The Friday Five: Off to La-La Land

Exploring one of the best soundtrack labels...

Note: La-La Land are not paying me for this post, though I wouldn't say no if they want to send me the new batch ;)

I try not to pay attention to all the Black Friday hoo-hah, but one event I do wait eagerly for every year is the La-La Land Records Black Friday announcement. This isn’t a super-sale but rather the unveiling of their final titles for the year. For those who don’t know, La-La Land is one of the best labels out there dedicated to soundtrack releases and has released a ton of amazing scores.

Yesterday, they showed their final batch, and it’s an all-timer this year. Jerry Goldsmith’s “The ‘Burbs,” David Arnold’s “Tomorrow Never Dies,” John Williams’ “Amistad,” “Danny Elfman’s “Spider-Man,” and none other than Nino Rota’s legendary “The Godfather.” All are remastered and present greatly expanded presentations from the original soundtrack albums. They all go up for order on November 29th, so I thought I’d review their catalogue and look at what essential albums they already have available.

1. Days of Thunder

The Hans Zimmer score to Tom Cruise’s NASCAR drama is as extravagantly frenzied as the race itself and came right in the middle of his golden ‘90s period. It’s my favourite Zimmer score and just plain fun.

2. Batman: The Animated Series

One of several collections of music from the groundbreaking TV show. A great illustration of just what a wonderful composer Shirley Walker was, plus hints of the depth of the talent pool the show was pulling from - the later sets would expand on this more.

3. Apocalypse Now: The Unused Score

The soundtrack to Francis Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” has been a popular title for decades, with a great mix of songs and Carmine Coppola’s ominous score (which featured none other than Shirley Walker as a synth player and arranger). It also has one of the greatest openings to any album ever, with the cut of The Doors’ ‘The End,’ complete with the swooping helicopter noises. But before Carmine came on board, the score was given to David Shire, who at that point was Coppola’s brother-in-law, having married Talia Coppola, who played Connie in “The Godfather” and Adrian in “Rocky.” Shire’s score is a fascinating experiment in electronic sounds and would have been an exceptional addition had it been kept in the picture.

4. Galaxy Quest

Being that “Galaxy Quest” is a straight parody of “Star Trek,” it’s unsurprising that it was afforded a big orchestral score like the “Trek” movies and shows. In came David Newman - brother of Thomas, son of Alfred, cousin of Randy - who already had a clear pedigree working on comedy scores like “Heathers” and the first two “Bill & Ted” movies. David’s main theme for the film and the in-film TV show is fantastic in its own right, and his score is a perfect backdrop for the film, thrilling at every moment while never being obviously funny.

5. Star Trek - The Motion Picture

Speaking of Gene Roddenberry’s space franchise, Jerry Goldsmith’s “Star Trek - The Motion Picture” is as good as film music gets. The themes are incredible, and the deft way in which Goldsmith weaves them is nothing short of balletic. It’s a flipside to his “Alien” score, both being composed in the same year, with the same sense of mystery but an added degree of majesty and romance Ridley Scott didn’t want in his picture. This edition collects the entire score as heard in the film, the original 1979 soundtrack album, and the original alternate cues for the film from when Goldsmith was having trouble defining it all. Once he got to grips with it, it became nothing less than a masterpiece. Essential.