TOP GUN: Limited Edition (2-CD SET) by La La Land Records

[Smaug The Iron 515]

https://www.facebook.com/share/syufdGXJprSSs3Pa/

 

LA-LA LAND RECORDS FEELS THE NEED FOR SPEED!!!

NEW RELEASE: MARCH 1, 2024 
Available to order NOW
at www.lalalandrecords.com

“TOP GUN: LIMITED EDITION (2-CD SET)”
Music by Harold Faltermeyer
Limited Edition of 5000 Units
RETAIL PRICE: $29.98
STARTS SHIPPING MARCH 11

The first 150 orders of TOP GUN will get a CD Booklet autographed by the composer at no additional charge. Autographs are available while supplies last and ARE NOT GUARANTEED.

TOP GUN: LIMITED EDITION (2-CD SET)                          
LLLCD 1606
Music by Harold Faltermeyer
Limited Edition of 5000 Units

RETAIL PRICE: $29.98 

STARTS SHIPPING MARCH 11

Available to order NOW at www.lalalandrecords.com  - the first 150 orders of TOP GUN will get a CD Booklet autographed by the composer at no additional charge. Autographs are available while supplies last and ARE NOT GUARANTEED.

La-La Land Records, Paramount Pictures and Columbia Records present the world premiere official release of renowned composer Harold Faltermeyer’s (FLETCH, BEVERLY HILLS COP, THE RUNNING MAN) original motion picture score to the iconic 1986 aerial blockbuster action/drama TOP GUN, starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis, and directed by Tony Scott. Composer Faltermeyer defined the 80’s film score pop-synth landscape with such legendary scores as BEVERLY HILLS COP and FLETCH only to re-define it further with TOP GUN, a propulsive and imaginative musical juggernaut that still inspires and influences film scores today – including the recent smash TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Aside from two previously released tracks, this remastered and expanded deluxe 2-CD presentation marks the first time Faltermeyer’s TOP GUN score has been made officially available in any format! Disc One showcases the brilliant film score, along with bonus demo cues, and Disc Two presents songs from the film, including the #1 hits “Danger Zone,” performed by Kenny Loggins and the Oscar-Winning “Take My Breath Away,” performed by Berlin – both co-written and produced by the great Giorgio Moroder – as well as “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” performed by The Righteous Brothers and more, plus additional bonus tracks.  Produced by for La-La Land Records by Dan Goldwasser, mastered by Doug Schwartz and approved by the composer, this limited edition of 5000 units includes exclusive, in-depth liner notes by writer Tim Greiving, with new interview quotes from Faltermeyer, and high-flyin’ art design by Goldwasser. A must-have for all film music and pop culture fans that’ll take your breath away!

TRACK LISTING:

DISC 1
1. Main Title* 2:41
2. Carrier Takeoffs and Landings** 1:46
3. Two Migs, Not One†/Cougar Chased by Mig/Mav Flips the Bird*/Cougar’s Troubled Landing 6:58
4. Mav Goes to Fightertown** 1:49
5. Jester Flying*** 3:10
6. Tower Flyby* 1:10
7. Viper Comes Down on Mav 0:50
8. Mav and Goose In Room 2:06
9. Dinner at Charlie’s§ 1:32
10. Mav Says Goodbye to Charlie§ 2:40
11. Love Scene§ 3:41
12. Mav vs Viper 2:11
13. End Locker Room and Photo 0:46
14. Aerial Sequence** 1:27
15. Goose’s Death/Memories 4:10
16. Mav Reflects in Goose’s Room/Board of Inquiry/Charlie and Mav in Airport Bar 11:03
17. Viper’s House Pt. 1# 1:15
18. Viper’s House Pt. 2 1:57
19. Carrier Ready Room and Takeoffs# 2:47
20. Mav is Launched/Mav Bugs Out/Mav Returns to Battle#/Return to Carrier* 11:11

BONUS TRACKS
21. Top Gun Theme (original demo - May 4, 1985) 3:34
22. Top Gun Theme (revised demo - August 1, 1985) 4:18
23. Top Gun Theme (revised demo reprise - August 1, 1985) 4:12
TOTAL DISC 1 TIME = 77:58

DISC 2
1. “Danger Zone” - Kenny Loggins 3:36
2. “Mighty Wings” - Cheap Trick 3:51
3. “Playing With the Boys” - Kenny Loggins 3:59
4. “Lead Me On” - Teena Marie 3:47
5. “Take My Breath Away (Love Theme From “Top Gun”)” - Berlin 4:15
6. “Hot Summer Nights” - Miami Sound Machine 3:38
7. “Heaven In Your Eyes” - Loverboy 4:04
8. “Through the Fire” - Larry Greene 3:45
9. “Destination Unknown” - Marietta 3:48
10. “Top Gun Anthem” - Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens 4:12
11. “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” - Otis Redding 2:41
12. “Memories” - Harold Faltermeyer 2:55
13. “Great Balls of Fire” - Jerry Lee Lewis 1:50
14. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” - The Righteous Brothers 3:42
15. “Playing With The Boys (Dance Mix)” - Kenny Loggins 6:41
16 .“Dog Fight #3” - Harold Faltermeyer 2:40
17. “Radar Radio” - Giorgio Moroder feat. Joe Pizzulo 3:42

