The Beach Boys, 2012 Remasters / Greatest Hits / Greatest Hits: Fifty Big Ones (Capitol/EMI) The summer gets a little more endless with a new compilation (in two formats) and remasters of nearly all of the band’s ’60s albums. (A full breakdown of those albums is here, and a full review is coming up from Joe today!) The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour (Apple/EMI) The Fab Four’s kooky film is making its Blu-Ray debut in standard and deluxe box formats. Deep Purple, Machine Head: 40th Anniversary Edition (EMI) A five-disc box set devoted to this classic rock LP, featuring various…
Falling In Love Again: Kritzerland Revisits “The Blue Angel,” “Ranchipur” and “The Seven Cities of Gold”
Though Hugo Friedhofer’s name isn’t among the most recognizable in the pantheon of film composers, Kritzerland is determined to change all that! The 1947 Academy Award winner for The Best Years of Our Lives has been fêted by the label over the past couple of years with impressive restorations and reissues of his scores to One-Eyed Jacks, The Adventures of Casanova, The Barbarian and the Geisha and Violent Saturday, while Intrada has also gotten into the act with Two Flags West. The versatile Golden Age composer is saluted today with a 2-CD…
Soundtrack Round-Up: More Kong, Eastwood, Zimmer Highlights from Intrada, La-La Land
If you thought Film Score Monthly’s reissue of the score to King Kong (1976) was as big as it gets for soundtracks lately, allow us to show you the newest releases from Intrada and La-La Land – one of which features the giant ape himself! Ten years after toppling off the World Trade Center to his apparent death, King Kong Lives – also produced by Dino de Laurentiis and directed by John Gullermin – reveals the giant ape is in fact alive, kept under a medically-induced coma while scientists search in vain for another ape…
Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be: Archival Releases Set from Judy Garland, Anthony Newley, Lionel Bart
Now that’s entertainment. Thanks to the efforts of some dedicated reissue specialists in the U.K., some legendary artists – one performer (the performer?), one performing songwriter, and one songwriter – are soon receiving deluxe sets truly capturing an era gone by. On October 9, Sepia Records will release The Genius of Lionel Bart, a 3-CD set authorized by the Lionel Bart Foundation consisting of hits, misses and everything in between from the Oliver! creator (including unreleased material intended for the James Bond film Thunderball and much, much more!). On November 5, Stage…
Special EPCOT 30th Anniversary Reissue Theory: “The Official Album of Walt Disney World – EPCOT Center”
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Today, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Epcot at Walt Disney World with a look back at its first and only Official Album! “There’s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow/Shining at the end of every day/There’s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow/Just a dream away…” Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman may have written those words, but Walt Disney lived them. Less than two months before his untimely death in late 1966, Walt…
Nobody Does It Better: James Bond Turns 50, Capitol Celebrates with New CD Anthology
When Sean Connery first uttered the immortal words “Bond…James Bond” fifty years ago in the film Dr. No, the template for the long-running movie series was already set. That soon-to-be-signature phrase was joined in the film by a piece of music that would quickly rival those three words for familiarity. John Barry’s arrangement of “The James Bond Theme” not only helped cement the silver screen icon of 007 but virtually became a genre unto itself, that of spy music. The spy film craze may have hit its peak in the swinging sixties,…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 25
Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb, In Session (Concord) The legendary songwriter and equally legendary country superstar join forces for two 1988 television broadcasts, joined together on one DVD and accompanied by a CD of the programs’ musical selections! Campbell’s only recording of Webb’s “Sunshower” can be found here, among other gems. For those of you anticipating the arrival of In Session today, it appears that this title has been delayed until October 9! You can read more about it here. Now, onto some titles actually arriving in stores today… Aretha Franklin, Love All…
Maybe Our Luck Has Changed: “Kong” Remake is Latest Deluxe Title from FSM
It all began with a lie – a very impressive, very big one. On November 30, 1975, New York Times readers were treated to a full-color advertisement for producer Dino de Laurentiis’ latest film project: a modern retelling of King Kong. “One year from today, Paramount Pictures and Dino de Laurentiis will bring to you the most exciting original motion picture event of all time,” trumpeted the ad copy, blissfully ignorant of the true original, stop-motion-animated ape that ascended the Empire State Building to the thrill of moviegoers in 1933. Nevertheless, the multimillion-dollar production,…
The Magnificent Bernstein: “The Rat Race” Premieres on CD
Elmer Bernstein’s back! Kritzerland celebrated its landmark 100th release last year with the world premiere of Bernstein’s complete soundtrack to Summer and Smoke, and in 2012, his score to Walt Disney Productions’ The Black Cauldron has seen release from Intrada alongside a reissue of Amazing Grace and Chuck from Varese Sarabande. Now, Kritzerland is returning with another Bernstein bonanza, his 1960 score to the drama The Rat Race, in a limited edition of 1,200 units. Garson Kanin (Born Yesterday, Adam’s Rib) adapted his own 1949 Broadway play for director Robert Mulligan’s film…
From Doris Day to David Peel: Real Gone Slate Includes Rare Apple Records Album, Mathis at Mercury, Como Christmas and More!
