There have been so many amazing superhero musical scores over the last 30+ years. You Can’t have a conversation about iconic superhero themes without mentioning Danny Elfman’s amazing score for Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man. The film is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and now Elfman’s score is coming to vinyl for the very first time.
The exciting release will come in three different variations of your choice including a gold, black, or silver 180-gram color vinyl. The vinyl will be packaged in a soft-touch gatefold jacket with a UV spotgloss cover and a two-sided poster insert/printed sleeve. The front cover has the classic poster of Spider-Man climbing up a building showing off his iconic comic accurate costume.
When we’re just talking about Elfman’s Spider-Man theme, it’s one of the best sounds in cinematic history. The way it slowly builds into this layered and bombastic classical hero’s journey is next to none. It adds to the brilliant atmosphere of the film and is one of the few genre scores that feels like its own unique character. A great musical score can tell its own story separate from the film itself. From the word go, Elfman does that. You completely understand Spider-Man’s origin story with just his whimsical sound. His flaws and all.
Like John Williams‘ Superman score or Elfman’s own Batman score, the soundtrack found in this film is what we associate with this spectacular Web-Head. There have been other interpretations of Spider-Man since 2002 with their own fun scores, but none can compare to what Elfman did in the first two Raimi Spider-Man films. It’s cliché to say, but this score makes you feel like Spider-Man. You feel like you’re thrillingly web swinging through New York City. It’s so romantic, emotional, epic, and they simply don’t make musical scores like this anymore.
However, a hero is only as good as his villain and the Green Goblin’s theme in Spider-Man matches the Wall Crawler’s sound with some sinister fun horror vibes. Elfman tapped into Raimi’s horror routes with the Goblin. If you were a child back in 2002 watching Spider-Man in theaters, what these two cinematic legends brought to this classic comic book villain satisfyingly traumatized you for life.
20 years later, Spider-Man’s still one of the greatest comic book movies ever made. That’s thanks to Raimi’s incredible direction, the brilliant performances from Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe, and the memorable action, but it also has to do with its musical score. Music can make or break a film. It can elevate a good movie to an all-time classic and vice versa. Elfman helped Spider-Man become a household name to the point that when Maguire reprised his role as Spider-Man in No Way Home, and we heard his theme for the first time in almost 15 years, most grown adults cried their eyes out. That’s the power of cinema and good music.
The superhero landscape was forever changed because of classics like Spider-Man. Many Marvel fans have grown up with Tom Holland as their Spider-Man, but thanks to No Way Home they’re revisiting the film that started it all. There would be no MCU without the work that Raimi and Elfman did on the original Spider-Man. To celebrate 20 years of Spider-Man on the big screen, plus 60 years of the character overall, you can pre-order Elfman’s Spider-Man Vinyl on Sony Music’s website, and check out an image below:
