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Barely a week after JAWS emerged from the sea for its 50th anniversary with an expanded soundtrack release from Intrada, La-La Land touched off another tremendous batch of archival scores for the month, including another expanded James Bond title and a deep cut from John Williams.

With expanded or remastered presentations of Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, Moonraker, Octopussy, Licence to Kill, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day already certifying LLL as the home of definitive presentations of Bond soundtracks, there’s another one striking hard: 1965’s Thunderball, the fourth film in the series featuring a returning Sean Connery as Ian Fleming’s thrill-a-minute secret agent. Here, Bond squares off against another agent of the terrorist organization SPECTRE – the eyepatch-sporting Emilio Largo – attempting to stop SPECTRE’s plot to set off a pair of atomic bombs they stole.

If Goldfinger further codified the formula of what makes the Bond films tick, Thunderball filled in even more details, particularly the exotic location shoots (mostly in The Bahamas, with about a quarter of the filming taking place with underwater units) and the fantastical spy tech, notably a functioning jet pack that Bond uses in a key sequence. The film – one of the biggest financial successes in the series – has an unusual place in Bond canon: Fleming based the book on a screenplay by producer Kevin McClory, who was approached to help bring 007 to the big screen before Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman of Eon Productions. (Years of subsequent legal entanglements meant McClory retained certain cinematic rights for decades, resulting in 1981’s Never Say Never Again – not produced by Eon but starring a returning Connery more than a decade after he vacated the role – and a lengthy inability to use SPECTRE or even its shadowy leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld onscreen from the ’70s until the 2015 Bond flick named after the fictional terrorist organization.)

Once again, John Barry was back on the podium to conduct a rousing score, and he and lyricist Don Black delivered a powerful opening title theme, named after the movie and sung with brio by Welsh crooner Tom Jones. (Rumors persist as to how close Sir Tom got to fainting after the soaring high note at the end of the song!) However…it’s since become well-known among Bond fans that Barry initially had a different song in mind. “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, was an slinky descriptor of 007 as a character, named after an Italian journalist’s nickname for Bond. Versions by both Shirley Bassey (who sang the theme to the prior film, Goldfinger) and Dionne Warwick both went unused, though select portions of the score retained the theme tune. (A 1992 compilation of Bond themes and rarities would premiere both versions of the song, and they’re included here as well.) All in all, this set is a perfect tribute to another classic James Bond score: produced, like the others, by Neil S. Bulk, mixed by Chris Malone (almost entirely from three and two-track stereo tapes, save for two cues pulled from the mono film stem and processed into stereo) and mastered by Doug Schwartz. Dan Goldwasser designs the package with a brand-new cover by Jim Titus, and Bond music authority Jon Burlingame pens the liner notes. It’s limited to 5000 copies and will be sold exclusively at La-La Land’s web store for 90 days, after which point it’ll also be available on the official 007 online store.

Bond isn’t the only heavy hitter stepping up to the plate at La-La Land: another John Williams classic has been revisited on CD! In 1977, the Maestro composed three film scores – and you’d be forgiven for not remembering the third, compared to the other two. While Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind made him one of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters (earning an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and five Grammys between both scores), his first offering that year was the suspenseful music to Black Sunday, a taut political thriller directed by John Frankenheimer and based on the novel of the same name by The Silence of the Lambs author Thomas Harris. In it, Robert Shaw plays an agent of Mossad in a race to stop a crazed blimp pilot (Bruce Dern) and a Black September operative (Marthe Keller) from detonating a bomb in the air above the Super Bowl. Featuring stunning footage of actual Goodyear blimps and Super Bowl X (which took place between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Miami’s Orange Bowl in 1976), the film recalled the suspenseful moments of JAWS and Family Plot, two films recently scored by Williams – and he delivered, as always. First released on CD by Film Score Monthly in 2010, this new reissue features a fresh remix and remaster of the score by Williams’ archivist Mike Matessino, sourced from high-resolution transfers of the original, first-generation, 16-track scoring elements. (A revised version of the ending cue, recorded after the main sessions, is sourced from a mono dubbing stem and processed for stereo.) Jeff Bond pens new liner notes in a package designed by Jim Titus; the set is limited to 3000 copies.

Finally, La-La Land has prepped a winning mid-’00s action score from composer Steve Jablonsky. An alumnus of Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions studio who’d composed scores to early ’00s remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror, his work on The Island would be his first time joining forces with music video director-turned-action filmmaker Michael Bay; the pair would collaborate on five films in the Transformers series of blockbusters based on the ’80s toy franchise. The Island (also the screenwriting debut of the late Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who’d write J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek film reboot and its sequel before Kurtzman created an additional four Trek shows in the 2010s and 2020s) starred Ewan MacGregor and Scarlett Johansson as inhabitants of a dystopian colony who, unsurprisingly, discover that all is not what it seems. The score was a perfect calling card for Jablonsky’s sweeping action style, and it sounds better than ever here, with a fully restored and expanded presentation on two CDs alongside more than a dozen bonus tracks. The 2CD set is produced by Stéphane Humez and edited and mastered by Maxime Marion. Kaya Savas pens new liner notes featuring new interviews with Jablonsky; they’re featured in a package designed by Dan Goldwasser. The set tops out at 3000 copies.

Each of these can be ordered from La-La Land Records at the links below and will ship later this month.

