Last summer Film Score Monthly and Screen Archives Entertainment released the complete soundtrack to James Horner’s classic Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan score. Today they have announced this summer they are releasing a 2-disk expanded edition of Horner’s Star Trek III: The Search For Spock soundtrack. More details below including exclusive first look at the CD art.
Horner’s Search For Spock Gets Expanded
One of the more exciting Star Trek releases in 2009 was the FSM expanded edition of James Horner’s Wrath of Khan score (see TrekMovie review). It even won one of our Best of 2009 Awards. So it is very exciting that Film Score Monthly and Screen Archives are following it up with an expanded edition of Horner’s Star Trek III: The Search For Spock score (available for pre-order).
Star Trek III: The Expanded Soundtrack front cover
The original release of the Star Trek III score was on a single 43-minute LP. The FSM edition is on 2 CDs with two programs, both newly mastered from recording engineer Dan Wallin’s first-generation digital film mixes. Disc one features the complete score as intended for the film itself, including such long-desired cues as “Grissom Destroyed,” “A Fighting Chance to Live” (featuring the Enterprise’s self-destruct countdown and immolation in Genesis’s atmosphere) and “Genesis Destroyed.” In addition, previously unreleased film versions of cues such as “Klingons” and “Stealing the Enterprise” make their premiere, with differences that are subtle but noticeable to devoted fans. Disc two features a recreation (in better sound quality) of the familiar LP sequence—complete with Group 87’s pop version of “The Search for Spock.”
Star Trek III: The Expanded Soundtrack back cover
And just like their Star Trek II release, this one will come with an extensive set of liner notes. The 20-page booklet features liner notes by Jeff Bond and Lukas Kendall and colorful art direction by Joe Sikoryak.
Star Trek III: The Expanded Soundtrack inside back cover uses original LP cover
Expanded Star Trek III Available June 1st – pre-order today
This complete Star Trek III: The Search for Spock CD setbegins shipping on June 1st, and can be pre-ordered now at www.screenarchives.com. The site also features audio samples from the set.
Available now – Expanded Star Trek II
The Expanded Star Trek II Soundtrack is also something any Trek music lover should have. It is available now from Amazon and also from the FSM website.
Awesome! Looking forward to it!
This and Star Trek II – I’m in Score Heaven :)
Bought!
the music cue when Spock first appears on disintergrating Vulcan in ST09 was quite similar to the Enterprises immolation in Genesis’s atmosphere (when it first enters the atmosphere)
FSM = Flying Spaghetti Monster! FTW!
Couldn’t resist. :-)
Excellent! This is one CD I will definitely be ordering.
No entering spacedock then… again.
Actually, this is the complete edition of the score, so the entering spacedock cue will definitely be on there, but it’s actually also on the original soundtrack release. It’s not immediately apparent as that cue is combined with the initial Klingon music in the “Klingons” track. The Klingon music forms the bulk of the track, but then there’s a few seconds of silence and the spacedock music begins. It’s a glorious piece and would be a shame if it were omitted and thankfully, it’s not!
Happy early birthday to ME!!! Very exciting. I sincerely hope FSM & Retrograde will eventually release complete score CDs for each Trek movie. Would be cool if they could do remastered scores for the 5 TV series. I can dream…
Well there’s a rumor going around that FSM will shortly be release a box set of all of Ron Jones’ music from ST:TNG. Check out the FSM board for more info on that.
I never ever, ever thought this would happen. I mean concidering that alot of trek fans list this film near the bottom of their favorites list. (behind V, insurrection and nemesis). I’m definitly buying this…Say though..can we please have a box set of the original TOS music? I have all of the GNP discs as well as the re-score discs..I have been waiting since the late 90’s.
I thought that just maybe that when TOS was remastered, That the music cues would be released at the same time or shortly after. Question, is there any unreleased tracks from Trek IV on foreward?
I used to have the Cassette version back in the dark ages. Im so looking forward to this and can’t way to hear the Pop Song of Trek3. Love this Music.
Wheeeeee! I hope they keep this up. I would love to see expanded releases of IV-VI. I’ll be ordering this a.s.a.p.!
Interestingly, this score contains several noticeable references to Prokofiev’s ballet “Romeo & Juliet.” Debate swirls around Horner in the film score community over whether stuff like this constitutes mere influence or more direct “borrowing” … but in this particular score, I propose sidestepping the debate by suggesting that the references to “Romeo & Juliet” are meant to be noticed, drawing a parallel between Shakespeare’s “star-cross’d” lovers on one hand, and Kirk and his “lady” on the other. The music that plays under the “death” of the Enterprise (as it burns up in atmosphere) is almost a direct quote of a passage from Prokofiev’s “death of Juliet” scene. Food for thought.
