Phew!

[swashbuckler332]

After wrestling with the Screen Archives website for over an hour and a half, I finally managed to get my order for the Blue Box through. I'm glad, because if I would not have been able to order this because of some comic book fans who don't give a shit about film music the other 365 days¹ out of the year, I'd have been pretty pissed. Anyone who has read this journal knows I have written extensively on the topic of the Superman score and film (hence the dedicated tag). Happily, that was not the case, and my set will be on it's way as soon as it becomes available.

I do have to say that I'm surprised at how unprepared Screen Archives was for this! Craig and his crew are among the most reliable vendors I've ever dealt with, and I see that they did take measures, however inadequate, to prepare for this. However, I was surprised when Lukas said that he didn't think this item would sell out immediately, and I can only assume that he was comparing this to the Bernstein FMC box set, which is a completely different kettle of fish. In addition to being centered around one of the most popular scores of one of the most popular film composers, it also has a wider appeal than most Film Score Monthly releases. Somewhere along the line, the 3,000 copies of the initial pressing became the only 3,000 copies that will be available. I can only assume that the market was grossly underestimated in the first place.

Part of the problem, of course, was Bruce Marshall's post about the Blue Box way back in the day, which caused a lot of buzz and speculation, which ended up with the news about the contents to leak out earlier than it ever should have. Had this not been the case, while I do believe that Screen Archives would still have been hit hard today, it wouldn't have been quite as disastrous as it was; they are also pissing off other retailers as they've asked them to stop taking orders until they get their site running normally.

Up until today, I've never had anything but positive things to say about Screen Archives. I won't stop saying positive things about Screen Archives because they've always been reasonable. They just had a bad day, but it was the wrong day to have a bad day!

If you're reading this and interested and can't load the link above, try Intrada.

¹ - It's a leap year, remember?

SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978)
Music Composed and Conducted by John Williams
Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra

DISC 1


1. Theme From Superman 4:23
   
2. Prelude and Main Title 5:02
   
3. The Planet Krypton 6:36
   
4. Destruction of Krypton 7:53
   
5. The Kryptonquake 2:24
   
6. The Trip to Earth 2:30
   
7. Growing Up 2:32
   
8. Jonathan's Death 3:23
   
9. Leaving Home 4:48
   
10. The Fortress of Solitude 9:18
    
11. The Mugger 2:07
    
12. Lex Luthor's Lair 4:48
    
13. Helicopter Sequence 5:55
    
14. The Burglar Sequence/Chasing Crooks 3:18
    
15. Super Rescues 2:16
    
16. The Penthouse 1:31
    
17. The Flying Sequence 8:10
    
18. Clark Loses His Nerve 0:46
    
    Total Disc Time: 78:36

DISC 2


1. The March of the Villains 3:35
   
2. The Truck Convoy/Miss Teschmacher Helps 3:24
   
3. To the Lair 2:18
   
4. Trajectory Malfunction/Luthor's Lethal Weapon 3:24
   
5. Chasing Rockets 4:57
   
6. Superfeats 4:54
   
7. Pushing Boulders/Flying to Lois 5:21
   
8. Turning Back the World 2:03
   
9. The Prison Yard/End Title 6:37
   
10. Love Theme From Superman 4:58
    
    Total Time: 41:55
    
    Total Score Time: 120:31
    
    
11. Alternates
    
12. Prelude and Main Title 3:46
    
13. The Planet Krypton 3:16
    
14. The Dome Opens 2:30
    
15. The Mugger 1:24
    
16. I Can Fly (Flying Sequence segment) 2:01
    
17. Can You Read My Mind (film version) 3:02
    
18. Trajectory Malfunction 1:01
    
19. Turning Back the World 2:16
    
20. The Prison Yard/End Title (film version) 5:44
    
    Total Time: 25:32
    
    Total Disc Time: 67:27
    
    Total Two-Disc Time: 146:03

DISC 3

SUPERMAN II (1980)
Music Composed and Conducted by Ken Thorne
From Original Material Composed by John Williams


