For a few years, April 26 has officially been known as “Alien Day,” taking its inspiration from LV-426, the fictional setting of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror classic and James Cameron’s blockbuster action sequel from 1986. With Scott having recently returned to the Alien universe with Prometheus in 2012, and a sequel, Alien: Covenant, due in theaters next month, today’s obviously a special Alien Day indeed. That’s why soundtrack fans should be (chest)bursting with excitement over the news that not one, but two vinyl reissues of Jerry Goldsmith’s classic score to Alien are coming from specialty vinyl label Mondo this fall.

The tale of galactic commercial towing vehicle USCSS Nostromo and its crew of seven engineers who come face-to-face with a malevolent space beast has long been regarded as a classic of contemporary cinema. Only Scott’s second film (and the third of star Sigourney Weaver, the central character of four Alien movies and a Best Actress Oscar nominee for Aliens), Alien combined the “used-universe” sensibilities of Star Wars and the devilish style of Swiss artist H.R. Giger, whose work was adapted into the titular creature. The result was a master class in visceral terror and suspense, a critical and commercial success and an Oscar winner for Best Visual Effects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ3qKyPxCP0

Goldsmith’s score, alternately dissonant and romantic, serves the Alien universe well; although it was presented sort of piecemeal in the original film, with written cues swapped out for tracked-in material from other Goldsmith scores and other temp tracks, Goldsmith’s material has since been used or quoted in Aliens, Alien: Resurrection (1997) and Prometheus. A revelatory presentation of the complete score by Intrada Records in 2007 finally gave Alien its due; that presentation forms the backbone of both multi-vinyl titles due from Mondo.

A 180-gram double-LP set, featuring custom art by artist Kilian Eng and two vinyl color variants (standard black and “acid blood” green), includes Goldsmith’s complete score as intended for the film–23 tracks as heard on the first disc of Intrada’s reissue. For the die-hard fan, a 180-gram quadruple-LP box set, featuring designs by Tyler Stout with each disc pressed on a different color vinyl (“Alien egg” olive green, “face hugger” brown, “chestburster” white with red splatter and “xenomorph” black) adds one LP featuring the original album presentation as released in 1979 by 20th Century Fox Records, and another disc of bonus cues, including demos and alternates. The box set will also include one of four randomly selected screen printed handbills, all featuring additional artwork by Stout.

Pre-orders for the box will end May 19, just as Alien: Covenant slithers into a theater near you. Both versions will ship in late September. Check out the track lists and links for Mondo’s Alien sets below!

Alien: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Mondo, 2017 – original film released 1979)

LP 1

1. Main Title
2. Hyper Sleep
3. The Landing
4. The Terrain
5. The Craft
6. The Passage
7. The Skeleton
8. A New Face
9. Hanging On
10. The Lab
11. Drop Out

LP 2

1. Nothing to Say
2. Cat Nip
3. Here Kitty
4. The Shaft
5. It’s a Droid
6. Parker’s Death
7. The Eggs
8. Sleepy Alien
9. To Sleep
10. The Cupboard
11. Out the Door
12. End Title

All tracks previously released on CD on Intrada MAF 7102, 2007

Alien: Complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Mondo, 2017)

LPs 1-2 identical to above release

LP 3: Original album (released as 20th Century Fox Records T-593, 1979)

1. Main Title
2. Face Hugger
3. Breakaway
4. Acid Test
5. The Landing
6. The Droid
7. The Recovery
8. The Alien Planet
9. The Shaft
10. End Title

LP 4: Bonus Tracks and Rescored Alternates (previously released on CD on Intrada MAF 7102, 2007)

1. Main Title (Film Version)
2. The Skeleton (Alternate Take)
3. The Passage (Demonstration Excerpt)
4. Hanging On (Demonstration Excerpt)
5. Parker’s Death (Demonstration Excerpt)
6. It’s a Droid (Unused Inserts)
7. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Source)
8. Main TItle (Rescored Alternate)
9. Hyper Sleep (Rescored Alternate)
10. The Terrain (Rescored Alternate)
11. The Skeleton (Rescored Alternate)
12. Hanging On (Rescored Alternate)
13. The Cupboard (Rescored Alternate)
14. Out the Door (Rescored Alternate)