Spring is in the air, making now the perfect time to check out some killer recent archival soundtracks released by our friends at La-La Land Records, Intrada, Quartet and Varese Sarabande – plus a great recent score with some deep musical history that felt worth sharing, too. La-La Land shone brightly with new releases in March and April, most notably their latest restoration of a James Bond film score! This time, it’s John Barry’s music to Diamonds Are Forever, the seventh film in the long-running spy series based on Ian Fleming’s novels. For…
Soundtrack Watch: Varese, La-La Land, Quartet Wrap Up the Year with Goldsmith, Bernstein, Mancini, Zimmer and More
The last calendar page of the year (and, in this case, even the first!) means a bounty of soundtrack reissues! La-La Land Records, Varese Sarabande and Quartet have all recently planned some exciting expansions for your favorite score collector. La-La Land may have claimed that they were “serving coal” this year, with a lot of their typically big end-of-year titles stuck in approval delays – but they still prepared two late-period favorites from two classic film composers (plus an exciting vinyl title for James Bond fans) before kicking off January with two…
Soundtrack Watch: La-La Land Strikes with ‘Thunderball,’ Williams and More
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…
Soundtrack Watch: La-La Land, Intrada, Varese Heat Up July with Bond and More
No matter the season, it seems like archival film scores are always in style! The last few weeks have seen some killer announcements from La-La Land, Varese Sarabande and Intrada – offering expansions of some action/adventure scores from the ’80s, ’90s and ’00s, plus a terrific new soundtrack reissue of one of the best scores in the James Bond series. La-La Land Records promised a “remastered edition” of John Barry’s score to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in a recent Variety piece – and it’s now been confirmed that the label has prepped a…
Soundtrack Watch: Bond Back on Vinyl At La-La Land, Intrada Unsheathes Kamen’s ‘Three Musketeers’
A new month kicks off with a bonanza of soundtrack reissues from La-La Land and Intrada – including more planned activity from the world of James Bond. La-La Land has made three archival titles available for sale from yesterday (June 1). First is a vinyl edition of their remastered CD of John Barry’s score to Goldfinger. The third James Bond film (and the second to be scored by the British composer/arranger) scored big with the series’ first-ever title theme, co-written by Barry, Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse and sung with paint-peeling gusto by…
Quartet’s First Film Music Release of 2025 is Barry, Barry Good
As if the feast of John Barry expanded film scores, from James Bond to Out of Africa, hasn’t been exciting enough, Quartet Records kicked off the new year with the announcement of more rarities from the celebrated British composer. The label has issued The Polydor Years, a 3CD collection that brings together re-recordings of classic themes, unique arrangements and original music released on albums, singles and compilations in the mid-’70s in Europe. 1972’s The Concert John Barry, 1974’s Play It Again and 1976’s unique Americans have been exceedingly rare to come by on CD, released only in…
Soundtrack Watch: Intrada’s Last 2024 Score Reissues Include ‘Out of Africa,’ ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ and More
If the holidays are a time to release the biggest archival film scores on CD, Intrada certainly got the memo! Among their last reissues of 2024 include an expanded version of an Oscar winner by John Barry, a premiere release of a Maurice Jarre favorite, a reissue of a stalwart album by Jerry Goldsmith and a new recording of a beloved work from Dimitri Tiomkin – plus a soundtrack to a documentary on one of the better-known songwriters/scorers of the ’70s. While Barry certainly gets accolades for his work with the James…
Soundtrack Watch: Varese and La-La Land Bow Their Final Score Surprises, from Blade to Bond
When La-La Land Records announced a bunch of big archival score titles for the beginning of November instead of their usual calendar-closing Black Friday announcement, it was safe to assume there were no more surprises coming from the label this year. Once again, that turned out to be quite untrue: in a reprise of last year’s Christmas Day shocker and a follow-up to their reissue of Goldfinger in October, the label has announced two more titles for 2024: a pair of lovingly-restored John Barry scores to James Bond films The Man with the…
Soundtrack Watch: James Bond Back in Action At La-La Land, Varese Plots ‘Matrix’ and ‘RoboCop’ Vinyl
Following our round-up of soundtrack reissues from September, here’s a look at all the great CD and vinyl expansions and re-releases film score fans can expect from this month – and even a few in the next few weeks. From James Bond to RoboCop, there’s something here for just about anyone. Everything La-La Land Records touches turns to excitement! After the surprise expansions of Bond flicks Live and Let Die and Octopussy that kicked off the calendar year, the label has stuck again with a special 60th anniversary reissue of the soundtrack to the series’…
