Even though La-La Land’s traditionally generous Black Friday slate is a week away, the beloved soundtrack label isn’t waiting to make you say “yippie-ki-yay” – they’ve reconstructed Michael Kamen’s classic score to Die Hard for a definitive 3CD edition.

Loosely based on Roderick Thorp’s 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever, Die Hard casts Moonlighting star Bruce Willis in his first major film role as John McClane, a New York City cop caught in the middle of a terrorist plot on a high-rise Los Angeles office building on Christmas Eve. With little more than his wits (and the backup of an LAPD beat cop on the ground for encouragement), McClane must save the hostages – including his estranged wife – from Hans Gruber and his band of international thieves. With an honest, star-making performance by Willis (who forgoes Arnold Schwarzenegger’s endurance but not his stunts!) as well as co-stars Bonnie Bedelia (as Holly Gennaro-McClane), Reginald VelJohnson (as Sgt. Al Powell) and the late, great Alan Rickman (as the debonair, devilish Gruber), Die Hard quite literally set the template for a new wave of action movies. (The log line “Die Hard in a [location]” became a common one in Hollywood, though it’s hard to top 20th Century-Fox’s own office building doubling as Nakatomi Plaza.)

Willis reprised his signature role in four sequels between 1990 and 2013, and composer Michael Kamen handled scoring duties for the first three films. Kamen, who’d arranged hits for Eurythmics (“Here Comes The Rain Again“) and Queen (“Who Wants To Live Forever“), transitioned to soundtrack work in a major way in the late ’80s, first on the 1985 BBC drama Edge Of Darkness (a Novello and BAFTA-winning collaboration with Eric Clapton) and then on the first of four action-packed scores to the Lethal Weapon series in 1987 (pairing again with Clapton as well as saxophonist David Sanborn). Kamen’s tightly-wound score, which included cheeky quotes from Beethoven’s ninth symphony, helped the picture stand out – although the music was dramatically edited in the final cut, and even replaced with other pieces from recent Fox pictures during several key moments.

As a testament to its endurance, the Die Hard score has been reissued several times: first by Varese Sarabande in 2002, and then as an expanded double-disc edition by La-La Land in 2011 and 2017. Now, LLL turns up the heat with an additionally expanded, triple-disc presentation, from a newly-discovered digital multitrack source. (The label’s previous editions were a mix of stereo and mono sources.) This not only allows for a better-sounding release, but 27 tracks either wholly or partially unreleased! And there’s extras aplenty – not only alternate performances, but film mixes and all kinds of source cues, from classic pop cuts (Vaughn Monroe’s version of “Let It Snow,” Run-DMC’s “Christmas In Hollis“) to humorous oddities from Kamen (an unreleased “Hip Hop Christmas,” complete with the composer’s vocal). Even the tracked-in excerpts of other scores (from John Scott’s Man On Fire and James Horner’s Aliens) appear here, for total completeness!

Whether you believe Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not, this presentation makes a great early gift! The production dream team includes Nick Redman, Neil S. Bulk (who also edited this release) and Mike Matessino (who remixed it); mastering engineer is Dan Hersch; Eric Lichtenfield offers updated liner notes (with track-by-track commentary from Jeff Bond) and Jim Titus handles the new packaging. This run is limited to 5000 copies, and Kamen’s charity for music in schools, the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, will receive a portion of the proceeds!

Order the new Die Hard and check out the full track list below!

