With the rights to the Indiana Jones series now part of The Walt Disney Company's portfolio, the Mouse House has planned several reissues of the five-film series' iconic scores on CD and vinyl.
Harrison Ford took his last ride as the cinematic archaeologist last summer, in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fourth and final sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Regardless of audiences' opinion on those sequels, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's collaboration is one of each filmmaker's most enduring. (The Star Wars mogul co-created the character and earned story credit on the first four films, while the JAWS director helmed the four films between 1981 and 2008; both men were executive producers on the final film.) A good deal of that, of course, is thanks to longtime collaborator John Williams, who devised an instantly hummable march for the character and composed the scores to every film in the series. For his work, four of the films earned Oscar nominations for Best Original Score, including Dial of Destiny - the composer's 54th career nomination, extending his run as the most Oscar-nominated living person (and second only to Walt Disney himself).
This spring, Spielberg and Lucas' second and third films in the series, 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, celebrate their 40th and 35th anniversaries, respectively. To celebrate, Walt Disney Records (who acquired the Lucasfilm-owned series' soundtrack rights from Concord several years ago) will release all four of Williams' original scores - 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple, Crusade and 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - for the first time on 180-gram double vinyl, mirroring three expanded presentations of the scores released in 2008 and overseen by producer/Spielberg documentarian Laurent Bouzereau. (The presentation of Crystal Skull will mirror the original album on CD.) While none of the score presentations are complete, and could frankly use the kind of sonic and repertoire upgrade that a producer like longtime Williams restorer Mike Matessino would give the scores, this is a chance for vinyl fans to have Williams' scores to the original Jones series in expanded form (Concord previously released a double LP of Raiders in 2017, before their rights expired).
CD fans and completists have a product of their own to covet from Disney as well. Indiana Jones: The Complete CD Collection is a 5CD box that includes the expanded Concord presentations of Williams' scores to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade, plus the original soundtrack albums to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny - all in jewel cases (Concord's releases were in digipaks) with a slipcase. Now - a few things are worth noting here. First, Concord's 2008 box included the first four CDs in this set plus a bonus disc of additional cues from the first three films; none of that material is replicated here. Second, the $149.99 price tag is a bit much for standard discs and packaging. Third, the oddest previous selling point to the set - the fact that it was, for a time, the cheapest way to pick up a new copy of the Dial of Destiny album - has since been nullified. (Long story short: Disney only ever made the disc available through their Disney Music Emporium, and never specified that the CD was a "limited edition" until stock had allegedly sold through and the product listing disappeared. It reappeared at random several times through the summer and fall of last year with no advance notice, and now appears to be back permanently, although unsearchable from the store itself.)
All in all, though, if you're in the market for the music to the man with the hat, you've got plenty of options. The four vinyl scores are available below from The Sound of Vinyl (Raiders has a release date of June 28, while the others are available now), and the CD box is available now from Disney Music Emporium.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (originally released as Concord CRE-31002-02, 2008 - reissued Walt Disney Records, 2024; original film released 1981)
LP 1
- In the Jungle
- The Idol Temple
- Escape from the Temple
- Flight from Peru
- Washington Men/Indy's Home
- A Thought for Marion/To Nepal
- The Medallion
- Flight to Cairo
- The Basket Game
- Bad Dates
- The Map Room: Dawn
- Reunion in the Tent/Searching for the Well
- The Well of the Souls
LP 2
- Indy Rides the Statue
- The Fist Fight/The Flying Wing
- Desert Chase
- Marion's Theme
- The German Sub/Ride to the Nazi Hideout
- Indy Follows the Ark
- The Miracle of the Ark
- Washington Ending/Raiders March
LP 1, Tracks 4, 6 (edit), 9 (edit), 11 and 13 (edit) and LP 2, Tracks 3-4, 7 and 8 (edit) released as Columbia JS 37373, 1981
LP 1, Tracks 1-4, 6-9 and 11-12 and LP 2, Tracks 2-8 released as DCC Compact Classics DZS-090, 1995
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (originally released as Concord CRE-31003-02, 2008 - reissued Walt Disney Records, 2024; original film released 1984)
LP 1
- Anything Goes (sung by Kate Capshaw)
- Indy Negotiates
- The Nightclub Brawl
- Fast Streets of Shanghai
- Map/Out of Fuel
- Slalom on Mt. Humol
- Short Round's Theme
- The Scroll/To Pankot Palace
- Nocturnal Activities
- Bug Tunnel and Death Trap
- Approaching the Stones
LP 2
- Children in Chains
- The Temple of Doom
- Short Round Escapes
- Saving Willie
- Slave Children's Crusade
- Short Round Helps
- The Mine Car Chase
- Water!
