News

The month ahead brings even more soundtrack news than the big John Williams box set! New archival reissues from La-La Land Records, Varese Sarabande and Intrada are all on the calendar.

First up, after expansions of Rain Man, A League of Their Own and Gladiator in recent months, La-La Land will give the expanded treatment to Hans Zimmer’s score to the 1991 hit Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by writer-director Callie Khouri (her first credit!), Thelma & Louise starred Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as two midwestern friends whose road trip escape from their humdrum lives takes unexpected turns. The film, screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival, earned Oscar nods for its two leads and Scott’s direction, even winning one for the script; it also featured an early supporting role for Brad Pitt, whose smoldering turn led to his rise to the top of the Hollywood A-list. Zimmer’s score reflected the southwestern Americana locations seen onscreen, with Pete Haycock of the Climax Blues Band offering slide guitar throughout. Expanded from a 2011 release on the Kritzerland label, the new Thelma & Louise disc includes a few unreleased alternates and film versions, a concert suite demo from Zimmer’s archive, and “Thunderbird,” the sole score arrangement included on the original soundtrack album. The composer’s usual restoration team assembles this release: producer Stephane Humez, engineer/editor Maxime Marion and author Kaya Savas, whose liner notes feature new interview insights from Zimmer. Dan Goldwasser designs the package artwork, and the soundtrack is limited to 1500 units. (As of this writing, the set ships later this month, but can be purchased as part of the label’s current 20% sitewide sale.)

Varese Sarabande’s CD Club returned last week with a pair of archival reissues from the label’s archive. They start with a reissue of the score to the acclaimed TV miniseries The Thorn Birds, based on Colleen McCullough’s novel. The epic story of a family of ranchers on the Australian outback – and the forbidden, passionate affair between the the family’s only daughter (Rachel Ward) and a local priest (Richard Chamberlain) – became a sensation when it aired in the spring of 1983. Some 59% of American televisions tuned in (second only to the monumental Roots), and the production garnered six Emmys, including trophies for stars Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Kiley and Jean Simmons. Henry Mancini’s score was among the nominees, one of his undisputed TV triumphs that blended romantic intimacy with grandiosity. (His love theme was even turned into a song, “Anywhere the Heart Goes,” with lyrics by Will Jennings.) Varese’s 2CD presentation, originally premiered in 2004, returns to print as a fitting tribute to Mancini’s recent centenary and the passing of Chamberlain in March.

Receiving a new expansion from the label is Patrick Doyle’s score to A Little Princess, the American debut (and second film overall) of Mexican film director Alfonso Cuarón. Adapted from the children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the film tells a whimsical story about a young British girl who endures challenges at a New York boarding school following the news that her father lost his life serving in World War I. Praised for its magical realism and lack of pandering to children – qualities that served Cuarón well in a film adaptation of the third Harry Potter book – the rousing score was a well-loved assignment for Doyle, then most known for collaborations with actor/director Kenneth Branagh. The lengthy album is expanded by 11 minutes’ worth of bonus material, with new liner notes by Daniel Schweiger.

Finally, Intrada revisits one of the most notable reissues of their catalogue as a tribute to the label’s 40th anniversary and the passing of its founder Douglass Fake last year, with a fresh new revisiting of Jerry Goldsmith’s score to First Blood. One of his most respected scores of the ’80s, First Blood adapted David Morrell’s novel about John Rambo, a Vietnam veteran whose mistreatment by law enforcement in a small Washington town unlocks his capabilities as a ruthless Green Beret. Following a trio of Rocky films that elevated him as writer and star (and, for the latter two, director), First Blood offered Sylvester Stallone a second iconic character and franchise – one he reprised in four sequels between 1985 and 2019.

Goldsmith’s bold work was an early release as part of Intrada’s Film Music Treasury series in 1988, resequencing and slightly expanding the original soundtrack pressed on the Regency label at the time of release. But the release was not without technical hindrances: the original Intrada disc utilized 1/4″ two-track masters that, for whatever reason, lacked Dolby encoding tones that would enable engineers to properly calibrate the tapes for playback, offering a more hissy presentation than intended. A 2010 reissue offered a remaster of the label’s album alongside an expanded presentation from the original multitrack scoring masters – but this, too, offered problems when it was determined that the tape machine was slightly off-speed. Now, producer Neil S. Bulk and mastering engineer Mike Matessino have gone back to the source, not only offering the score at correct speed (with a few small bits of deleted material) but rebuilding the original soundtrack, offering the ultimate First Blood listening experience. (A newly designed cover by Stéphane Coëdel utilizes Drew Struzan’s iconic original poster artwork.)

Intrada is also in the final stages of its latest Kickstarter campaign, raising funds to release a new recording of Goldsmith’s score to 1969’s The Chairman, a political thriller starring Gregory Peck. Slated to be conducted by Richard T. Stromberg and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra and released in the fall, the campaign is closing in on its intended goal, with fundraising ending the morning of Friday, May 9. This is your chance to get in on the action if you are so moved!

Each title’s order links and track lists can be read below.

