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Over the past few years we have had a lot of fun with this announcement. It started in 2008 when we did a batch that included Batman: The Animated Series, Millennium and Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
In 2009, we unveiled Innerspace, The Fugitive and Panic in the Year Zero.
Then, in 2010, we upped the 3 to 4 and called it our FINAL FOUR, letting all of you know these will be the last 4 titles we release that year. Star Trek V, Batman Returns, Home Alone and Jade were part of this group.
The day after this last batch came out Matt and I thought, “Crap, how do we top this in 2011?”
We narrowed the field down to 10 titles that we felt were timely and appropriate for this release date. As time passed and we started to approach our deadline, we kept saying to ourselves, “Stay on Target!” “Stay on Target!” Some titles veered off to the side and got delayed for one reason or another, while others were staying on course, but they just didn’t seem to scream BLACK FRIDAY. As Labor Day hit, we locked down our FINAL FOUR.
The FINAL FOUR titles coming out in 2011 were real labors of love. All have great stories behind them and all have been treated with the TLC we try to give all of our releases.
Without further ado I present . . .
THE FINAL FOUR of 2011
First up:
TORA! TORA! TORA!
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
LLLCD 1197
Limited Edition of 2000 units
Retail Price: $19.98
Produced by Lukas Kendall and Nick Redman
Mastered by Daniel Hersch and Mike Matessino
Liner Notes by Julie Kirgo
Art Direction by Jim Titus
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, La-La Land Records presents two important WWII-themed scores from two giant composers that expertly and thoughtfully examine two landmark events that changed the world forever – the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the completion of the atom bomb.
La-La Land Records and FOX Music commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack with a special re-issue of legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith’s (PATTON, THE OMEN, BASIC INSTINCT, THE EDGE) original score to 20th Century Fox’s 1970 Pearl Harbor docudrama feature TORA! TORA! TORA!, starring Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, E.G. Marshall, So Yamamura and Tatsuya Mihashi -- directed by Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda. Mr. Goldsmith tackles this film’s serious examination of Pearl Harbor with a rich orchestral score that exemplifies his trademark musical genius, fierce intelligence and sympathetic understanding. In depth liner notes by Julie Kirgo and spectacular art direction by Jim Titus focusing on the original art of Robert McCall are a highlight!
Continuing with our WWII theme. . .
FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY – 2 cd set
Music by Ennio Morricone
LLLCD 1196
Limited Edition of 3000 units
Retail Price: $19.98
Produced by Dan Goldwasser
Mastered by Mike Matessino
Liner Notes by Daniel Schweiger
Art Direction by Dan Goldwasser
We still can’t believe it – after nearly 200 releases we finally have The Maestro on our label. Even more, it’s a never released and, for most of it, HEARD score by him! When we cracked opened the masters we discovered a wealth of material that was completely cut from the 1989 film. Working with Mike Matessino, producer Dan Goldwasser was able to ID all the music that is not heard in the final film to assemble a magnificent soundtrack unheard by most until now. If the movie released in 1989 had all this gorgeous music in it, viewers may have felt differently about the end product. I sure hope you fall in love with this score as much as we did.
La-La Land Records is proud to present the world premiere release of acclaimed composer Ennio Morricone’s (THE MAN WITH NO NAME TRILOGY, THE THING, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, THE MISSION, THE UNTOUCHABLES) original score to Paramount Pictures’ 1989 docudrama FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY, starring Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz and John Cusack, and directed by Roland Joffe. Never before released in any format, Mr. Morricone’s hauntingly beautiful and complex orchestral score receives a definitive, 2-CD treatment that demonstrates the composer’s notable skill in emotionally interpreting what is at once an amazing and tragic chapter in mankind’s history – the birth of the atom bomb. Full of dramatic suspense, passion, sadness and gravitas, this is a notable, major Hollywood work by Morricone that is ripe for discovery. This special 2-CD release includes source cues, alternates and exclusive, in-depth liner notes by film music writer Daniel Schweiger.
Now we go from the horrors of War to the horrors of the Holiday season. 
