THE LAND BEFORE TIME (Expanded)

Classic James Horner soundtrack for popular 1988 animation tale gets expanded CD treatment! George Lucas/Steven Spielberg present, Don Bluth directs, Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures release. Box office hit finds group of five young dinosaurs, separated from their parents after a great “earth shake”, foraging for food, fleeing Sharptooth (Tyrannasaurus rex), struggling to survive long and dangerous trek to The Great Valley. James Horner both leads, follows with vivid, colorful symphonic portrait of the five friends, the many perils they encounter and their ultimate triumph over adversity. Horner provides several themes that all receive ample moments to shine. Overall main theme also becomes the beautiful mega-hit song, “If We Hold On Together”, written by James Horner with Will Jennings, performed by the legendary Diana Ross. Horner recorded his score in single, extremely long takes. As a result the film’s large-scale score unfolded with just ten cues. Most are over seven minutes in length, one runs over ten minutes, one of them is nearly 13 minutes long! With very modest assembly, Horner produced a generous album for MCA Records at the time of the movie’s release that dropped just two cues. Those two cues, however, are considerable: “Journey Of The Dinosaurs” runs 8:30 while “Separate Paths” is 7:15. Big cues indeed! Both of them are featured for the first time ever on this new remastering of the entire 74-minute score. Entire Intrada presentation was made from same 6-track film mixes and two-track stereo mixes (derived from 48-channel session masters) that veteran scoring mixer Shawn Murphy utilized in the production of the 1988 MCA album. Audio quality is crisp and vibrant! Colorful booklet designed by Kay Marshall with literate notes by Frank DeWald is another asset. Greig McRitchie orchestrates, Shawn Murphy mixes, James Horner conducts the London Symphony Orchestra, the King’s College School Choir, the Choristers Of St. Paul’s Cathedral and Ladies Chorus. Whew! Intrada Special Collection CD available while quantities and interest remain!

Play all clips

01. The Great Migration (7:50)
02. Sharptooth And The Earthquake (10:33)
03. Whispering Winds (9:00)
04. Foraging For Food (7:16)
05. Journey Of The Dinosaurs (8:30)
06. Separate Paths (7:14)
07. The Rescue / Discovery Of The Great Valley (12:44)
08. End Credits (6:21)
09. “If We Hold On Together”
(Performed by Diana Ross) (4:07)