John Williams, Black Sunday (Music from the Motion Picture – Remastered Limited Edition) (originally released as Film Score Monthly Vol. 12, No. 19, 2010 – reissued La-La Land Records LLLCD 1664, 2025; original film released 1977)

1. Beirut
2. Commandos Arrive
3. Commando Raid
4. It Was Good/Dahlia Arrives/The Unloading
5. Speed Boat Chase
6. The Telephone Man/The Captain Returns
7. Nurse Dahlia/Kabakov’s Card/The Hypodermic
8. Moshevsky’s Dead
9. The Test
10. Building the Bomb
11. Miami/Dahlia’s Call
12. The Last Night
13. Preparations
14. Passed
15. The Flight Check
16. Airborne/Bomb Passes Stadium
17. Farley’s Dead
18. The Blimp and the Bomb
19. The Take Off
20. Underway
21. Air Chase (Part 1)
22. Air Chase (Parts 2 and 3)/The Blimp Hits
23. The Explosion
24. The End (Theme from Black Sunday)
25. Hotel Lobby (Source)
26. Fight Song No. 1 (Source)
27. Fight Song No. 2 (Source)
28. The End (Alternate Mix)
29. The Explosion (Revised Ending)/End Title (Film Edit)

John Barry, Thunderball (Music from the Motion Picture – 60th Anniversary Expanded Edition) (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1665B, 2025 – original film released 1965)

Disc 1: Score presentation

1. Gun Barrel (From Thunderball)
2. Château Flight (Film Version)
3. Main Title – Thunderball – Tom Jones
4. The Spa
5. The Rack and Sweat Box
6. Double Derval
7. Switching the Body
8. Gassing the Plane
9. The Bomb (Film Version)
10. The Execution Branch
11. Code Name: Thunderball
12. Bond Meets Domino
13. Casino
14. Café Martinique (Film Version)
15. Shark Tank
16. Bond Below Disco Volante (Extended Version)
17. SPECTRE Ring
18. Search for Vulcan
19. Lights Out for Paula
20. Bathing Beauty
21. For King and Country
22. Street Chase and Kiss Kiss Club
23. Death of Fiona
24. The Golden Grotto
25. Underwater Ballet
26. Got the Point
27. Bond with SPECTRE Frogmen
28. The Bombs Revealed
29. Bond is Discovered
30. Caught

Disc 2: Score presentation continued (1-5), additional music (6-12) and original soundtrack album (13-24)

1. Leiter to the Rescue
2. The Underwater Battle Begins
3. Underwater Mayhem
4. Death of Largo
5. When Arrows Meet and End Title
6. Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Dionne Warwick
7. Bond Meets Domino (Take 1)
8. Street Chase (Early Version)
9. Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Alternate Instrumental)
10. Do You Fly Here Often? (Mono Stem)
11. The One That Got Away (Mono Stem)
12. Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Shirley Bassey
13. Main Title – Thunderball – Tom Jones
14. Château Flight 2:31
15. The Spa
16. Switching the Body
17. The Bomb
18. Café Martinique
19. Thunderball
20. Death of Fiona
21. Bond Below Disco Volante
22. Search for Vulcan
23. 007
24. Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Portions of score on Discs 1-2 and Disc 2, Tracks 6 and 12 released on The Best of James Bond (30th Anniversary Collection) – EMI 07777 98560 2 2, 1992
Disc 2, Track 9 released on Capitol/EMI 72435 80589 2 5, 2003
Disc 2, Tracks 13-24 released as United Artists SULP 1110 (U.K.)/UAS 5132 (U.S.), 1965

Steve Jablonsky, The Island (Music from the Motion Picture – 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition) (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1674, 2025 – original film released 2005)

Disc 1: Score presentation

1. The Island Awaits You
2. Missing a Shoe
3. Starkweather Lottery
4. I’m Such a Loser
5. Health Club
6. Cafeteria
7. Nice Tests
8. Going to Work – What If It’s Rigged? – Messing with Foxtrot
9. Lima in Labor/My Chip Fried – Lincoln Discovers a Moth
10. Booze
11. Agnate Ukuleles
12. Home for a Moth – Fight Simulator
13. Stim Bar
14. Good Things Do Happen – Another Lincoln Nightmare
15. You Have a Special Purpose in Life
16. Starkweather’s Demise
17. The Craziest Mess I’ve Ever Seen
18. Censor Chase
19. Sector 6
20. Selling Agnates/Laurent Arrives
21. Security Breach – Briefing Laurent
22. Route 39
23. Eat the Burger, Meet the Cow
24. Helicopters
25. These Are Mail Order
26. Send in the Clones
27. Renovatio

Disc 2: Score presentation continued (1-13) and additional material (14-31)

1. Shootout – On Foot – Train Wheels – Enter Wasps – Wasp Chase
2. The Big R
3. Gandu’s Demise – Rain Scene
4. Lincoln Meets Lincoln – Genetic Memory
5. Tom Sells Out His Clone
6. Worth Every Penny
7. Not Ready to Die
8. Ready to Die, Apparently – Laurent is Fooled
9. This Tongue Thing is Amazing
10. Mass Winnings
11. Busting Some Ass – Rendezvous – Laurent Questions Merrick
12. She Said, “Open the Door” – Better Call Maintenance
13. My Name Is Lincoln
14. Mass Vehicular Carnage
15. Starkweather Lottery (Alternate Version 1)
16. Starkweather Lottery (Alternate Version 2)
17. Health Club (Alternate)
18. Cafeteria (Alternate Version 1)
19. Cafeteria (Alternate Version 2)
20. Nice Tests (Alternate)
21. Good Things Do Happen (Alternate)
22. You Have a Special Purpose in Life (Alternate Ending)
23. Eat the Burger, Meet the Cow (Alternate)
24. These Are Mail Order (Alternate)
25. Send in the Clones (Alternate Ending)
26. Train Wheels (Alternate Version 1)
27. Train Wheels (Alternate Version 2)
28. Wasp Chase (Alternate)
29. Mass Winnings (Alternate Ending)
30. Better Call Maintenance (Alternate Ending)
31. My Name is Lincoln (Alternate Mix)

Portions previously released on Milan M2-36132, 2005