The Iron Giant

The Iron Giant | ^{Michael Kamen
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack}

Deluxe two LP set. The Iron Giant is a modern animation classic with a beautiful, sympathetic score by Michael Kamen. This set expands the program to 64 minutes of score with alternates and rare demos – including an unrealized song, “Souls Don’t Die,” based on Kamen’s theme, performed with Eric Clapton. The package is a marvel, with a pull tab opening the robots die-cut eyes on the front jacket. Depending on which inner sleeve is behind the cover, the reveal is different.

The Iron Giant (1999) is a modern classic, an animated film directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol) about a young boy who befriends a giant alien robot during the Sputnik era of the Cold War. Based on the 1968 book The Iron Man by poet Ted Hughes, the film is a marvel of heartfelt storytelling, with timeless themes of friendship, caring and self-determination.

The 2-LP package taps directly into the ethos of the film, with a pull tab opening the Giant’s die-cut eyes on the front jacket. Depending on which inner sleeve has been slotted in the first position directly behind the cover, the reveal is different. Open the eyes in normal or defense mode!

Creating the Iron Giant’s beautiful, sympathetic score was Michael Kamen—one of his last major scores and his first animated film, miles away from the action blockbusters for which he had become known, but much closer to his heart. Kamen’s gorgeous score is full of melody, humor and sensitivity, grandly performed by the Czech Philharmonic. It scales as big as the threat of nuclear annihilation, and as intimate as the goodness that connects nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes to the alien machine—who decides he would rather be “Superman” than a weapon.

Varèse Sarabande released Kamen’s The Iron Giant score as a 49-minute program in 1999. This Deluxe Edition fills two LPs, with a 64-minute score program plus 13 minutes of alternates, outtakes and rare demos—including a piano-and-guitar attempt at an unrealized song, “Souls Don’t Die,” based on Kamen’s theme, performed by Kamen and Eric Clapton. Tim Greiving’s new liner notes feature new interview material with director Brad Bird, music editor Christopher Brooks and orchestrator Blake Neely, going deep into Kamen’s working process and their adoration for the gifted, late composer.