Intrada Draws “First Blood”

Not to be outdone by Varese Sarabande’s batch of soundtracks from yesterday or La La Land’s forthcoming Black Friday announcement, Intrada has made two more catalogue soundtracks available for order.

While Intrada has become a power player in the catalogue soundtrack world in the past decade, the label has actually been around for 25 years. Their first significant release was the premiere CD edition of First Blood, the Jerry Goldsmith score to the iconic Sylvester Stallone film. (It was given a very small LP release in the U.S. in 1982 as Regency LP RY 9505; that pressing had one track less than the Intrada version.) While Varese Sarabande later released Intrada’s program on its own, both pressings were plagued by inferior sound (owing to noise reduction, to compensate for incorrect encoding of the master tapes).

Now, Intrada goes back to the start – using the original 1/2″, three-track session elements recorded by The National Philharmonic Orchestra in London – to create the definitive First Blood package, one that John Rambo himself couldn’t beat. The first disc holds the complete original score as heard in the film, including not only both familiar versions of the closing song “It’s a Long Road” (an orchestral version and the pop version sung by Dan Hill) but a newly-discovered “pop instrumental” also commissioned for the film but not used. The second disc features the original LP presentation, remastered and expanded with a demo of “It’s a Long Road,” the fanfare for the logo of the film’s distributor Carolco and an ultra-rare arrangement of the First Blood theme composed by Goldsmith for a special trailer released in 1984, in anticipation of Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985).

The set is topped off with liner notes by Intrada head Douglass Fake on the making of both the score and the label that has a rich history with not only this music but all great film music. Best of all, it’s part of the label’s MAF series of unlimited editions, so there’ll be plenty to go around.

Also released today is the premiere issue of Terry Plumeri’s score to the 1997 film Black Sea Raid as an Intrada Signature Edition limited to 1,000 copies. This is the label’s third to last batch of soundtrack titles for 2010; five more sets will be made available on December 6 and 20 – and one of them is a two-disc set. Check the track lists for First Blood and Black Sea Raid after the jump!

Jerry Goldsmith, First Blood: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Intrada MAF 7111, 2010 – original film released 1982)

Disc 1: Complete Original Soundtrack

1. Theme from “First Blood” (Pop Orchestra Version)
2. Home Coming
3. My Town
4. Under Arrest
5. The Razor
6. A Head Start
7. Hanging On
8. Over the Cliff
9. A Stitch in Time
10. Mountain Hunt
11. No Truce
12. First Blood
13. The Tunnel
14. Escape Route
15. The Truck
16. No Power/Night Attack
17. Hide and Seek
18. It’s a Long Road (Instrumental)
19. It’s a Long Road (Theme from “First Blood”) (Vocal) – Dan Hill

All tracks on this disc previously unreleased except Track 16, previously released on Intrada FMT 8001D, 1988 and Tracks 18-19, released as a single in various countries ex-U.S.

Disc 2: Original Soundtrack LP and bonus material

1. It’s a Long Road (Theme from “First Blood”) (Vocal) – Dan Hill
   
2. Escape Route
3. First Blood
4. The Tunnel
5. Hanging On
6. Home Coming
7. Mountain Hunt
8. My Town
9. The Razor
10. Over the Cliff
11. It’s a Long Road (Instrumental)
12. It’s a Long Road (Recording Session Piano/Vocal Demo)
13. Carolco Logo
14. Rambo (Special Summer 1984 Trailer)

Tracks 1-11 previously released as Regency RY 9505, 1982. All other tracks previously unreleased.

Terry Plumeri, Black Sea Raid: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Intrada ISE 1043, 2010 – original film released 1997)

1. Burial at Sea
2. We’re Getting Out of Here
3. The General’s Orders
4. The Rescue of Natalia Porofsky
5. The Crimean Coast
6. Escape from the Mental Institution
7. A Soldier’s Suspicion
8. The Hidden Missile
9. Theft of a Nuclear Warhead
10. Ten Million or Death
11. Spy Talk
12. Rick’s Greeting
13. Death in the Afternoon
14. Falling Tires, Blazing Bullets
15. The Man Who Could Drive Anything
16. Entrance to the Institution
17. The Abduction
18. At the Gate
19. Russian Tanks in Pursuit
20. Natalia’s Love
21. Kiss Your Ass Goodbye
22. End Credits
23. Dusk

All tracks previously unreleased.