Michael Kamen, Die Hard: 30th Anniversary Remastered Limited Edition (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1473, 2018 – original film released 1988)

* previously unreleased
** contains previously unreleased material

Disc 1: The Film Score

1. Main Title :43
2. Seeing Holly 1:07
3. Terrorist Entrance 4:06
4. The Phone Goes Dead/Party Crashers 1:53
5. John’s Escape/You Want Money 6:01
6. The Nakatomi Plaza (Takagi’s Death) 1:45
7. Wiring The Roof 1:51
8. Approaching The Vault* :48
9. Fire Alarm 2:04
10. Tony Approaches 1:42
11. Tony and John Fight 1:13
12. Santa :57
13. He Won’t Be Joining Us 3:02
14. And If He Alters It 2:40
15. Going After John 4:32
16. Have a Few Laughs/Al Powell Approaches 3:32
17. Under The Table 1:59
18. Welcome To The Party 1:10
19. Yippee Ki-Yay** :45
20. Holly Meets Hans 1:20
21. Assault On The Tower 8:34
22. John Is Found Out 5:04
23. Attention Police 3:54
24. Bill Clay 4:09
25. Shoot The Glass** 2:20
26. I Had An Accident (Extended Version)** 2:56

Disc 2: Film Score Continued (1-10) and Additional Music (11-29)

1. The Vault (Film Edit) 3:07
2. Message For Holly (Film Edit)** 3:13
3. Gun In Cheek (Extended Version)** 1:20
4. The Battle/Freeing The Hostages 6:53
5. The Fire Hose** 1:24
6. Helicopter Explosion and Showdown 4:02
7. Happy Trails, Hans* 1:42
8. Aftermath – Powell’s Comeback* 2:52
9. Let It Snow – Vaughn Monroe 1:44
10. Beethoven’s 9th (End Credit Excerpt) 3:53
11. Main Title (Alternate)* :40
12. The Nakatomi Plaza (Takagi’s Death) (Alternate)* 1:47
13. Approaching The Vault (Alternates)* 2:33
14. Tony Approaches (Alternate)* 1:43
15. Yippee Ki-Yay (Extended Version) 2:48
16. Assault On The Tower (Alternate Excerpts)* 3:44
17. Attention Police (Pick Up Opening)* 2:04
18. The Vault (Alternate)* 2:52
19. The Vault (Alternate Performance) 2:11
20. Message For Holly (Original Version)** 2:52
21. Message For Holly (Revised Version)** 2:58
22. Happy Trails (Tracked Film Edit) 1:13
23. We’ve Got Each Other (from Man On Fire) – John Scott 1:56
24. Resolution and Hyperspace (Excerpt) (from Aliens) – James Horner 2:47
25. Wild Percussion* 2:16
26. Roy Rogers Meets Beethoven’s 9th (Source) 1:33
27. Winter Wonderland (Source) 1:26
28. Let It Snow (Source) 1:58
29. Christmas In Hollis – Run-DMC 2:58

Disc 3: The Vault – Bonus Music From Die Hard

1. Main Title (Film Edit) :36
2. Seeing Holly (Film Mix) 1:05
3. The Phone Goes Dead/Party Crashers (Extended Opening)** 2:22
4. The Nakatomi Plaza (Takagi’s Death) (Orchestra Only) 1:47
5. Wiring The Roof (Film Mix Excerpt) :58
6. Tony Approaches (Film Mix) 1:44
7. Going After John (Film Mix) 4:33
8. Al Powell Approaches (Film Mix) 2:32
9. Al Powell Approaches (Alternate)* 2:37
10. Under The Table (His Bag Is Missing) (Film Edit) 1:25
11. John Is Found Out (Film Mix) 5:54
12. Bill Clay Pt. 1 (Film Mix) 2:08
13. Bill Clay Pt. 2 (Extended)** 2:08
14. Shooting The Glass 1:08
15. Message For Holly (Original Version – Orchestra Only)** 2:53
16. The Battle (Alternate Excerpt)** 1:19
17. Wild Take* 1:29
18. Roy Rogers Meets Beethoven’s 9th (Alternate)* 1:36
19. Hip Hop Christmas (Source – Vocal by Michael Kamen)* 1:44

Portions previously released as Varese Sarabande VCL 0202 1004, 2002 and La-La Land Records LLLCD 1188, 2011/LLLCD 1419, 2017