- The Sword Trick
- The Broken Bridge/British Relief
- End Credits
LP 1, Tracks 1, 4, 6-7 and 9-10 and LP 2, Tracks 1-2, 5, 7 and 11 released as Polydor 821 592-1 Y1, 1984
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (originally released as Concord CRE-31004-02, 2008 - reissued Walt Disney Records, 2024; original film released 1989)
LP 1
- Indy's Very First Adventure
- The Boat Scene
- X Marks the Spot
- Ah, Rats!!!
- Escape from Venice
- Journey to Austria
- Father and Son Reunited
- The Austrian Way
- Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra
- Alarm!
- No Ticket
LP 2
- Keeping Up with the Joneses
- Brother of the Cruciform Sword
- On the Tank
- Belly of the Steel Beast
- The Canyon of the Crescent Moon
- The Penitent Man Will Pass
- The Keeper of the Grail
- Finale and End Credits
LP 1, Tracks 1 (edit), 3-5, 9 and 11 and LP 2, Tracks 1-2 and 4-8 released as Warner Bros. 25883, 1989
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (originally released as Concord CRE-30825-02, 2008 - reissued Walt Disney Records, 2024; original film released 2008)
LP 1
- Raiders March
- Call of the Crystal
- The Adventures of Mutt
- Irina's Theme
- The Snake Pit
- The Spell of the Skull
- The Journey to Akator
- A Whirl Through Academe
- "Return"
- The Jungle Chase
LP 2
- Orellana's Cradle
- Grave Robbers
- Hidden Treasures and The City of Gold
- Secret Doors and Scorpions
- Oxley's Dilemma
- Ants!
- Temple Ruins and The Secret Revealed
- The Departure
- Finale
Indiana Jones: The Complete CD Collection (Walt Disney Records, 2024)
Disc 1: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (same contents as above)
Disc 2: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (same contents as above)
Disc 3: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (same contents as above)
Disc 4: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (same contents as above)
Disc 5: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (originally released as Walt Disney Records D0042589-02, 2023)
- Prologue to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- Helena's Theme
- Germany, 1944
- To Morocco
- Voller Returns
- Auction At Hotel L'Atlantique
- Tuk Tuk in Tangiers
- To Athens
- Perils of the Deep
- Water Ballet
- Polybius Cipher
- The Grafikos
- Archimedes' Tomb
- The Airport
- Battle of Syracuse
- Centuries Join Hands
- New York, 1969
- Helena's Theme (for Violin and Orchestra - feat. Anne-Sophie Mutter)
JG says
“Disney only ever made the disc available through their Disney Music Emporium, and never specified that the CD was a "limited edition" until stock had allegedly sold through and the product listing disappeared. It reappeared at random several times through the summer and fall of last year with no advance notice, and now appears to be back permanently, although unsearchable from the store itself.”
Jee. Sus. Christ.
*is promptly slapped in the face by the ghost of Sean Connery*
Mike Duquette says
"That's for blasphemy!" 😂
Although this situation was as close to blasphemy as it got. Joe and I had a lot of frantic texts back and forth in the times when the soundtrack was available, and I remember even when I successfully ordered it (sometime in August?) the ship date kept moving and moving until close to October!
Paul says
I wonder why we haven’t seen them released in the US yet.
RODGER says
Probably some sort of copyright/licensing BS, but I never rule out idiot decision makers at the music company in the US.
Gene says
I grabbed the cd and the vinyl the Dial Of Destiny soundtrack right after I saw the film early in July last year. I was surprised that the cd sold out shortly after that. The cd arrived on time in August. But I got weekly emails telling me that the vinyl had been pushed back another week until it FINALLY showed up last October. I feel sorry for the guys who paid hundreds for the soundtrack cd on eBay. One went for well north of $700. Now you can get it for about $20. I think that Disney under estimated the demand for the soundtrack on cd, obviously.
One shout out for Disney customer service. My Complete Soundtrack cd set had the Temple Of Doom cd in the Raiders case. After an email to Disney saying that all I needed was the correct disc, they had me send the entire thing back and in less than a week back and forth, I had a fresh set with the correct disc.
Thank you for the heads up on these vinyl issues. As always, The Second Disc is on top of things and gives me yet another reason to spend $$$. 🙂