BONUS TRACKS
18. First Shot of Mav and Goose (unused)* 0:53
19. Don’t Worry About the Mig (unused)§ 0:24
20. Top Gun Theme (extended album mix) 4:44
TOTAL DISC 2 TIME = 69:45
TOTAL ALBUM TIME = 2:27:43

* consists of “Top Gun Anthem”
** consists of “Danger Zone”
*** consists of “Mighty Wings”
§ consists of “Take My Breath Away”
† contains material not in film
# contains an interpolation of “Top Gun Anthem”

This is a CD format release.

[Thor 7,508]

Wow, so it finally happened!

Great news, of course. It's been a holy grail of mine for years, despite excellent bootlegs. Of course, I can't currently afford it, with current shipping rates and whatnot, but I'm just glad it's finally released.

[A. A. Ron 1,742]

Ooh! I may have to try for an autograph.

[Jay 37,369]

[mstrox 6,651]

A great day for all those people who have begged LLL for this for years, and a great day for me that they stop begging!

[Ollie 1,059]

Awesome! I’ve been hoping this would eventually get the deluxe treatment. 

[Jay 37,369]

Artwork preview:

 

https://warmbutter.com/albums/top-gun/

[Tallguy 3,398]

I feel the need!

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Wow it's so great! Thank you LLL!

[Tallguy 3,398]

Ordered!

 

HOLY S---! I'm still laughing at the James Bond CDs that can't get a low level Madonna song but this has the whole freaking songtrack! AND Otis Redding AND The Righteous Brothers! (<-- That's a dig at Madonna, not any of the labels.)

[Ollie 1,059]

I was gonna say, the Madonna song is dreadful. Is anyone really missing it?

[Edmilson 7,466]

So I guess the reason it took this long for it to be released is because they were getting the rights to the various pop songs? 

 

Speaking of Top Gun, a Maverick expansion would be nice. The OST is terrible, and this might be Lorne Balfe's best action score.

[Faleel 5,353]

53 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

So I guess the reason it took this long for it to be released is because they were getting the rights to the various pop songs? 

 

Speaking of Top Gun, a Maverick expansion would be nice. The OST is terrible, and this might be Lorne Balfe's best action score.

Not to mention apparently a whole bunch of early work on the score was rejected...

[Edmilson 7,466]

1 hour ago, Faleel said:

Not to mention apparently a whole bunch of early work on the score was rejected...

I'd like to know which cues Lady Gaga wrote for the movie 

 

From MMUK:

 

Quote

Gaga worked closely with Zimmer and composer Dave Fleming to turn her melody into score, so this isn’t just some vanity credit – the three of them actually sat down and wrote proper score pieces together, and so her credit is earned.

 

[fenrik 36]

4 hours ago, Edmilson said:

So I guess the reason it took this long for it to be released is because they were getting the rights to the various pop songs? 

 

Speaking of Top Gun, a Maverick expansion would be nice. The OST is terrible, and this might be Lorne Balfe's best action score.

Lorne has promised an expanded/complete release coming out at some point

[QuartalHarmony 543]

Really happy with this - my holy grail track is Radar Radio, which hasn’t ever had a CD release (AFAIK), despite being the B-side of the biggest selling single from the soundtrack. The sheet music folio even had it transcribed!

 

It’ll be fascinating to hear the Anthem demo tracks too.

 

Mark

 

 

[bruce marshall 1,315]

No short cues!😍😍😍😍😍😊😊😊😊😊😊

[Faleel 5,353]

39 minutes ago, bruce marshall said:

No short cues!😍😍😍😍😍😊😊😊😊😊😊

So it's a bloated mess?

 

Sigh.....

[IheartMelissaBenoist 36]

Might have to check this one out.

 

Man, this brings me back to the old days, playing "F-15 Strike Eagle" on my Commodore 64 with the "Top Gun" soundtrack blaring out of my cassette player.

 

My God, I feel old. 

[Cindylover1969 32]

Will they go for the Kelly McGillis/Paramount triple and expand Witness?  It's too bad there's not enough John Morris scoring in Dirty Dancing to make a release  viable.

 

Here's comment from one of my Twitter mutuals: "It won’t feel authentic unless every third track is Highway to the Danger Zone".

