Your favorite 30 albums from Intrada (2025)

I start off with my own faves. How many of you can list 30 of your Intrada favorites?

1.THE MECHANIC (Fielding)
2.2001: A SPACE ODDESSY (North)
3.PSYCHO II (Goldsmith)
4.DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS (Bernstein)
5.THE NIGHTCOMERS (Fielding)
6.THE BARBARIAN AND THE GEISHA (Friedhofer)
7.WARLOCK (Goldsmith)
8.ALIEN (Goldsmith)
9.CROMWELL (Cordell)
10.KING KONG LIVES (Scott)
11.BOY ON A DOLPHIN (Friedhofer)
12.A STEP OUT OF LINE / THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL (TV - Goldsmith)
13.BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA / THE KILLER ELITE (Fielding)
14.TROLL (Band)
15.HELL IS FOR HEROES (Rosenman) / ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (Fielding)
16.PLANET OF THE APES (TV - Schifrin)
17.CHATO'S LAND (Fielding)
18.CITY OF FEAR (Goldsmith)
19.LAWMAN (Fielding)
20.THE LAST VIKINGS (Gold) / DOCTOR LEAKEY AND THE DAWN OF MAN (Rosenman) (TV)
21.SHOCK TREATMENT / FATE IS THE HUNTER (Goldsmith)
22.THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Rosenman)
23.THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (Kaplan)
24.THE LOST WORLD / FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON (Sawtell & Shefter)
25.HILDA CRANE (Raksin) / THE REVOLT OF MAMIE STOVER (Friedhofer)
26.DECISION FOR CHEMISTRY / SOUNDER (North)
27.GEORGE PAL @ PARAMOUNT (THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, etc.) (Stevens, Amfitheatrof & Van Cleave)
28.THE HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL (Kaplan) / 10 NORTH FREDERICK (Harline)
29.HOUSE OF BAMBOO (Harline)
30.THE STORY ON PAGE ONE / THE REWARD (Bernstein)

A special mention goes for the suite of COLD HEAVEN by Stanley Myers for that Nicolas Roeg film; that album, though, pairs this suite with TRUSTING BEATRICE (which is not a fave) - so that's why it's not in my Top 30.

I also wish to thank Intrada for championing the film music of Sol Kaplan when other labels rarely - if ever - release Kaplan soundtracks.

Anyway, the ones which immediately spring to mind as being totally 10 outta 10 brilliant (thus excluding, obviously, LOTS of 9 outta 10s) are... let me think...

BORDERLINE (Gil Mellé)
COMES A HORSEMAN (Michael Small)
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (Michael Small)
BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL/ A STEP OUT OF LINE (Jerry Goldsmith)
DUEL (Billy Goldenberg)
THE CAR (Leonard Rosenman)
JOE KIDD (Lalo Schifrin)

That's only 7, but for presentation, listenability, sound quality and sheer quality of the writing, those are absolutely top-notch perfection. Demanding old git.

What about THE ORGANIZATION by Gil M?
Do you have other Michael Small albums, Graham, such as THE DRIVER/STAR CHAMBER?

[by the way, I haven't purchased THE CAR yet - but that's on my wish list. Hope to get into THE CAR before the end of the year. ]

Alien
Back to the Future
Bandolero
Boys from Brazil
Brotherhood of the Bell / A Step out of Line
Capricorn One
Car
Chato's Land
Clash of the Titans
Conan the Barbarian
Duel
Hatari
House of Usher
Jason and the Argonauts
Ivanhoe
Lost Weekend
Master of the World / Goliath and the Barbarians
Mechanic
Miracle Worker
North by Northwest
Parasite
Predator
Red House
Return to Oz
Rio Conchos
Saturn 3
Something Wicked This Way Comes
War Wagon
Wind and the Lion (2 CD)
Wolfen (Safan)

I've got Navy Seals and Rocky IV. Briliant ones both, especially NS.

...and THE BIG SLEEP.

THE SEVEN-UPS comes to mind.