Hans Zimmer, Thelma & Louise (Music from the MGM Motion Picture) (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1663, 2025 – original film released 1991)

1. Going to Mexico
2. J.D.
3. The Hell with Texas – Happy Birthday Lady
4. Picking Up J.D.
5. Oilfields
6. Watching Him Go – Jimmy Pops the Question
7. Ride of the FBI
8. Louise’s Theme
9. Giving Up
10. Getting Out of State
11. Charged with Murder
12. Learning from TV
13. Chase – You’ve Always Been Crazy
14. Thelma & Louise End Titles
15. Thelma & Louise 2000 Concert Suite (Demo)
16. Thelma & Louise Main Title (Film Version)
17. Giving Up (Alternate)
18. Suck My Dick (Film Version)
19. I Got a Knack – Getting Out of State (Film Version)
20. Charged with Murder (Film Version)
21. Thunderbird

Portions of Tracks 1-14 released on Kritzerland KR-2002-03, 2011. Track 21 released on MCA Records MCAD-10239, 1991

Henry Mancini, The Thorn Birds (Original Television Soundtrack – The Deluxe Encore Edition) (originally released as Varese Sarabande 302 066 564 2, 2004 – reissued Varese Sarabande, 2025 – original series broadcast 1983)

Disc 1

1. The Thorn Birds Theme: Main Title
2. Go!
3. Drogheda
4. Young Meggie
5. Ralph, Meggie and Mary
6. Stuie Grows Up
7. Paddy and Fiona
8. Passion Play
9. The Story of The Thorn Birds (2:15)
10. Meggie Grows Up
11. Baby Hal Dies
12. The Rams and the Ewes
13. Parting
14. The Thorn Birds Theme
15. Fire on Drogheda
16. Search for Paddy
17. Father Ralph Returns and Funeral Procession
18. Meggie’s Heartbreak
19. It’s Shearing You’re Hearing
20. Luke and Meggie
21. Marry Me, Meggin
22. Arrival at The Vatican
23. The Announcement

Disc 2

1. Meggie Leaves Drogheda
2. Arrival at Queensland
3. Beginning of the End
4. Welcome to Himmelhock
5. New Kid in Town
6. Matlock Island
7. Beach Walk
8. Forbidden Love
9. Ralph and Meggie
10. Paradise Lost
11. Vacation’s End
12. Meggie Leaves the Himmelhocks
13. Meggie Goes Home
14. Photographs
15. Together
16. Good-bye, Dane
17. Justine Visits Drogheda
18. The Greek Tragedy
19. Bye Bye Dane
20. Loss of a Son
21. Meggie Reveals the Truth
22. Be Happy
23. Ralph Dies
24. End Title
25. Anywhere the Heart Goes

Patrick Doyle, A Little Princess (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – The Deluxe Edition) (Varese Sarabande, 2025 – original film released 1995)

1. Ramayana: A Morning Raga
2. Children Running
3. Cristina Elisa Waltz
4. The Miss Minchin School for Girls
5. Knowing You by Heart
6. Breakfast
7. Letter to Papa
8. Angel Wings
9. False Hope
10. The Trenches
11. Crewe and the Soldier
12. Alone
13. The Attic
14. On Another’s Sorrow
15. The Shawl
16. Tyger Tyger
17. Compassion
18. For the Princess
19. Kindle My Heart
20. The Locket Hunt
21. Midnight Tiptoe
22. I Am a Princess
23. Just Make Believe
24. Touched by an Angel
25. Emilia Elopes
26. The Escape
27. Papa!
28. The Goodbye
29. Traveling to New York/Sara Tells a Story/Sara’s Story (Suite)
30. New York Street Music
31. The School Girls
32. In India/The Gazelle (Suite)
33. More Harp
34. The Attic
35. He’s Not My Son/The Soldier Returns (Suite)

Tracks 1-28 released as Varese Sarabande VSD-5628, 1995. All other tracks previously unreleased

Jerry Goldsmith, First Blood (Complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Intrada INT 7185, 2025 – original film released 1982)

Disc 1: Score presentation

1. Theme from First Blood (Pop Orchestra Version)
2. Homecoming (Film Version)
3. Last Summer
4. Back to Town
5. The Razor (Film Version)
6. No Warmth
7. Hanging On (Film Version)
8. Over the Cliff (Film Version)
9. A Stitch in Time
10. Mountain Hunt (Film Version)
11. First Meal
12. First Blood (Film Version)
13. The Tunnel (Film Version)
14. Escape Route (Film Version)
15. Over the Top
16. My Town (Film Version)
17. No Power/Fireworks
18. It’s a Long Road
19. It’s a Long Road (Theme from First Blood – Vocal)
20. No Power (Discrete Version)
21. Fireworks (Discrete Version)
22. Mission’s Over (Discrete Version)

Disc 2: Original soundtrack album and bonus track

1. It’s a Long Road (Theme from First Blood – Vocal)
2. Escape Route
3. First Blood
4. The Tunnel
5. Hanging On
6. Homecoming
7. Mountain Hunt
8. My Town
9. The Razor
10. Over the Cliff
11. It’s a Long Road (Instrumental)
12. It’s a Long Road (Recording Session Piano/Vocal Demo)

Disc 1 and Disc 2, Track 12 released on Intrada MAF 7111, 2010. Disc 2, Tracks 1-11 released as Regency RY 9505, 1982/Intrada FMT 8001D, 1988