Today, Varèse Sarabande Records announced the LP release of The Iron Giant (Deluxe Edition) Original Motion Picture Score, with music by Michael Kamen. Varèse Sarabande has previously released Kamen’s The Iron Giant score as a 49-minute program single LP. The 2-LP Deluxe Edition, which will release commercially on August 5, is available now for pre-order at all retailers.

Based on the 1968 book of the same name by English poet and children’s writer Ted Hughes, The Iron Giant is a marvel of heartfelt storytelling, with timeless themes of friendship, caring and self-determination. The 2-LP package aims to tap directly into the ethos and deep feeling of the movie, 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 — one can open the eyes in either normal or defense mode, as seen in this unboxing video.

Adapted for the screen by co-writer/director Brad Bird, 1999’s The Iron Giant tells the story of a young boy, nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes (voiced by Eli Marienthal), who lives with his widowed mother Annie (voiced by Jennifer Aniston) and befriends a 50-foot tall alien robot (voiced by Vin Diesel) during the Sputnik era of the Cold War.

Kamen’s beautiful, sympathetic score — his first animated film, and one of his last major works prior to his untimely passing in 2003 — is integral to The Iron Giant’s full-bodied emotionality. Grandly performed by the Czech Philharmonic, it’s full of melody, humor and sensitivity, and scales as big as the threat of nuclear annihilation and as intimate as the goodness that connects Hogarth to the alien machine who decides he would rather be “Superman” than a weapon.

This Deluxe Edition release adds an additional 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, and performed by Kamen and Eric Clapton. Tim Greiving’s new liner notes feature interview material with Bird, music editor Christopher Brooks, and orchestrator Blake Neely, going deep into Kamen’s working process and their shared adoration for the gifted, late composer. A green vinyl version available exclusively via Varèse Sarabande can be found here.

Written by: Brent Simon