DIE HARD – 2 cd set
Music by Michael Kamen
LLLCD 1188
Limited Edition of 3500 units
Retail Price: $29.98
Produced by Eric Lichtenfeld and Nick Redman
Mastered by Daniel Hersch at D2 Mastering and restored by Mike Matessino
Liner Notes by Eric Lichtenfeld and Jeff Bond
Art Direction by Mark Banning
This is one of those dream come true projects – the kind where you hope and pray, if given the opportunity of producing it one day, you get to do it right. While the previous release of this classic score was good, it lacked in a few key areas – sound quality and “Coolness.” Yeah, that’s right – it was not “Cool.” Die Hard is a cool movie with “Cool” Characters, “Cool” Cinematography and “Cool” Music. In order to best the previous release we had to go all out. We spent nearly 2 years on this bad boy looking for all the best elements we could find, any lost music, and, most importantly, looking for those cool needle drops – the exact ones featured in the film. Well, I’m happy to report that this Die Hard release has COOL written all over it.
La-La Land Records and FOX Music present a remastered 2-CD SET of the original motion picture score to 20th Century Fox’s classic 1988 action blockbuster DIE HARD, starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and Bonnie Bedelia, and directed by John McTiernan. Kamen’s score masterfully builds suspense, propelling all the plot’s high-octane action while enriching the characterizations. The DIE HARD experience is rounded out in this presentation with source cues and bonus tracks such as Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, Vaughn Monroe’s “Let It Snow”, Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis,” John Scott’s “We’ve Got Each Other” and more (sadly, we were not able to clear the ALIENS cue or the Stevie Wonder song Argyle rocks out to in the back of the limo)! Yippie-Kay-Yay!
The final title for La-La Land this year is one that has a great history for the label. Back in July, 2008, Dan Goldwasser, Matt and I had a meeting at Paramount Pictures where we laid out what we wanted to do with their music catalog. Impressed with the pitch, we were asked to come up with a wish list of titles we wanted to release. That night the 3 of us emailed each other our respective lists of Paramount Dream Projects. At the top of each of our list was the same title – SCROOGED. This is perhaps Mr Elfman’s “birth film”. . . and by that I mean the movie that gave him the opportunity to create that sound we all know and love today. It’s gothic, haunting, magical and thematic. It has everything you want out of an Elfman score and more! Hints of Batman, Black Beauty, Edward Scissorhands and “Nightmare” can be heard.
When given back the list, Paramount seemed to love the idea of La-La Land releasing Airplane, Dragonslayer, Seconds, Breakdown etc. . . but Scrooged was a bit more difficult at the time. We happily went forth producing all these wonderful Paramount projects, but we always wondered if we would ever work out the legal kinks on Scrooged. Then, one day, a miracle happened by the name of Lukas Kendall. Through his dealings with UMG (on GREMLINS), he managed to work out a deal to allow us to get the rights we needed to produce Scrooged for Paramount through UMG.
Three and a half years later, I am proud to present to you. . .
SCROOGED
Music by Danny Elfman
LLLCD 1195
Limited Edition of 3000 units
Retail Price: $19.98
Produced by Dan Goldwasser
Mastered by Mike Matessino
Liner Notes by Jeff Bond
Art Direction by Dan Goldwasser
An important score in Elfman’s cannon, SCROOGED was the composer’s first big-budget Hollywood score – and one that clearly anticipates his next, and most iconic work, BATMAN. For this wickedly funny and inventive update of the immortal Dickens Christmas classic, Elfman fashions a robust, sophisticated musical tapestry that expertly weaves together the film’s varied tones, which runs the gambit from wildly broad comedy and holiday cheer to gothic horror and emotional drama. Produced by Dan Goldwasser and mastered by Mike Matessino, this special release features bonus tracks, source cues and exclusive liner notes from film music writer Jeff Bond, with new comments from Director Richard Donner and others.
Well, there you have it. We hope these releases appealed more to your Yippie-Kay-Yay than Humbug!
See you next Tuesday November 29, 2011 at 1 pm PST when these bad boys go on sale. Full track listings, sound clips and artwork will be posted then as well.
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Yippie Kay Yay!
Thanks a million for Die Hard and Scrooged, LLL!!
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I'm ordering all of them. But, boy - I can only dream how Jim Titus would've handled the art direction for Die Hard. Admittingly, it's the only aspect that seems to not come across as 'cool,' and perhaps it was because of how long the album was in production. It would have been the icing on the cake for sure. Mark, nothing personal, but art direction is really not your forte. Sorry.
MV, congratulations to LLL for another stellar year. Good luck in 2012.
Note: I love how cool the 'O' is presented on the Tora! Tora! Tora! disc - nice touch!
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Scrooged? Wow, after all these years. I remember taping all the instrumental passages from tv somewhere in 1995 and now it will be finally there. Very cool!
It has been a great time for Elfman fans, most (all?) of the holy grails are available now
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