Soundtrack Watch: September Score Releases Abound at La-La Land, Intrada and More
The end of the year always brings a deluge of news and releases for archival film score fans. While October is nearly over and has had its share of killer announcements, we’d first like to shine a light on some of the biggest titles released back in September! La-La Land had a busy ninth month of the year, featuring a lot of other long-running partnerships and favorites from the label discography. First, there’s the seventh and final release in the label’s Star Trek: The Original Series – The 1701 Collection product line. Here, all…
Ace Round-Up: Label Celebrates John Barry, Jackie DeShannon, Thom Bell, Paul Williams, Holland-Dozier-Holland
Today, we’re rounding up five releases from Ace Records, all of which were released within the past few months by the U.K. label. Ace has followed up its 2022 collection dedicated to the oeuvre of composer John Barry, The More Things Change: Film TV, and Studio Work 1968-1972, with a new volume of the film maestro’s works. Something’s Up! Film, TV, and Studio Work 1964-1967 (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) hardly plays like a collection of runners-up, however. Barry crafted so much indelible music – throughout his lifetime, but…
The Second Disc’s Guide to Record Store Day 2024: Our Essential Picks
Tomorrow, Record Store Day is once again upon us! It’s that time of year where music lovers and vinyl flippers get together at their favorite physical music retailers and wait in line to snag some treasured albums – almost all of which are pressed on vinyl instead of CD (or, you know, sold on secondary marketplaces for above their retail value). This year, the list tops out at over 350 titles, so there’s very nearly something for everybody. It wasn’t easy to narrow our choices down to around 20 titles, but here…
All-Time High: La-La Land Surprise Expands a Pair of James Bond Scores
Having delivered a typically stunning last batch of archival film score reissues last November, La-La Land Records is wasting no time at all kicking off 2024 with a bang. On Christmas Eve, they surprise-announced two pre-orders of expanded editions of soundtracks to two James Bond films from the ’70s and ’80s. La-La Land has long been the home of definitive presentations of 007 on CD, having licensed deluxe 2CD sets of three scores fan favorite composer David Arnold composed for Pierce Brosnan’s late ’90s/early ’00s tenure as Ian Fleming’s daredevil secret agent…
This Way, Mary: Quartet Expands John Barry’s “Mary, Queen of Scots”
Today, we’re continuing our ongoing look at a recent crop of soundtrack releases! The life of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587) has proved ample fodder for filmmakers over the years, from 1936’s Mary of Scotland with Katharine Hepburn to 2018’s Mary, Queen of Scots with Saoirse Ronan. Mary was just six days old when her father, James V of Scotland, died and she inherited his throne. She married Francis, the Dauphin of France in 1558, becoming queen consort of France. When she returned to Scotland as a widow in August 1561 in…
The Year In Review: The 2022 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z – Part One
Happy 2023! Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc’s 13th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! A lot has happened in the last twelve months, but as we look to a new year with optimism and a hopeful spirit, we recognize the many roles music has played in our lives. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2022’s cream of the catalogue music crop – those exemplary reissues and box sets, big and small, that proved to be truly outstanding for music lovers worldwide. Despite the many delays caused by…
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An Orchestral James Bond Collection Finally Gets Its Shot
James Bond has been a suave secret agent on screen for 60 years – so an official musical companion getting delayed several years is nothing, right? Bond 25, an orchestral survey of the pop themes that have accompanied every picture based on Ian Fleming’s Agent 007, is finally heading to stores this Friday, September 23, after a delay just slightly longer than the release of the most recent Bond film, 2021’s No Time to Die, the fifth and final outing for Daniel Craig in the lead role. (Originally planned for a 2019…
The Weekend Stream: September 17, 2022
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to discover! This time out we’ve got Motown rarities, a couple of albums with comic book roots, early music from future legends, and more! Roger Miller, Roger Miller (RCA/Camden/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Legacy has resuscitated this 1964 compilation of early sides from singer-songwriter Roger Miller (produced in Nashville by Chet Atkins). The self-titled album was originally released on RCA’s budget Camden imprint in the…
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In Memoriam: Monty Norman (1928-2022)