The holiday season must be upon us, for Real Gone Music has announced its Christmas-themed offerings – but that’s not all! The enterprising label has two offerings with Apple Records ties (one actually from the Apple catalogue!), the complete singles of a soul legend, a counterculture classic, a distinctly non-counterculture classic, and well…just read on about the rest! First up, four more of Johnny Mathis’ long-unavailable Mercury Records LPs are arriving on CD for the first time! (Read about the first batch and Mathis’ history with the label here!) On November 6,…
Weekend Wround-Up: Barbra Streisand Joined by Bennett, Wonder, Krall on DVD and BD; Pixar Compiles More “Favorites”
On February 11, 2011, Barbra Streisand joined some illustrious company, including Bono, Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin and her “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” duet partner, Neil Diamond. That was the evening Streisand was recognized as the MusiCares Person of the Year, following in the footsteps of those above-named artists. Streisand was a natural candidate for the honor, as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences annually bestows it upon an artist with significant artistic achievement in music and commitment to philanthropy. Part of the MusiCares tradition finds that person being celebrated…
They Will Rock You: Queen Musical Cast Recording to Be Expanded for 10th Anniversary
For all their theatricality, it was only recently that Queen were commemorated with a full-blown musical. Now, in honor of the tenth anniversary of that endeavor, We Will Rock You, a newly-remastered and expanded edition of the original cast recording is due from Island in the United Kingdom. Conceived by Queen and Ben Elton (a onetime stand-up comedian and television writer in the U.K.), We Will Rock You details the trials of youth in a dystopic future who rebel against rigid societal norms and unleash the power of – you guessed it! – the…
Monday at the Movies: Mancini, Williams, Newman and Jones Revisited, Plus Disney Expands “Cinderella” in “Lost Chords” Series
It’s not quite time yet for the long goodbye to new announcements for 2012, but for Quartet Records, it is time for The Long Goodbye. John Williams’ score to Robert Altman’s 1973 film leads off another group of essential new buys for soundtrack fans and collectors. Quartet is pairing The Long Goodbye with a late-period Henry Mancini classic, the score to Blake Edwards’ 1988 comedy-western Sunset. But that’s not all. Kritzerland has a true “wow” release with a gloriously restored stereo premiere soundtrack to Alfred Newman’s score for the 1951 epic David…
In Case You Missed It: Rhino U.K. Goes the Distance for Vangelis
At this summer’s Olympic Games in London, if there was going to be any film score coming through the speakers, it would be the theme to Chariots of Fire. Vangelis’ synthesizer-based piece has resounded in the popular consciousness for more than 30 years. Running along a beach or looking for energy to complete a task? That piano riff – which helped the film win one of four Academy Awards and topped the Billboard charts for a week in 1982 – will likely play in your head until you finish the task. Inspired by the…
Soundtrack Corner: Intrada Offers More “Galactica,” La-La Land’s “Friday the 13th” Available on Its Own
This week and next see a trio of great film and television scores coming to CD from Intrada and La-La Land Records. First up, it’s the long-anticipated third volume of Stu Phillips’ music to Battlestar Galactica from Intrada. While the previous two volumes were devoted to only three episodes of the series in total, subsequent installments of BSG largely eschewed new scores for previously-recorded cues tracked into the soundtrack. But Phillips was on hand to compose music for seven more BSG episodes, as well as one for the short-lived Galactica: 1980 spin-off series (essentially a scaled-down sequel…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 4
Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé, Barcelona: Deluxe Edition (Island U.K.) The Queen frontman’s final solo effort – an ambitious collaboration with a Spanish opera legend – has been given new life on CD, with its original synth instrumentation fully fleshed out by an orchestra. A super deluxe box includes scores of audiovisual extras, and the newly-orchestrated album is also available on vinyl. Judas Priest, Screaming for Vengeance: Special 30th Anniversary Edition (Columbia/Legacy) A special CD/DVD edition of this classic metal album includes studio and live bonus tracks (including the original bonus tracks from the 2001 reissue)…
Soundtrack Round-Up: FSM “Heat”s Up, Intrada Uncovers More Disney, La-La Land is Super, Kritzerland Is Forever Young