The arrival at space dock is part of “Klingons”. That’s how it was recorded…in both takes (the film version and the album version are different performances).
i love Horner – i closed my eyes watching Avatar and thought i was watching Star Trek vs Aliens
i had forgotten about that pop track! Very 80’s but I remember liking it!
@Pro-Khan-Sel: I never understood really why this is listed so low on people’s favorites, I guess I like ST III so much because it reintroduced me to Star Trek after I stopped watching it as a kid. Plus I think that is a good follow up to ST II. I’m one of the few that doesn’t really care for ST IV (sorry but the soundtrack is terrible…after 23 years you would think I could get used to it but not going to happen!) Incredible and awesome doesn’t discribe this soundtrack…this is a must own for me!
Done and done! I really hope enough of this set are purchased to justify continuing the releases up to and including “Gererations”. The ST: II release was superb.
@7: No entering spacedock then… again.
James, that piece you’re referring to is there. It’s in the Klingon track on the original album. You’ll have to wait for about 4-5 seconds of no sound before the track starts playing. It is there, it is in it’s entirety, and it will be on this new soundtrack release.
Ooh. An ALTERNATE version of STEALING THE ENTERPRISE.
That should be interesting.
Where are we supposed to buy these expanded soundtracks? I can’t find the expanded ST II soundtrack on Amazon or Borders.
OMG! i am sooooooo happy to hear this news i am going to preorder it right now!! i hope they release an expanded one for the new movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
# 22 SB –
Film Score Monthly’s releases are available through Screen Archives Entertainment. https://www.screenarchives.com/
They are legit and I placed my own order earlier today. Unfortunately, it won’t ship until next week.
#21 Matt –
There might be more but the major difference is in the opening. Listen to both versions of “Stealing the Enterprise” on FSM’s site and you’ll know what I’m referring to. :-)
21 – The Album version was slightly different from the version in the movie.
Immediately noticeable: the movie version omits some high strings for the scene where Kirk and Sulu bust McCoy out of the Federation Funny Farm (Don’t Call Me Tiny) at the start of the cue.
Klingons is also very different in the movie, starting with moody material while the freighter waits for Kruge’s ship to decloak, at which point the music gets percussive.
Also, Returning to Vulcan was changed for the Album version to provide a much grander presentation of the second half of the cue.
22. SB…
Star Trek II “Newly Expanded Edition” from 2009 is available on Amazon US. Its the first TWOK soundtrack CD that comes up on a search, the one with the painting of Khan, Kirk, Spock, the Enterprise firing on Regula 1 (or vice versa) etc. The TWOK soundtrack with only the Enterprise on the cover is the Crescendo soundtrack version.
The ordering info was at the bottom of the article. I added some bolding to make it stand out, but it was there
Horner was such a gifted kid back then (I think he was like 25 or something), and I always consider his STII and STIII work as complementary pieces, just like the films.
He got a little “Goldsmithy” with his own Klingon theme (why not?), but matched to Kruge’s de-cloaking and firing on Valkris, he sure had me on the edge of my seat. And “Stealing the Enterprise” is pure fun, from Kirk’s “drink” with Commander Starfleet to The E’s last warp flight.
The poppy “STIII” theme he did as an extra track always reminded me of the non-orchestral scores he did for ’48 HRS’ and ‘Commando,’ which I always find too noisy-busy and un-catchy.
Unfortunately, with “Avatar,” he’s become more of a ‘me, too’ composer. We get the African-style tribal music, but ‘Lion King’ is over twenty years old. We feel her day is over.
I liked the soundtrack for TWOK somewhat more that TSFS, and some of TWOK music was used in TSFS to save $$$. While I like his style, I often found Horner’s music to be repetitive, using musical passages in various films… and one passage in particular (I believe it’s from one of Katchaturian’s adagio’s heard in 2001 during the “shadow boxing scene”), is a straight lift.
I’ve always considered Treks II & III to be two halves of the same coin partly because of the music. IV taking place months later being a separate entity. So not a trilogy in my estimation. And I have ordered the soundtrack. Now on to Treks V & VI for remastering but please don’t a year for each one.
Ah… The score to Star Trek III has always been my all-time favorite movie score. Don’t get me wrong–the score for TWOK is beyond awesome!–it’s just that there’s something about the music when the Enterprise enters Space Dock and “Stealing the Enterprise”. Both are masterpieces. “Return to Vulcan” is also an incredible piece (in a much different way than the two Enterprise cues).
I have always hoped that TSFS would get the same expanded treatment as TWOK did last year! YES!
Actually, I like the TSFS score better than TWOK. It featured fuller orchestration and somewhat more originality than the Battle Beyond The Stars derived TWOK score.
With Avatar, however, Horner hit new lows of self-reference.
