to order now!

John Williams, Hook: Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1211, 2012 - original film released 1991)

Disc 1

1. Prologue
2. We Don't Wanna Grow Up
3. Banning Back Home
4. Granny Wendy
5. The Bedroom *
6. The Nursery *
7. The Watch *
8. Hook-napped
9. A Portrait of Wendy *
10. The Arrival of Tink/The Flight to Neverland **
11. Presenting the Hook
12. Pirates! *
13. Hook Challenges Peter *
14. From Mermaids to Lost Boys **
15. The Lost Boy Chase
16. Smee's Plan **
17. Pan is Challenged *
18. Hook's Lesson *
19. The Banquet
20. The Neverfeast
21. Hook's Madness *
22. Follow That Shadow *

Disc 2

1. Remembering Childhood
2. You Are the Pan **
3. When You're Alone
4. Tink Grows Up *
5. The Ultimate War: To War **
6. The Ultimate War: Death of Rufio *
7. The Ultimate War: Sword Fight *
8. Farewell Neverland **
9. End Credits **
10. Prologue (Alternate) *
11. Banning Back Home (Film Version) *
12. Presenting the Hook (Extended Film Version) **
13. Hook's Blues *
14. Wendy Tells Peter the Truth (Partly Unused) *
15. Exit Music (Unused) *

* denotes previously unreleased track. ** denotes track with previously unreleased material. Portions of this program released as Epic Soundtrax EK 48888, 1991

Alfred Newman, The Robe: Expanded Original Score (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1201, 2012 - original film released 1953)

Disc 1

1. Prelude (Main Title)
2. Rome
3. The Slave Market (Diana)
4. Caligula's Arrival
5. Caligula's Departure
6. The Map of Jerusalem
7. Passover/Palm Sunday
8. The Feast
9. Searching for Jesus (Damaged)
10. Execution Orders
11. The Carriage of the Cross
12. The Crucifixion
13. The Nightmare
14. Capri
15. Tiberius' Palace
16. The Market Place
17. The Resurrection (Vocal: Carole Richards)
18. The Story of Miriam *

Disc 2

1. Elegy
2. Marcellus' Redemption
3. Justus' Death
4. Aftermath
5. Hymn for the Dead
6. In His Service
7. Audience with Caligula *
8. The Catacombs/Hope
9. Demetrius' Rescue
10. The Healing of Demetrius
11. Marcellus' Farewell
12. The Chase
13. Interior Dungeon
14. Caligula (Extended)
15. Finale/Hallelujah
16. Palm Sunday Part One (Chorus Only)
17. Palm Sunday Part Two (Orchestra Only)
18. The Crucifixion (Orchestra Only)
19. Prelude (Main Title) (with Slates)
20. Marcellus' Redemption (Original Version - Damaged) *

* denotes previously unreleased track. Portions of this program previously released as Varese Sarabande VCL 1103 1125, 2003.