[Dunge_Onmaster 12]

Can't understand why, given the huge demand, this hasn't simply been released digitally long ago... I would have bought it immediately. I'm simply no longer willing to pay at least 50 € including shipping to Germany for one or two polycarbonate frisbees and then the package might end up at customs and I have to pay more and wait even longer. Anyway, after all these years, the best cues have already been unearthed in one form or another, albeit a little less... officially That's quite enough for me. 

 

[crumbs 14,317]

Wonder if this release bodes well for a BOT4J 35th anniversary expansion coming this July?

 

There's been quite a few instances where pairs of Cruise/LLL expansions are released within the span of a few months, likely due to Cruise approving their artwork at the same time (and he's a busy guy, so I imagine that only happens once or twice a year).

[JTN 2,030]

[Cindylover1969 32]

20 hours ago, Dunge_Onmaster said:

Can't understand why, given the huge demand, this hasn't simply been released digitally long ago... 

 

How do you know it won't be anyway?

[JTN 2,030]

21 hours ago, Dunge_Onmaster said:

I'm simply no longer willing to pay at least 50 € including shipping to Germany for one or two polycarbonate frisbees and then the package might end up at customs and I have to pay more and wait even longer.

On Music Box Records it’s €47.95 and no customs.

https://www.musicbox-records.com/en/cd-soundtracks/14267-top-gun-2-cd.html

[Holko 9,526]

19 minutes ago, JTN said:

On Music Box Records it’s €47.95 and no customs.

https://www.musicbox-records.com/en/cd-soundtracks/14267-top-gun-2-cd.html

*37

[JTN 2,030]

11 minutes ago, Holko said:

*37

+€10 shipping. 

[Holko 9,526]

ah

[Ollie 1,059]

I got my shipping notice today.

[Tallguy 3,398]

18 hours ago, Ollie said:

I got my shipping notice today.

 

And now I got mine!

[Laserschwert 475]

On 02/03/2024 at 1:57 PM, Dunge_Onmaster said:

Can't understand why, given the huge demand, this hasn't simply been released digitally long ago... I would have bought it immediately. I'm simply no longer willing to pay at least 50 € including shipping to Germany for one or two polycarbonate frisbees and then the package might end up at customs and I have to pay more and wait even longer. Anyway, after all these years, the best cues have already been unearthed in one form or another, albeit a little less... officially That's quite enough for me. 

 

I always order via the (German) Soundtrack Corner. Top Gun is €39.95 + €2.50 shipping.

[Tallguy 3,398]

Ahhh, good old LaLa Land Employee2.

 

It's supposed to be here Tuesday. Along with the tractor beam.

 

 

More time to listen to How to Train Your Dragon 3!

[Ollie 1,059]

Postman delivered yesterday.

[Tallguy 3,398]

This is in no way TUESDAY!

 

 

I guess it's time to buzz the tower!

 

I'm through the main program and I'm pretty sure that after this I'm popping in Labyrinth. If I felt any more like 1986 right now my acne would be terrible.

[Ollie 1,059]

I was supposed to get mine this coming Monday but the ole USPS was speedier than their website.

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Just rewatched the film now that this album is here.

 

In my opinion this is Faltermeyer's best score. The main theme has become of course iconic, I forget that he uses it in quite a lot of different ways.

I also forget how beautiful his theme is after Goose has died. That guitar goes straight through the heart.

[Thor 7,508]

1 hour ago, JNHFan2000 said:

In my opinion this is Faltermeyer's best score.

 

THIEF OF HEARTS is his best, IMO, but TOP GUN is probably second.

[Stark 316]

47 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

THIEF OF HEARTS is his best, IMO, but TOP GUN is probably second.

I was just eyeing that one from Quartet before I realized I couldn’t afford a purchase, haha

[Tallguy 3,398]

I'm am simultaneously surprised at how much of an instant buy grail this was for me AND how much I'm enjoying it.

 

This was probably on my "must buy" list because I've wanted the opening credits for nearly 40 years and because I had asked for it for so long it felt it would have been rude not to. This falls into my "used to have the movie audio on tape just to hear the music" category. Also I usually figure if I have any kind of an unmentionable that I ever listened to with any regularity that the bill is due.

 

I knew from the film and even a cursory examination of the track list that this was going to have a lot of instrumentals of the songs from the songtrack. How much Danger Zone could I handle?

 

Turns out? A LOT. The various mixes and variations of all of the songs are terrific. And I was very surprised in a couple of cases I knew the exact moment of the film that this scored. (I saw this movie a LOT in 1986.) Mighty Wings also gets a great showing. The only place where the album bogs down (and this is just due to the nature of ordering by film order I would suppose) is when we get three instrumentals of Take My Breath Away for almost eight minutes. I think I need to find my favorite and lose the other two for a playlist.

