La-La Land Fills Stockings with Soundtrack Cheer

One of the most beloved holiday traditions around Second Disc HQ is the annual unveiling of La-La Land Records’ Black Friday titles. Typically, the soundtrack reissue label saves some of their heaviest hitters for the end of the year, and this year is no exception. On December 4, fans will be able to order not only a mammoth box set of all the music from the original Star Trek series, but three beloved soundtracks from three legendary contemporary composers – all with a humorous “crime” theme to them.

Up first is John Williams’ score to the 1992 holiday flick Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Williams’ surprisingly deep score to the original John Hughes/Chris Columbus comedy in 1990 remains a holiday staple (and was brilliantly expanded by La-La Land for the film’s 20th anniversary in 2010). Much like the sequel itself, which essentially transplants Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) and his bumbling nemeses Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) from Chicago to The Big Apple, Williams HA2 score traverses on familiar ground, but new themes and arrangements (particularly the melancholy “Christmas Star” and the joyful “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas”) make this a keeper.

LLL has gone the extra mile with this title, both featuring a new remaster from Mike Matessino (who also wrote liner notes and co-produced the set with Nick Redman) and even a bit of extra music not featured on Varese Sarabande’s out-of-print 10th anniversary presentation in 2002. Extras include some holiday source music, an alternate of “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas” and the original presentations of “Christmas Star” and the Alan Menken/Jack Feldman-penned “My Christmas Tree,” both featured on the original soundtrack CD by Fox Records. Topped off by a package designed by Jim Titus that complements LLL’s Home Alone expansion, this set is limited to 3,000 units.

Next up, another sequel score set in the big city: Michael Kamen’s explosive soundtrack to Die Hard with a Vengeance, a limited edition at 4,000 units. In the third installment of this iconic action series (with a fifth due out next year), Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is back on his home turf, attempting to stop a string of terrorist attacks committed by the nefarious Simon Gruber (Jeremy Irons), the brother of his nemesis from the first Die Hard film. Featuring a greatly expanded presentation from the original RCA Victor soundtrack (while retaining The Lovin’ Spoonful’s classic “Summer in the City” as an album opener), the label has now helped provide an expansion for the scores to all of Kamen’s Die Hard scores. (La-La Land expanded Varese Sarabande’s pressing in their last Black Friday batch, and Varese themselves expanded Die Hard 2 just last month.)

Finally, the label remasters and expands Ennio Morricone’s Oscar-nominated score to The Untouchables. Brian DePalma’s crime drama told the real life story of Elliot Ness (based on his autobiography), whose team of Prohibition agents in 1920s Chicago took on the baddest gangster of them all, Al Capone (Robert DeNiro). Morricone was one of four nominees from the project, which netted Sean Connery an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as the incorruptible agent Jim Malone. This two-disc set, capped at 3,500 copies, features the premiere release of the score in its original film mix and sequence, and is complemented by a remastered version of the original, Grammy-winning A&M Records soundtrack album and seven bonus cues, including an unused arrangement of themes from the film by composer Randy Edelman.

Stay tuned to this post next Tuesday when links go live on all titles; in the meantime, check out our track breakdown on these three new releases!

John Williams, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – Expanded Original Motion Picture Score (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1232, 2012 – original film released 1992)

Disc 1

1. Somewhere in My Memory
2. Star of Bethlehem
3. Home Alone (Main Title)
4. This Year’s Wish
5. We Overslept Again/Holiday Flight
6. Separate Vacations
7. Arrival in New York
8. The Thieves Return
9. Plaza Hotel
10. Concierge
11. Distant Goodnights (Christmas Star)
12. A Day in the City
13. Duncan’s Toy Store
14. Turtle Doves
15. To the Plaza, Presto
16. Race to the Room/Hot Pursuit
17. Haunted Brownstone
18. Appearance of the Pigeon Lady
19. Christmas at Carnegie Hall (O Come, All Ye Faithful/O Little Town of Bethlehem/Silent Night)

Disc 2

1. Christmas Star/Preparing the Trap
2. Another Christmas in the Trenches
3. Running Through Town
4. Luring the Thieves
5. Kevin’s Booby Traps
6. Down the Rope/Into the Park
7. Reunion at Rockefeller Center /It’s Christmas
8. Finale
9. We Wish You a Merry Christmas/Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
10. End Titles (Somewhere in My Memory)
11. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen /Good King Wenceslas *
12. The Christmas Song *
13. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! *
14. Winter Wonderland *
15. My Christmas Tree
16. Christmas Star
17. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas (Alternate) *
18. Celebrity Ding-Dang-Dong *
19. Holiday Flight (Alternate)
20. Suite from “Angels with Even Filthier Souls”
21. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas (Instrumental)

* indicates previously unreleased track. Portions of Disc 1, Tracks 1-3, 5, 7-10, 13, 15-16, 18-19 and Disc 2, Tracks 1, 5 and 7-9 released on Fox Records 07822 11002-2, 1992. Disc 2, Tracks 15-16 released on Fox Records 07822 11000-2, 1992. All previously released tracks except Disc 2, Track 15 also released on Varese Sarabande VCL 1102 1014, 2002.