Here are the ones I currently own:

1.Adventures In Babysitting
2.Amazing Stories: Anthology One
3.Amazing Stories: Anthology Three
4.Amazing Stories: Anthology Two
5.Back To The Future
6.Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
7.Cocoon
8.Falling Down
9.Fright Night
10.Hocus Pocus
11.Meteor Man
12.Muppets Most Wanted
13.Night Crossing
14.Once Upon A Time
15.Once Upon A Time - Season 2
16.Paradise / Can't Buy Me Love
17.Psycho II
18.Rocky IV
19.Salem's Lot
20.Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
21.Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country
22.Tinker Bell
23.Tinker Bell And The Great Fairy Rescue
24.Tinker Bell And The Lost Treasure
25.Toy Story 3

What about THE ORGANIZATION by Gil M?
Do you have other Michael Small albums, Graham, such as THE DRIVER/STAR CHAMBER?

[by the way, I haven't purchased THE CAR yet - but that's on my wish list. Hope to get into THE CAR before the end of the year. ]

A couple of points, Zardoz -

Looking at other people's lists, I can up my number of "sheer perfection" to 11 (!) I'd forgotten that the following were Intrada because I was visualising only their usual spine design in my mind's eye when I compiled my first list. So I'm adding -

HOUSE OF USHER (Les Baxter)
LORD OF THE RINGS (Leonard Rosenman)
IVANHOE (Miklós Rózsa, re-recording with Bruce Broughton at the helm)
JULIUS CAESAR (ditto)

You asked about THE ORGANIZATION. It's a truly fantastic Gil Mellé score, but I am being very strict here, and although what music survived is splendid, I always felt a feeling of slight desperation in padding out the release by having the same cue (or part of a cue) appearing three times, and even then it came in at less than 30 minutes. I think somebody said before that it was almost like "a cruel taster of what could have been." But that's why I'm not listing my 9 outta 10s, because then I'd feel like telling you what stops them being a 10.

You also ask about Michael Small. I do have other albums by him, but not on the Intrada label. So I don't have THE DRIVER/ STAR CHAMBER. Some of the Fieldings mentioned are ones I own on other labels too (my MECHANIC is the La-La Land re-issue for instance).

This is bringing me close to my "shocking admissions" hint in my first post. Okay, I'll just blurt it out. I haven't actually got that many scores. I've spent 15 years on this Board harping on about my favourite composers, and I don't think I've even got half of their stuff. There, that's a weight off my chest.

1. Salem's Lot (Harry Sukman)
2. Stephen King's It (Richard Bellis)
3. Alien (Jerry Goldsmith)
4. Rambo III (Jerry Goldsmith)
5. Predator (Alan Silvestri)
6. Poltergeist 2: The Other Side (Jerry Goldsmith)
7. Warlock (Jerry Goldsmith)
8. Flowers in the Attic (Christopher Young)
9. Psycho 2 (Jerry Goldsmith)
10. Judge Dredd (Alan Silvestri)

1) Alien
2) The Andromeda Strain
3) Back to the Future
4) The Black Hole
5)
6) Cocoon
7) Conan the Barbarian
8) Edward Scissorhands
9) The Eiger Sanction
10) Extreme Prejudice
11) First Blood
12) Jason and the Argonauts
13) Jaws
14) Jaws 2
15) Legends of the Fall
16) The Mummy
17) Predator
18) Rambo II
19) Rambo III
20) Robocop
21) Rocket Gibraltar
22) Secret of NIMH
23) Spacecamp
24) Star Trek IV
25) Star Trek VI
26) Ten Commandments
27) Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Our Man Flint/In Like Flint
Judge Dredd
The Last Valley
Mary Queen Of Scots
The Last Wagon
Boy On A Dolphin
Sebastian
The Carpetbaggers
Night Of The Generals (an oldie, but I still enjoy it).

I've only been aware of Intrada since early 2010. Since then there have been many surprises, the two biggest being Cromwell and Sir Gawain And The Green Knight. I recall Spook's incredulous response to seeing the latter gain the light of day, mirroring my sentiments exactly.