1. Preface/Villains in Zone/Main Title March 8:18
   
2. Superman to Paris/Lois Climbs Tower 2:47
   
3. Walkie-Talkies/Gelignite Bangs/Superman Saves Lift 2:08
   
4. Lift Into Space -- Releasing the Villains 1:32
   
5. Orange Juice/Prison Intro/My Little Black Box 1:48
   
6. Ursa Flies Over Moon/Spacecraft Wrecked/Moon to Earth 4:04
   
7. Lex Escapes 2:03
   
8. Sleeping Arrangements/Relaxing at Niagara/Looks Familiar/Superman Saves Boy 3:31
   
9. Lex and Miss Teschmacher to Fortress/Lex Plans Partnership 2:35
   
10. Suspecting Lois Takes the Plunge/Clark Fumbles Rescue/Villains Land by Lake 3:33
    
11. Clark Exposed as Superman 3:11
    
12. Sheriff and Duane Meet Villains/Lovers Fly North 2:21
    
13. Daddy's Rise and Fall/Flight for Flowers/East Houston Battle 3:03
    
14. Lovers at Dinner Table/Zod Meets General 1:35
    
15. Mother's Advice 1:49
    
16. To Bed -- Mount Rushmore -- Sweet Dreams 1:32
    
17. President Kneels Before Zod 1:53
    
18. Fight in Diner 1:04
    
19. TV President Resigns -- Clark to Fortress 2:42
    
20. Return of the Green Crystal/Bored Zod 2:16
    
21. Non Wrecks Office 1:27
    
22. Aerial Battle/Zod Throws Slab/Superman Saves Spire 4:49
    
23. Superman Saves Petrol Tanker/Superman Fights Zod/Superman Flies Off 4:29
    
24. Villains Take Lex and Lois to Fortress/School Games 3:11
    
25. Superman Pulls Big Switch/Superman Triumphs Over Villains 1:56
    
26. Sad Return 1:38
    
27. Lois Forgets 1:46
    
28. Happy Lois Back to Normal/Superman Replaces Stars and Stripes/End Title March 5:34
    
    Total Time: 79:46

DISC 4

SUPERMAN III (1983)
Music Composed and Conducted by Ken Thorne
Original Superman Themes by John Williams


1. Main Title (The Streets of Metropolis) 5:27
   
2. Gus on Computer After the Cents 1:06
   
3. Saving the Factory -- The Acid Test 6:11
   
4. Pay Day for Gus/School Gym -- Earth Angel/Vulcan 1:37
   
5. Lana and Clark in Cornfield/Clark Rescues Ricky 2:27
   
6. Gus Shows the Booze/Gus Finds a Way 1:20
   
7. Montage 3:10
   
8. Colombian Storm 1:30
   
9. Kryptonite/Gus Down Building/Searching for Kryptonite 2:16
   
10. Lana and Clark on Telephone/Kryptonite Sting/Superman Affected by Kryptonite/Superman Too Late 1:48
    
11. Tower of Pisa/What Will It Do for Me 1:58
    
12. Superman and Lorelei on Statue/Superman Ruins Tanker 2:19
    
13. Boxes in Canyon/Drunken Superman 3:22
    
14. The Two Faces of Superman 2:52
    
15. The Struggle Within 2:27
    
16. The Final Victory 2:15
    
17. Preparing Balloons/Superman Coming/Computer 3:02
    
18. Rockets/Video Games/Big Missile 3:11
    
19. Superman Confronts Ross/Computer Takes Over/Gus Fights Ross 2:13
    
20. The Computer Comes Alive/Superman Leaves Computer Cave 2:32
    
21. Metal Vera/Computer Blows Up 2:55
    
22. Gus Flying With Superman 1:19
    
23. Diamond Sting/Thank You Superman/Superman Gus/Clark Gives Lana Diamond Ring 1:40
    
24. End Credits 4:28
    
    Total Time: 64:19

SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE (1987)
Music by John Williams
Adapted and Conducted by Alexander Courage
Performed by the Graunke Symphony Orchestra and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of London