You know it’s a big week for soundtracks when multiple specialty labels announce projects in the same week; currently, we have six such titles on the horizon from four labels! First off, Film Score Monthly has prepped their third-to-last soundtrack set, and it’s an oft-requested killer: an expanded edition of John Barry’s score to Body Heat (1981). A neo-noir classic, Body Heat – the directorial debut of legendary screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Bodyguard) – stars William Hurt and new starlet Kathleen Turner in a highly eroticized tale of…
As the Globe Turns: Universal Adds Classic, Possibly Rare, Soundtrack Material to Blu-Ray Box Set
In 1912, an ex-dry goods merchant and owner of the nascent Independent Moving Pictures (IMP) studio stood in a New York office with five other movie moguls and made history. These six men, organized by IMP founder Carl Laemmle, were keen to merge their businesses with an eye toward the growing big business of moviemaking. As they struggled for a title for their venture, Laemmle allegedly saw a wagon zip by on the street below with a grandiose name: “Universal Pipe Fitters.” Turning back to the window, he announced the venture would…
Golden Age Noir: Miklos Rózsa Score to “Strange Love” Premieres On CD
Had Miklós Rózsa only composed the Academy Award-winning score to 1959’s epic Ben-Hur, his place in the cinema pantheon would likely have been assured. But Ben-Hur was just one of three Rózsa scores to win Oscars in a career that spanned from 1937’s Knight Without Armour through 1982’s Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid. Rózsa, who also maintained a career as a composer of concert works, often employed a rich, sweeping orchestral style, and though he famously crafted “big” scores, he was also an important film noir composer, with films such as Billy…
These Are the Voyages: Complete Box Set of “Star Trek” Television Music Planned
Until about a year before The Second Disc started, it seemed likelier to invent a warp drive than to get a decent reissue series of music from the Star Trek universe. All that changed in 2009, when Film Score Monthly released an remastered and expanded edition of James Horner’s iconic soundtrack to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Over the next three years, the floodgates opened. All six of Paramount’s films featuring the original television cast (for those keeping track, that’s Jerry Goldsmith’s The Motion Picture (1979), Horner’s The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock (1984),…
Turn You “Inside Out”: Omnivore to Premiere “Athens, GA” Soundtrack on CD
They called it “the Liverpool of the South,” and for good reason. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Athens, GA became an overnight hotbed for some of the quirkiest rock and roll music in the country. The creation of local hangout The 40 Watt Club, a bustling scene of professionals who were as much fans as they were musicians and some huge would-be world conquerors and local heroes like The B-52’s, Pylon, Love Tractor and R.E.M. all made the Athens scene a killer destination alongside the Seattle grunge movement of the…
The Baja Marimbas Get a “New Deal” with “Lazy Days” and “Junior High School”
There’s been a lot of talk around these parts about A&M Records’ 50th anniversary celebration, and why not? The label founded by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss virtually defined the sound of AM radio in the 1960s before embracing cutting-edge new wave , rock and R&B sounds in the ensuing decades. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When one thinks of the A&M Sound, however, those bright and breezy sixties pop songs just might be the defining style. With the phenomenal success of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass paving…
The Man on Lincoln’s Nose: Intrada Expands Hitchcock Classic on CD
What’s that sound? Is that…a plane buzzing low overhead? Not this time: it’s the sound of Bernard Herrmann’s classic score to Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, the benefactor of a beautiful new expansion by Intrada! The 1959 thriller, written by Ernest Lehman as “the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures,” stars Cary Grant as an ad exec entangled in an incredible espionage plot, full of misdirection, mistaken identity, beauty (courtesy of Eva Marie Saint as the femme fatale), a violent biplane and a whiz-bang climax along Mount Rushmore. Hitchcock’s by-now traditional flourishes…
In Memoriam: Marvin Hamlisch (1944-2012)
I only met Marvin Hamlisch once. It was late in September 2010, on the campus of Los Angeles’ UCLA, where the esteemed composer had been working on a revised production of his 1979 musical They’re Playing Our Song. He and I were both on our cell phones in the lobby a few minutes before the show was about to start. As if by serendipity, we hung up at the same time. As we both were headed back into the auditorium, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to extend my hand to one of…
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
September 25, 2026
