My latest feature for Gibson.com is about an album that made a huge impression on me back in the day. Heres’ a teaser below, but hit up this link for the rest.

These days it’s common – nay, expected – for a big blockbuster movie to have a kickass soundtrack packed with original new tracks by the big heavy-hitters of the day. But it wasn’t always like that. Once upon a time, the movie soundtrack section of a record store was populated largely by recordings of the actual orchestral music scores of films. If a soundtrack featured pop songs, they were often classic tracks that everybody knew. Even in the case of big blockbuster soundtracks that featured a healthy amount of original new songs – like the album that accompanied the release of Dirty Dancing in 1987 – the tracks were very much mainstream radio-friendly pop. So the 1993 release of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero and its soundtrack sent shockwaves through the hard rock and heavy metal scene of the day. This was an album which featured new, never-before-heard tracks by some of the biggest names in heavy music at the time, including two of thrash’s Big Four. Check out this track listing:

“Big Gun” – AC/DC

“What the Hell Have I” – Alice in Chains

“Angry Again” – Megadeth

“Real World” – Michael Kamen and Queensrÿche

“Two Steps Behind” – Def Leppard

“Poison My Eyes” – Anthrax

“Dream On” [Live] – Aerosmith

“A Little Bitter” – Alice in Chains

“Cock the Hammer” – Cypress Hill

“Swim” – Fishbone

“Last Action Hero” – Tesla

“Jack and the Ripper” – Michael Kamen & Buckethead