Lightyear’s Vinyl Soundtrack Is Michael Giacchino at His Joyous Best

June 21, 2022 E Jazz Reporter

buzz with a rainbow of color on his helmet — Lightyear art by Devin Elle Kurtz graces the cover of Mondo’s exclusive vinyl.

These days when you think of big, adventurous, sci-fi scores, there’s one name at the top of the list: Michael Giacchino. In the past few months alone, the prolific, Oscar-winning composer did the scores for Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Batman, Jurassic World Dominion, as well as the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. Which is completely wild, especially when you realize that’s actually not it. In between, he also did Pixar’s Lightyear, which is getting an exclusive vinyl release from Mondo later this week. io9 is excited to exclusively debut that release.

“What I’ve enjoyed much about working on Lightyear is that it’s not just a sci-fi movie—it’s a sci-fi movie that exists within Andy’s world,” Giacchino said in a press release. “I felt that the music needed to embody the love that Andy felt watching Buzz on screen for the first time. The more I thought about Andy in the theater seeing this movie, the more I realized that Lightyear is exactly the kind of movie that I would have loved as a kid. So, I tried to inject the music with as much fun and childlike joy as I could, to honor the spirit of kids—like me and Andy—seeing their favorite movies on the big screen for the very first time.”

Obviously, you can hear that score in theaters now (and you should, though not many of you have) or you can pick up this release from Mondo. It’s a double LP featuring artwork by Devin Elle Kurtz, liner notes by The Wrap’s Drew Taylor, and is pressed on 2x 180 Gram color vinyl. It costs $40 and goes on sale Wednesday, June 22 at mondoshop.com. Here’s the album cover.

the full album cover — Mondo’s vinyl for Lightyear with art by Devin Elle Kurtz

And here’s the gatefold.

buzz standing at a sunset — The vinyl gatefold by Devin Elle Kurtz

Finally, a closer work at the discs themselves.

with white streaks like flying through space — The LPs themselves

Plus, this wouldn’t be a Michael Giacchino score without appropriately clever and fun track titles. So here they are.

Lightyear Score Track Listing

Disc One – Side A

1. Mission Log 2:22
2. Initial Greetings 3:23
3. Lightyear 2:45
4. The Best Laid Flight Plans of Space and Men 1:11
5. Blown on Course 1:50
6. A Hyper Failure 0:55
7. Lightyear’s Behind 1:43
8. Mission Perpetual 2:41
9. The Lone Space Ranger 2:26

Disc One – Side B

1. Afternoon Delight Speed 4:42
2. Light Speed at the End of The Tunnel 0:33
3. Relative Success 0:41
4. Zurg Awakens 1:52
5. Operations Surprise Party0:43
6. A Good Day to Not Die 2:36
7. Zurg’s Displeasure 0:29
8. Space Afraiders 3:56
9. Zurg-onomics 1:59

Disc Two – Side A

1. Oh, Hover 2:55
2. Mistake It All In 1:31
3. Buzz, Meet Zurg 1:34
4. To Infinity And Be Gone 4:12
5. Hawthore In Her Side 0:56
6. World’s Worst Self-Destruct Sequence 1:38
7. Time To Space Your Fears 4:00
8. Hiding from Yourself 1:19
9. Improv-Izzy-tion 0:49

Disc Two – Side B

1. Back To Buzzness 3:10
2. Home On The Space Range 2:57
3. Infinite MOEtion 2:07
4. One Suite Buzz 12:26

“With Michael, you know you’re in the hands of a professional and, honestly, he is so much fun to work with that you can hear that fun in his music,” Lightyear producer Gayln Susman said. “The themes he creates have a personality in and of themselves. You hear the theme and realize he’s truly captured the essence of that character.”

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