One of the best musical scores of all time — no hyperbole here, I genuinely mean it — is Wojciech Kilar’s beautiful, bombastic Bram Stoker’s Dracula soundtrack. And now, at long last, it’s getting a fancy vinyl release from Mondo.

The score has been available on vinyl before, but this pending Mondo release has been remasted by James Plotkin and features new artwork via JC Richard.

I love the Bram Stoker’s Dracula score so much that I’ve been longing for a new vinyl release the way Dracula longs for blood. I waited, and waited, and waited — and then finally just gave in and ordered an older copy off eBay. It was shipped to me from Poland, and I’m not going to tell you how much I spent on it, but needless to say, it wasn’t cheap. So today I feel a wee bit silly, as Mondo has revealed they’re releasing a newly remastered version. A sane person would say, “That’s okay, I already have it!” But no one has ever accused me of being sane. So, yes, I’m going to double-dip here because how can I not? Look at this thing.

And here are some details:

Music by Wojciech Kilar. Original Song by Annie Lennox. Artwork by JC Richard. Pressed on 180 Gram clear red and purple splatter vinyl. Also available on 180 gram black vinyl. Housed inside a gatefold sleeve. Liner notes by Charlie Bridgen. $30

You’ll be able to scoop this release up on Wednesday, at 12PM CT.

Do What You Want

The Bram Stoker’s Dracula score comes from the late Wojciech Kilar, a Polish composer who also created scores for The Ninth Gate and The Pianist. His Dracula score is loud, operatic, and haunting. It also became almost instantly recognizable, being recycled in trailers for numerous horror movies. When Danny Elfman was hired to score The Wolfman in 2010, he deliberately designed a score meant to resemble (or some might even say rip off) Kilar’s Dracula music.

Director Francis Ford Coppola hired Kilar because he was looking for a composer with “classical eastern European sensibilities” to handle the music. Things didn’t exactly go smoothly, as Kilar actually suffered a heart attack soon after he was hired. Thankfully, he recovered and went on to craft the score — with almost no real input from Coppola. The director reportedly said: “Listen, I’m the director, I made the film. You’re a composer, you’ve seen the film. Do what you want. If you’ve got a respectable good composer, then you have to give him freedom, and a smart director understands this.” Coppola’s hands-off approach clearly worked, resulting in such a fantastic score that we’re all still talking about to this day.

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