ALIEN
A STEP OUT OF LINE / THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL
CAPRICORN ONE
RAMBO III
LINK
BOYS FROM BRAZIL
RIO CONCHOS/THE ARTIST WHO DID NOT WANT TO PAINT
THE SHADOW
OUR MAN/IN LIKE FLINT
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY / MACKINTOSH MAN
IN HARMS WAY
MASADA
KING SOLOMON'S MINES
YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES
TOMBSTONE
SILVERADO
SHADOW CONSPIRACY
LOST IN SPACE
WARGAMES
IVANHOE
ANDROMEDA STRAIN
THE LAST STARFIGHTER
THE STUNT MAN
SWASHBUCKLER
THE DEVILS BRIGADE
THE RESURRECTED
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW / THE ALCHEMIST
TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE
CONDORMAN

BUT - I put together a list of nearly 80 favorites (not that the rest are shabby, just not as much favorites). And I had to come down to one more set of 30 that have really grown on me over the years. Again, in no particular order, except that I start with Goldsmith and Broughton.

HOUR OF THE GUN
BANDOLERO
ISLANDS IN THE STREAM
PSYCHO II
GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY
FIRST BLOOD
PATTON
WIND AND THE LION
EXTREME PREJUDICE
TRUE WOMEN
NARROW MARGIN
TROLL
FIREBIRDS
THE CORE
THE MONEYCHANGERS
TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER
THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES
LAWMAN
DUEL
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
STAR TREK IV AND VI
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
THE WAY WEST
SCARECROWS
THE MECHANIC
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
THE HINDENBURG
ELOISE AT THE PLAZA / ...AT CHRISTMAS TIME
MAXIE

Picking even 30 favorites is tough going, but I'll give it a game attempt. So, here, in no particular order, are thirty Intrada albums I own that are likely the ones that I'd figure out a way to have on a desert island. There are a few that would have been on this list, but I didn't get them until their reissues by other labels (like the "Planet of the Apes" TV series, some of the Michael Small albums, etc.), so I won't list them here:

The Lord of the Rings (Leonard Rosenman)
Cross Creek (Leonard Rosenman)
The Conversation (David Shire)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Paul J. Smith)
On the Waterfront (Leonard Bernstein)
Charade (Henry Mancini)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Leonard Rosenman)
Summer of '42 / The Picasso Summer (Michel Legrand)
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Sol Kaplan)
Once is Not Enough (Henry Mancini)
Elmer Bernstein - The AVA Collection (Elmer Bernstein)
Lost in Space (Bruce Broughton)
The Shadow (Jerry Goldsmith)
Hell is for Heroes / Escape from Alcatraz (Leonard Rosenman, Jerry Fielding)
Cromwell (Frank Cordell)
The Last Hard Men (Leonard Rosenman, Jerry Goldsmith)
Bound for Glory (Leonard Rosenman, Woody Guthrie)
North by Northwest (Bernard Herrmann)
Wolfen - The Unused Score (Craig Safan)
Rampage (Elmer Bernstein)
A Raisin in the Sun / Requiem for a Heavyweight (Laurence Rosenthal)
Brotherhood of the Bell / A Step out of Line (Jerry Goldsmith)
99 44/100% Dead (Henry Mancini)
Straw Dogs (Jerry Fielding)
The Andromeda Strain (Gil Mellé)
Foul Play (Charles Fox)
The Pick-Up Artist / Sherlock Holmes in New York (Georges Delerue, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett)
Return to Oz (David Shire)
2001: A Space Odyssey - The Unused Score (Alex North)
Players (Jerry Goldsmith)

And this leaves off a few dozen other albums that I love beyond reason - including the Excalibur Collection, and many more from Rosenman, Shire, Rosenthal, and Fielding... and Addison, and Goldsmith, and Kaper, and Rózsa, and Broughton, and... well, you get the idea.

And then, of course, who knows what untold treasures are coming down the road that may someday find their way on a list like this. Intrada's unveiled a lot of brilliant musical treasures over the last thirty years, and I'm curious and excited to see what's next!

This 'top-thirty' - such as it is - would likely be somewhat different if I were to think it through tomorrow, but this one is pretty accurate to where I am today. Really enjoying reading everyone else's lists, it's inspiring me to revisit a lot of these albums, which is always a treat!

Escape from Alcatraz/Hell is for Heroes
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
Straw Dogs
Die Sister Die
Renegades
Wolfen (Safan)
Wolfen (Horner)
48hrs
The Conversation
The Hunt for Red October
Return to Oz
The Last Hard Men
Ravagers
The Wind and the Lion
Warlock