 

Then there's the "original" Faltermeyer tracks. I love them. Those opening notes of Two Migs, Not One go straight to part of my brain. The heroic / nostalgia setting of the Anthem in Viper's House and Carrier Ready Room and Takeoffs is delightful. And every time that drum machine from the opening starts up I'm ready to do pre-flight checks.

 

It's also nice to have the expanded original program. This album is iconic. I haven't listened to most of it in forever. This got a lot of play in high school. I used to like Destination Unknown a lot.

 

If you have even a passing interest in the film, the music, or Faltermeyer, then this is a good buy.

 

Unrelated story: We went to go see Iron Eagle in early 1986 and they showed the trailer for Top Gun. I knew that THIS was the jet movie that I really wanted to see. Kind of like when I went to go see Legend and they showed Labyrinth. And both times the trailers had the better movie.

[JTN 2,030]

22 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

In my opinion this is Faltermeyer's best score.

Absolutely, with BEVERLY HILLS COP and THE RUNNING MAN. 
 

TOP GUN sounds fantastic btw.

[Tallguy 3,398]

Oh, I forgot to mention this: The liner notes give you an idea of how long this set has been ready to go. "The score's legacy also lives on: in 2020, Faltermeyer will co-score the long awaited sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, with a fellow German composer who followed in his synthesized footsteps, Hans Zimmer."

[Jay 37,369]

con-score?

[Tallguy 3,398]

14 minutes ago, Jay said:

con-score?

 

Co-score. Fixed.

[Jay 37,369]

ah!

[StRuPiE 15]

On 11/03/2024 at 1:12 AM, Tallguy said:

The only place where the album bogs down (and this is just due to the nature of ordering by film order I would suppose) is when we get three instrumentals of Take My Breath Away for almost eight minutes.

That's because the film versions of these cues have a different mix (Terri Nunn's vocal stem (aka the humming) is missing from the LLL set) and if placed in chronological order there are a few songs that breaks the continuity. I noticed that mostly the crossovers between instrumental and their vocal counterparts (ie Danger Zone/Take my breath away) are missing from the main program. And except for a specific cue in track 3 "Cougar Chased By Mig" everything of the score (film mix accuracy aside) is presented on the set. Strange call by LLL to leave out 1 particular (short) cue from otherwise a complete set (probably damaged or missing from the masters, btw nothing in the liner notes about this).

[Tallguy 3,398]

1 hour ago, StRuPiE said:

That's because the film versions of these cues have a different mix (Terri Nunn's vocal (aka the humming) is missing from the LLL set) and if placed in chronological order there are a few songs that breaks the continuity. I noticed that mostly the crossovers between instrumental and their vocal counterparts (ie Danger Zone/Take my breath away) are missing from the main program. And except for a specific cue in track 3 "Cougar Chased By Mig" everything of the score (film mix accuracy aside) is presented on the set. Strange call by LLL to leave out 1 particular (short) cue from otherwise a complete set (probably damaged or missing from the masters, btw nothing in the liner notes about this).

 

The biggest "failing" of the set is the liner notes. What's there is actually pretty great. But as a for instance it does mention the humming vocals for the instrumental of Take My Breath Away. But it doesn't mention that those vocals are not on the disc! So what are we listening to? And who is the market for this set if not nerds like us who want to know these things?

 

Quote

And except for a specific cue in track 3 "Cougar Chased By Mig"

 

Is that the bit that is tracked with another Faltermeyer score?

 

I GATHER that Dog Fight #3 is an alternate of Goose's Death. But I'm not sure if that's factual or someone's reasonable guess.

[StRuPiE 15]

29 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

Is that the bit that is tracked with another Faltermeyer score?

Oh, I haven't heard about this. It may be so but the cue used in the movie (at least) sounds very TG drone-ish so definitely interesting if it's tracked from another movie. Anyone with more details on this?

 

29 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

I GATHER that Dog Fight #3 is an alternate of Goose's Death. But I'm not sure if that's factual or someone's reasonable guess.

Exactly. It's a trimmed down version (with different mix) of the cue.

[Tallguy 3,398]

3 minutes ago, StRuPiE said:

Oh, I haven't heard about this. It may be so but the cue used in the movie (at least) sounds very TG drone-ish so definitely interesting if it's tracked from another movie. Anyone with more details on this?

 

I think someone said it was from Thief of Hearts (that I am not familiar with).

[HanFiredFirst 37]

My copy arrived today having spent the best part of a week at UK Customs.  Really wish they'd put a note in the liner notes to give us the chronological sequence - trying to remember/guess where songs appeared in relation to track names is a bit hit and miss - even with the helpful Charlie Brigden cue breakdown from 2010.

[StRuPiE 15]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I think someone said it was from Thief of Hearts (that I am not familiar with).

I checked the Quartet 2023 release and you're absolutely right. It uses an edit of "Final Confrontation". Thanks so much!