Every songwriter dreams of that one hit that catches on with audiences of every size and shape. If you’re lucky, you might write a few that just never leave the popular consciousness. But even just one that’s big enough can really make magic – and it’s quite easy to argue they don’t get much bigger than the one well-known theme by Monty Norman, the British composer who died Monday at the age of 94. When you hear it – slinky chords, bold brass hits and a razor-sharp guitar lick – it won’t…
Hooray for Hollywood: New Box Set Celebrates 100 Years of The Hollywood Bowl with Sinatra, Bernstein, Doors, Newman, Dudamel, More
2022 marks 100 years of The Hollywood Bowl. The famous amphitheater nestled in the Hollywood hills has hosted luminaries of every genre of music from classical to rock in its instantly familiar bandshell (actually two bandshells, as the first one from 1929 was demolished in 2003 and replaced with a larger model). The Bowl has been featured in movies including the original A Star Is Born, Double Indemnity, Xanadu, and Beaches and cartoons starring Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, and The Pink Panther. Now, its resident orchestra – the prestigious L.A. Philharmonic…
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Diamonds Are Forever: Ace Collects Prime John Barry on “The More Things Change”
Ready When You Are, J.B.! John Barry (1933-2011) made his debut as a solo artist for CBS Records with the 1970 album subtitled “John Barry Plays His Great Movie Hits.” The composer and former leader of The John Barry Seven had long been associated with CBS, with the label having released the original cast recording of his West End musical Passion Flower Hotel; soundtrack albums to such films as The Ipcress File, The Chase, The Quiller Memorandum, and The Lion in Winter (for which Barry won an Academy Award); and numerous singles…
John Barry’s Soundtrack to “Zulu” Gets Expanded Presentation from Quartet
John Barry’s score to director Cy Endfield’s 1964 film Zulu has been released on CD numerous times in the past, but Quartet Records can stake claim to the definitive version. The label’s new mono/stereo expanded edition, released late in 2021, makes a vivid case for the album’s significance in Barry’s oeuvre. With only four years of film scoring behind him – including 1963’s From Russia with Love, his first full score for the James Bond series of movies – Barry had already evinced a remarkable talent for the art. With Zulu, he…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 8
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Various Artists, The Best of Bond…James Bond (UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / uDiscoverMusic (gold) The Best of Bond…James Bond is released on vinyl today (the CD arrived two weeks ago). The compilation offers a stellar 25-track overview of the pop themes that scored nearly all of the films based on Ian Fleming’s famed British secret agent. There are 14 U.K. Top 10 hits and two Academy Award winners herein – altogether, a formidable, half-century-plus musical portrait of one of cinema’s most popular characters….
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Soundtrack Watch: Everybody’s Talkin’ About Quartet’s Score Reissues
As we approach the end of 2020, soundtrack labels are working overtime to put out some great archival score presentations. Not to be ignored this time of year is an impressive line-up from European label Quartet Records: last week they announced three incredible expanded releases and a new re-recording. Additionally, they recently issued another two expanded releases that are absolutely worth fans’ time. Those recent releases are a pair of acclaimed scores from 1990: Jerry Goldsmith’s work on Total Recall, and Maurice Jarre’s soundtrack to the thriller Jacob’s Ladder. Total Recall found…
Release Round-Up: Week of December 11
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Neil Young, After the Gold Rush: 50th Anniversary Edition (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 50th Anniversary Edition of Neil Young’s classic album features new art based on Gary Burden’s original album cover design. The CD is out today while the vinyl edition will be released in March, 2021 and presented in a box set with the LP and a bonus 7″ single in a newly designed picture sleeve. This set includes two different versions of the After the Gold Rush outtake “Wonderin’.” …
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Going, Going, Gone: Kritzerland Premieres John Barry and Alan Jay Lerner’s “Lolita, My Love” on CD, Reissues Ben Bagley’s “Irving Berlin Revisited”
Kritzerland has just announced two new titles today! A musical version of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel Lolita hardly seemed like typical fare for the Broadway stage. Yet Alan Jay Lerner – lyricist-librettist of My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Paint Your Wagon – envisioned just that. Lolita had already been adapted by Nabokov himself for director Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film starring Sue Lyon, James Mason, Shelley Winters, and a scene-stealing Peter Sellers, but the author gave his blessing to Lerner’s ambitious undertaking. “Mr. Lerner is most talented, and an excellent classicist,” he commented. …
