"Lethal Weapon" Box, "Superman Returns" and More Due from La-La Land

La-La Land never fails to amaze when it comes to Black Friday. The soundtrack label often saves some of its biggest and highest-profile titles for announcements on the shopping weekend (see 2010, 2011 and 2012) - and this year is no different, with two premiere releases of acclaimed scores, an expanded edition of a superhero sequel and a box set devoted to one of the biggest action film franchises of all time.

First up: call them slobs, call them jerks, call them gross - just don't call them when you're in trouble! Officers Mahoney, Thompson, Jones, Martin, Tackleberry, Barbara and Hightower (plus the reluctant Lt. Harris) were the misfit newbie cops in the 1984 comedy Police Academy, starring Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, Michael Winslow and Bubba Smith - and while the series is perhaps best known for the increasingly madcap sequels it never seemed to stop spawning (the seventh film in the series bowed in 1994), its score by Robert Folk has long been in high demand. Now, for the first time, enjoy every cue from the film, including the unforgettably jaunty march for the recruits, and even Jean-Marc Dompierre and His Orchestra's "El Bimbo," a source cue that scores a classic gag in the unforgettable Blue Oyster Bar. LLL's release is limited to 3,000 units.

Russian-born composer Dimitri Tiomkin was a master of the Western film score (hear his work on High Noon for definitive proof), and one of his greatest achievements, the score to John Sturges' Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957), is finally available on CD in a 2,ooo-unit pressing. Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas' Hollywoodized portrayals of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday didn't teach anyone facts about the real event, but it sure made for some great genre entertainment. This lengthy disc features the complete score in mono, with eight bonus stereo cues, source music and demos of the classic title song, originally sung by Frankie Laine but covered here by both singing cowboy/Disney voice actor Rex Allen and Bob Hope/USO sideman Tony Romano. Laine's recording is, of course, also included and in fact opens the album.

After the jump, a trio of men of steel and some of their most iconic music!

Before Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan's moody, moderate Superman reboot Man of Steel was released this summer, director Bryan Singer (of The Usual Suspects and X-Men fame) took a stab at Kal-El in the criminally underrated 2006 feature Superman Returns. In a bold move, Singer chose not to reboot the franchise but essentially continue it where Richard Donner and the late Christopher Reeve had left off after Superman II in 1980: following his fight with General Zod, Superman leaves Earth to search the galaxy for Kryptonian survivors. When he finally comes back to his new home five years later, he struggles with a changed world that's largely moved on without his help, including an engaged Lois Lane (and her son) and another ruthless scheme by Lex Luthor, who's strip-mined Superman's Fortress of Solitude for its crystals to create a devastating landmass for the selling.

While Returns was on the long side and not nearly as action-packed as a modern audience might like, it features winning performances from Brandon Routh as Superman (channelling Reeve's spirit as best he can) and Kevin Spacey as Luthor, not to mention a sense of bright-eyed optimism that every Superman film needs (which, in this author's opinion, Man of Steel sorely lacked). It also had a tremendous score from longtime Singer collaborator John Ottman. To upkeep the spirit of Donner's original films, Ottman richly incorporated the legendary themes from 1978's Superman: The Movie, as penned by legendary composer John Williams, into his new score, creating a classic-but-modern listening experience. This two-disc set features the oft-bootlegged complete score as well as some choice selections from the vault, including a demo for an unused sequence in the film, when Superman finds the remains of his home planet. As a joint celebration of both Warner Bros.' 90th anniversary and the 75th birthday of the world's most important superhero, Superman Returns will make you believe a man can fly all over again. It's limited to 3,000 copies.

Are you still with us? Are you feeling too old for this shit? Then you'll want to check out LLL's latest box set: the complete soundtrack set to Richard Donner's Lethal Weapon franchise limited to 3,000 units. The breakout 1987 action-comedy featured Danny Glover as Sgt. Roger Murtaugh, an aging, by-the-book LAPD veteran and his new, mismatched partner, the devil-may-care Martin Riggs, played by Mel Gibson. Shane Black's surefire script, paired with Donner's airtight direction and the crackling chemistry between its two leads, made this a major hit, and spawned three sequels: Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) put the duo on the tail of a South African drug cartel with an irritating federal witness (Joe Pesci) in tow; 1992's Lethal Weapon 3 featured the trio (and an Internal Affairs officer played by Renee Russo) facing a lieutenant-turned-arms dealer and 1998's Lethal Weapon 4 had the quartet joined by a new cop - and Murtaugh's unwitting son-in-law (Chris Rock) - as they fought an organized crime ring from China led by a ruthless enforcer (martial arts star Jet Li, in his American film debut).