Michael Kamen, Die Hard with a Vengeance: Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1233, 2012 – original film released 1995)

Disc 1

1. Summer in the City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
2. Main Title *
3. Goodbye Bonwits
4. John and Zeus
5. Taxi *
6. Neat Bomb *
7. Papaya King
8. 72nd Street Phone *
9. Taxi Chase *
10. The Subway (Part 1) *
11. The Subway (Part 2) *
12. Take A-nother Train
13. Feds *
14. Rings a Bell *
15. Infiltration *
16. Bank Invasion *
17. Back to Wall Street *
18. Fake Cops *
19. The Federal Reserve
20. Bank Elevator **
21. Gold Room Aftermath
22. Panic *

Disc 2

1. Aqueduct
2. Santa Claus *
3. Yankee Stadium/School and Tunnel *
4. Refrigerator Bomb *
5. Surfing in the Aqueduct
6. Ticking Refrigerator *
7. Mercedes Chase/School Assembly *
8. Aftermath/Waiting and Falling *
9. Hooking the Boat *
10. Bunny and Fire Drill *
11. Running in the Halls *
12. Bomb Goes Into Hold *
13. John Makes It Mad *
14. Holly/Celebration *
15. Oh, Canada! *
16. Johnny Comes Marching Home *
17. Regret *
18. Hooking the Boat (Alternate) *
19. On the Freighter/John Makes It Mad *
20. Wall Street Station *
21. The Subway (Part 1) (Alternate Segment) *
22. The Subway (Part 2) (Alternate segment) *
23. Ode to Johnny *
24. No Rush*
25. Escape *
26. The Foundry
27. Waltz of the Bankers
28. Gold Vault
29. Somebody Had Fun (Wild Snare) *
30. Johnny Comes Marching Home (Wild Vamps) *

* indicates previously unreleased track. ** indicates track with previously unreleased music. Disc 1, Track 1 originally released on Hums of The Lovin’ Spoonful (Kama Sutra, 1966). Disc 1, Tracks 1, 3-4, 7 and 12 and Disc 2, Tracks 5 and 26-28 released on RCA Victor 09026 68306-2, 1995.

Ennio Morricone, The Untouchables: Music from the Motion Picture – Expanded Edition (La-La Land Records LLLCD 1236, 2012 – original film released 1987)

Disc 1: Original score 

1. The Strength of the Righteous
2. Ness and His Family–Part I
3. Warehouse */False Alarm
4. Ness Meets Malone
5. Al Capone–Part II (Version 2)
6. A Mother’s Plea
7. Ness Meets Wallace */Ness Meets Stone *
8. Victorious
9. Murderous/Goodnights
10. Nitti Harasses Ness
11. Send Family Away
12. Waiting for What?/Montana Intro
13. Waiting at the Border
14. The Untouchables
15. Surprise Attack/Dead Man’s Bluff
16. Ness and His Family–Part II
17. In the Elevator
18. Four Friends
19. Payne and Bowtie/Ness Study */Al Capone–Part I
20. The Man with the Matches/Nitti Shoots Malone *
21. Malone’s Death
22. Machine Gun Lullaby/Kill Bowtie
23. Courthouse Chase
24. On the Rooftops/Nitti’s Fall
25. He’s in the Car/Here Endeth the Lesson
26. Death Theme
27. The Untouchables (End Title)

Disc 2: Original LP and bonus tracks

1. The Untouchables (End Title)
2. Al Capone
3. Waiting at the Border
4. Death Theme
5. On the Rooftops
6. Victorious
7. The Man with the Matches
8. The Strength of the Righteous (Main Title)
9. Ness and His Family
10. False Alarm
11. The Untouchables
12. Four Friends
13. Machine Gun Lullaby
14. Mood Indigo
15. Al Capone–Part II (Version 1)
16. Machine Gun Lullaby–Part 1 (no celeste)
17. On the Rooftops (no saxophone)
18. Here Endeth the Lesson (Alternate)
19. Love Theme from The Untouchables – Randy Edelman

* indicates unused score track. Disc 2, Tracks 1-13 released as A&M LP 393 909-1, 1987. All other tracks previously unreleased