Come to think of it, aside from some awkward lines, I always liked TSFS better than TWOK anyhow.
Interesting I already have an expanded edition of this and they are coming out with it again hmmmm
I always found TSFS soundtrack to be a little more melancholy and sad while TWOK is more brass and bravado. Obviously Kirk and the crew sink darker into an emotional abyss so the music matches the tone of the film and both soundtracks (II/III) complement each other.
NICE! I knew it. :) Glad I sold my GNP, out-of-print edition last year while the prices were still good.
Also, I LOVE that they did a “recreation of the LP” for the second disc. One of my big complaints about the Special Edition Star Wars soundtracks is that they ruined that sequence for those who remember it, and I ended up editing my own together with Audacity later.
Count me in for one of these. Now on to Trek V?
Re: Star Trek V…
The album rights are owned by Sony (same with TMP) and thankfully, several of the specialty record labels have deals with Sony Music’s Custom Marketing Group.
Lukas over at FSM said they have two Goldsmith titles coming this year, which have already been confirmed: Outland and Poltergeist. The gentleman who runs La-La Land Records (they just released an excellent 2-disc edition of Independence Day) said they have a Goldsmith title coming out later this year but it could be anything.
For now, any talk of Trek V is just rumor and speculation.
Sweet!!!
#14, #29 – Yes, Horner steals pretty much note-for-note from Prokofiev (and Khachaturian) on several occasions.
Stealing the Enterprise is straight out of Romeo and Juliet–I never noticed the other track #14 mentioned, but I’ll have to check it. The bit in Aliens is stolen from Gayane by Khachaturan (it’s almost note-for-note again). He does it again in Battle Beyond the Stars with Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, and then comes back to steal from R&J again in Troy.
I think his best overall scores are for Krull and the Rocketeer, and in both you can still hear really strong echoes of Trek II.
I can’t really speak to his latter day stuff, as I stopped listening to his scores around 1988 or 89. I think Willow is the last one I listened to fully, and while I enjoy it, it marks the beginning of his annoying “celtic” phase, which isn’t that enjoyable.
This is one of my favorite soundtracks! Can’t wait to get this one. Had it on cassette back in the day. Thanks for the info guys.
Want it on iTunes
:(
@33 – The ‘expanded release’ you have now is almost certainly the one done by a fan. To my knowledge, there was no licensed expansion to the score before now.
This movie came out right at the perfect time for my imagination as a 10-year-old boy, and the score is still a favorite of mine.
Regarding borrowing from other works (#14)…
The mystical mumbo-jumbo on Vulcan is scored with music that echoes “Death and Transfiguration” (I didn’t think it was by Strauss, but that’s what’s coming up on Google… is there another one?… toward the end sounds right).
Thank you! You just made my day!!!!
I enjoyed this movie more than TWOK! I still remember vividly sitting in the front row on opening night with my friend Mike…I was 13!!!!!
“Kobayashi Maru has set sail for the promised land…”
I bought TWOK soon as it came out, and wouldn’t mind scoring a copy of this one.
What I really, really want is the soundtrack to Elaan of Troyius. I’ve never been happy that they stopped releasing TOS scores. I have all of ’em, even the re-recordings (which are okay).
Want more TOS scores damnit. Make it happen, someone. You can have my money!
ah, the disco SpockRock track… can’t wait to have that in all its digitally remastered goodness.
He did the soundtrack for Titanic
Anthony can’t believe you left Jerry Goldsmith off your survey list!
Well, now I don’t have to copy my old worn out LP over to my computer. Disc ordered as soon as the notice from FSM appeared in my e-mail. I have been wanting a CD of this soundtrack for years.
I actually like the soundtrack to Star Trek III in many respects even more than I like Star Trek II. I used to have both on a cassette tape that I played while driving a starship sized 1967 Plymouth Sport Fury. Sometimes for fun, if I had friends in the car with me, I’d have the moment the Enterprise begins backing out of space dock music (Stealing the Enterprise) cued up as the Plymouth backs out of a tight parking space or a garage. It sort of became unofficially known as “Backing the Fury out of the garage” music. Trek soundtrack music was played in this car a lot back then.
Years after that Fury was ruined at home in a freak accident, I came into possession of my late grandfather’s 1968 Plymouth Fury VIP. I was playing a Trek soundtrack tape I had bought sometime ago and as luck would have it, at the moment my grandfather’s old car came into view was also the moment when music from Returning to Vulcan swelled up. The combination was surprisingly emotional.
I love the music to when the Enterprise enters Sapcedock. I get all choked up looking at the old girl coming home, all beaten up, and battered. Kirk brought her home…
#14–Horner is well known for having recycled music into other scores, and in his early years, having basically plagarized other music…