The 1990s saw a revival of the Hollywood disaster epic, with two large-budget volcano films competing in early 1997—and both Dante’s Peak and Volcano had their soundtracks released by Varèse Sarabande. Following the Deluxe Edition of Volcano in 2020, this 2CD set of Dante’s Peak expands its massive John Frizzell score—with themes by James Newton Howard—in a triumph of explosive, symphonic ’90s action.

Dante’s Peak was directed by Roger Donaldson (The Bounty, Species) and starred Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton in escaping a Mount St. Helens-type blast in Washington State. James Newton Howard was initially hired to compose the score, but left due to scheduling. Howard contributed two main themes, for the volcano and the film’s romantic relationship, and recommended John Frizzell for the score (as the two had done on The Rich Man’s Wife).

Working at a furious pace, Frizzell composed a massive, symphonic score befitting the life-or-death struggle of outrunning a catastrophic volcano—but also containing moments of grandeur, suspense and softer contemplation. “I’m very structural,” Frizzell told Tim Greiving, interviewed jointly with Donaldson for the new liner notes. “So I actually drew maps of the film, placing James’ themes in key moments and trying to break down structurally how I wanted to have a roadmap—knowing how much tension I needed to have and where I could hit the throttle.”

Varèse Sarabande’s Deluxe Edition of Dante’s Peak features the 93-minute score across disc one and two, with the 1997 half-hour album at the end of disc two. -VARESE

DISC ONE
1. Main Title (From The Motion Picture “Dante’s Peak”) † (5:36) 2. Welcome To Dante (1:05) 3. Swinging Rope / Poached Lovers (1:44) 4. To The Mountain / Measuring Alkalinity †† (2:19) 5. The Close Call (Film Version) (1:48) 6. Paul Confronts Harry (3:04) 7. Flirting † / Helicopter Ride † (2:31) 8. Porch Talk † / Men At Work (3:03) 9. Trapped In The Crater (Film Version) †† (5:53) 10. Frog Soup (1:15) 11. On The Porch (Film Version) † (2:40) 12. The Evacuation Begins (Film Version) †† (4:16) 13. The Earthquake ‡ (4:11) 14. Mass Exodus †† (4:15) 15. The Helicopter Crash (Film Version) †† (2:43) 16. In The Cabin (1:51) 17. Acid Lake (2:38) 18. Escaping The Burning House (Film Version) (3:23) 19. Sinking On Acid Lake (Film Version) (3:20) 20. Ruth Dies † (1:53)

DISC TWO
1. Jump Start Truck (2:34) 2. Paul Dies (2:50) 3. Stuck In The Lava (Film Version) (2:27) 4. Devastation †† (1:55) 5. The Pyroclastic Cloud (1:33) 6. Crash Into The Mine ‡‡ (1:46) 7. Magnificent Explosion †† (1:50) 8. The Mine Collapse (3:58) 9. The Rescue (Film Version) ° (4:56) 10. Paul Dies (Alternate Take) (2:49) 11. Magnificent Explosion (Alternate Excerpt) †† (1:20) 12. The Rescue (Alternate Version) ° (4:44)

The Original 1996 Soundtrack Album
13. Main Title (From The Motion Picture “Dante’s Peak”) † (5:29) 14. The Close Call (1:43) 15. Trapped In The Crater †† (5:03) 16. On The Porch † (2:31) 17. The Evacuation Begins †† (4:11) 18. The Helicopter Crash †† (1:27) 19. Escaping The Burning House (2:32) 20. Sinking On Acid Lake (2:37) 21. Stuck In The Lava (1:44) 22. The Rescue (3:06)

† Composed by James Newton Howard
†† Composed by John Frizzell and James Newton Howard
‡ Composed by John Frizzell and John Van Tongeren
‡‡ Composed by John Frizzell, Steve Porcaro and Brad Dechter
° Composed by John Frizzell, James Newton Howard and Jeff Atmajian