Just as cast and crew remained thoroughly consistent across the entire series, so too did the scores, composed by the winning team of Michael Kamen (a composer-arranger who cut his teeth in pop, working with Pink Floyd, Queen and the Eurythmics before moving to film scores), legendary guitarist Eric Clapton (who first collaborated with Kamen on the acclaimed score to the BBC series Edge of Darkness) and jazz saxophonist David Sanborn. This tremendous lineup was complemented on the film's soundtrack albums (particularly the second and third installments) by works from several pop/rock legends, including George Harrison, The Beach Boys, Sting and Elton John.

You can order all of the above-mentioned titles below directly from La-La Land!

Robert Folk, Police Academy: Original Motion Picture Score (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1269, 2013 - original film released 1984)

Main Title/Night Rounds
Rounds Resume/Tackleberry
Barbara
Join Up
The Academy
Recruits
Pussycat/Uniforms
Assignment
Formation/Move Out
Obstacles
Martin and Company
Ball Games
More Martin
Regrets
Guns/In Drag
Warpath
Improvement
Jam Up
Hightower Drive
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Need to Talk/Hightower Leaves
Riot Starts
Riot Gear
SOB
Match
Where's Harris?
Straighten Up
Police Academy March
El Bimbo - Jean-Marc Dompierre and His Orchestra

All tracks on this disc except Track 29 previously unreleased

Dimitri Tiomkin, Gunfight At The O.K. Corral: Music from the Motion Picture (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1280, 2013 - original film released 1957)

Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (Frankie Laine, vocal)
Remorse/Wyatt Earp
Doc Holliday/Whistling
Ed Bailey's Death/Doc Holliday Escapes/Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (End of Act I) (Frankie Laine, vocal)
A Cold Trail/The Ambush
Intro to a Romantic Interlude/A Romantic Interlude
Thoughts of Kate/Dishonored
The Love Scene
Men and Their Women
The Telegram/The Sad Parting/Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (End of Act II) (Frankie Laine, vocal)
The Poster/Clantons
Brotherly Advice
A Friendly Call/A Friendly Call - Part 2
James Earp's Death
Hatred/A Tragic Duo
Night Thoughts
The Night Before/A Walk to Eternity
End of Gunfight
Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (Finale) (Frankie Laine, vocal)
Doc's Watch (Unused Stereo Cue)
The Ambush (Stereo)
A Romantic Interlude (Stereo)
Dishonored (Stereo)
Devotion (Unused Stereo Cue)
The Telegram (Stereo)
The Poster (Stereo)
A Tragic Duo (Stereo)
Memphisiana (Union Pacific) (Source)
Barroom Piano (Cherokee Strip) (Source)
Tombigee River (Copper Canyon) (Source)
Dolly Day (The Redhead and the Cowboy) (Source)
Dodge City Bars (Source)
Oh Dem Golden Slippers (Run for Cover) (Source)
Buffalo Gals (Source)
Varsovienne (The Furies) (Source)
Kingdom Coming (Source)
While Strolling Through the Park (Source) (Eddie Foy Jr., vocal)
Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (Demo #1 - Rex Allen, vocal)
Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (Demo # 2 - Tony Romano, vocal)

John Ottman, Superman Returns: Music from the Motion Picture - Expanded Edition (originally released as Warner Sunset/Rhino R2 77654, 2006 - reissued La-La Land Records LLLCD 1289, 2013)

Disc 1

As Time Goes By/The Planet Krypton §*
Main Titles §**
Dying Wish *
Homecoming */Tell Me Everything §**/Stars in the Sky *
Memories §**†
Put Here for a Reason §†*/The World Keeps Spinning †*/Closet
Case */Daily Planet *
Things Have Changed §*/Chip Off the Old Block †*
Genesis Project */Like Sea Monkeys *
A Drop in the Bucket */Is It Rite? *
Boosters Non-Responsive */Rough Flight §**/Home Run §*
He's Back! *
Superman Scoop */Eavesdropping *
To Lois' House **/You're Not One of Them **
Bank Job §**
Kitty Decoy §*
Supermania §*
Kryptonite *
Little Secrets §
How Could You Leave Us? §**
They're Gone */Bad Idea */They Make Great Chandeliers */Beach Front Property */Lineage? *
Not Like the Train Set **
We Have to Go */Who to Save? §*

Disc 2

Metropolis Mayhem §**
Out to Sea §**
So Long Superman §**
Saving Superman**/Power of the Sun §
Saving the World §**
In the Hands of Mortals **
Family Unit */I Wanted You to Know **
Lex's Paradise */Change of Heart **/Parting Words §*
Reprise §/Fly Away §**
End Titles §**
Return to Krypton (Synth Mockup) §*
Prelude/Main Titles §* (Original Extended Version)
Daily Planet (Alternate) *
GDIATFH Medley (Source) *
Heart and Soul (Source) *

§ contains original Superman themes by John Williams.
* previously unreleased. ** contains previously unreleased material. † contains material not used in film

Various Artists, Lethal Weapon Soundtrack Collection (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1287, 2013 - original films released 1987-1998)

Disc 1: Michael Kamen & Eric Clapton, Lethal Weapon: Original Motion Picture Score (1987)