DISC 5


1. Fanfare/Space Saver 1:48
   
2. Main Title/Back in Time 5:40
   
3. Pow!/Good Morning 2:45
   
4. Smoke the Yokes/Nefarious 1:04
   
5. To Work/Train Stopper 2:06
   
6. Someone Like You (Lacy's Theme) 3:17
   
7. Jeremy's Theme 2:13
   
8. For Real/The Class 1:43
   
9. Hair Raisers 0:59
   
10. Lacy/The Visit 2:27
    
11. First Nuclear Man 5:24
    
12. Nuke 1 Fight/Ashes 3:45
    
13. Headline 2:48
    
14. Fresh Air 4:33
    
15. United Nations/Net Man 4:42
    
16. Sunstroke/Enter Nuclear Man 2 5:25
    
17. Flight to Earth/Introducing Nuclear Man 2 3:27
    
18. Lacy (disco version) 2:13
    
19. Lacy's Place 5:23
    
20. Ear Ache/Confrontation/Tornado 8:09
    
21. Volcano 2:18
    
22. Statue of Liberty Fight 3:44
    
    Total Time: 76:44

DISC 6


1. Nuclear Man Theme 2:45
   
2. Down With Flu 3:12
   
3. Two-Faced Lex/Missile Buildup 1:39
   
4. Persuader/Awakened 3:13
   
5. Abducted/Mutual Distrust 4:43
   
6. Metropolis Fight/Lift to the Moon 3:36
   
7. Moon Fight/Goodbye Nuke 5:06
   
8. Come Uppance/Lifted/Quarried/Flying With Jeremy/End Credits 9:34
   
   Total Time: 34:06
   
   Total Score Time: 110:52
   
   Alternates and Source Music
   
9. Fresh Air (album version) 4:35
   
10. Someone Like You (Lacy's Theme) (slow version) 3:33
    
11. Red Square Band 0:52
    
    Total Time: 9:11
    
    Source Music and Songs by Paul Fishman
    
    
12. Superfly Guy 4:11
    
13. Headphone Heaven 3:23
    
14. Revolution Now 4:26
    
15. Saxy Sadie 4:47
    
16. Krypton Nights 4:44
    
17. Life's Too Dangerous 3:14
    
18. Workout 2:27
    
19. Lois Love 4:56
    
    Total Time: 32:27
    
    Total Disc Time: 75:44
    
    Total Two-Disc Time: 152:28

DISC 7

SUPERMAN (1988 ANIMATED SERIES)
Music Composed and Conducted by Ron Jones


1. Main Title (Williams/Jones) 1:07
   "Destroy the Defendroids"
   
2. Drone/Blown Drone 2:12
   
3. Talk With Lex 2:29
   
4. Trouble in the Park/Fire Rescues 3:23
   
5. Supe Quits/Fake Quake 2:20
   
6. Saved From Lava/Plans 2:18
   
7. Super Defendroid/Operation Nugget 2:40
   
8. Droid Wars/Warning 3:25
   
9. Superman's Family Album: The Adoption 4:23
   
   
10. Main Title Alternate (Jones) 1:08
    
    "Fugitive From Space"
    
11. Alien Discovery 2:01
    
12. The Suit 1:36
    
13. Daily Planet Mystery Play-On/Jimmy and Chief 1:14
    
14. Kyroni Encounter 2:22
    
15. The Planting/Ship's Log 2:16
    
16. Something's Up #2/Bad Guy Dialogue #1 1:28
    
17. Trouble in Metropolis 0:50
    
18. Aliens Take Over the World 2:07
    
19. Superman's Family Album: The Supermarket 3:54
    
20. Superman Theme 1:02
    
    "By the Skin of the Dragon's Teeth"
    
21. China Play-On/Nukua's Theme 1:26
    
22. Saboteur 1:36
    
23. Transition #3/Bad Guy Dialogue #6/Dragon's Treasure 1:21
    
    "Triple-Play"
    
24. Prankster's Theme/Game Montage/No Baseball 3:48
    
    "Cybron Strikes"
    
25. Superman's Family Album: The First Day of School 4:35
    
    Library Music
    
26. Library Suite #1 (arr. Mark McKenzie) 4:53
    
27. Library Suite #2 3:21
    
28. Aliens Take Over the World (alternate #1 -- orchestra only) 2:06
    
29. Library Suite #3 2:41
    
30. Library Suite #4 2:02
    
31. Library Suite #5 1:52
    
32. Aliens Take Over the World (alternate #2 -- strings/synth only) 1:26
    
33. Library Suite #6 1:32
    
34. Library Suite #7 0:36
    
35. End Title 0:27
    
    Total Time: 79:13

DISC 8

EXTRA!
Additional Alternates, Source Music and Songs

Superman: The Movie


1. Prelude and Main Title (film version) 5:19
   
2. The Flying Sequence (album version) 8:11
   
3. Can You Read My Mind (original version) 2:51
   
4. Can You Read My Mind (non-vocal version) 3:02
   
5. Kansas High School 1:56
   
6. Kansas Kids 1:49
   
7. Lois Car Radio 2:02
   
8. Luthor's Luau 2:43
   
   Total Time: 28:13
   
   Superman II
   
   
9. Honeymoon Hotel 3:11
   
10. Country & Western 2:07
    
11. East Houston Cafe 2:13
    
12. Car Radio for Ride Back 0:56
    
13. Diner Jukebox #1 2:14
    
14. Diner Jukebox #2 2:16
    
    Total Time: 13:17
    
    Superman III
    
    
15. Main Title (The Streets of Metropolis) (alternate) 5:26
    
16. Pay Day for Gus (alternate) 0:40
    
17. Colombian Storm Part 1 1:05
    
18. Olympic Parade 0:25
    
19. Apres Ski 1:04
    
    Total Time: 8:57
    
    Songs Composed and Produced by Giorgio Moroder
    Lyrics by Keith Forsey
    
    
20. Rock On 3:40
    
21. No See, No Cry 3:16
    
22. They Won't Get Me 3:20
    
23. Love Theme 3:13
    
24. Main Title March (Williams, arr. Moroder) 4:14
    
    Total Time: 18:00
    
    Total Disc Time: 68:27

Well, Superman II looks shorter than I was expecting it to be. Hmmm... you can tell how much Superman IV was restructured by this track listing; it's clear that there was supposed to be a cold open before the title sequence (I doubt it would have helped the film much). There are a plethora of alternate marches here, I'm wondering if the "film version" of the Superman Prelude and Main Title on disc 8 is an edit of the main title as it appears in the film; if it is, hopefully it was done without the cuts to the march itself and the pitch adjustment. I can't wait to get these scores sounding as good as I'm sure they're going to...