The Wicker Man

The first thing that struck me when I got my pre-view copy of this album is how good it looked and felt…The album comes in a mat box, within in it contains the CD, a poster and a huge colour book(let).

This is the first time the music from the wicker man has been issued properly…A few years back there was an issue of the “soundtrack”, in its true meaning, sound and dialogue included. So here, for the first time we have the opportunity to hear the music without planes, seagulls and the crackling of a burning wicker man (although these things do appear on the disc, but now separately, between the tracks).

The CD begins with the folk songs from the movie, these sound remarkably clean considering the age…it only now that I realize how integral the songs are to the movie…this album tells the story. Three quarters through and then we get to a bit of score…nice…some dialogue clips and the end credits.

Listening to the album, you get a real feel for what the film is about, I think Paul Giovanni really hit the right note for this movie, I’ll finish this review with a quote from Christopher Lee extracted from the sleeve notes: “The music to The Wicker Man is quite extraordinary, its probably the best music I’ve ever heard in a film”.

In 1973, a heavily edited film version of "The Wicker Man" was released in UK cinemas as a "B Movie" accompanyment to "Don't Look Now." It remained overlooked for many years. Over the last few years however the film has gained huge cult status and there are several videos, DVDs and books produced about the film.

One of the most memorable elements of the film was the fantastic film soundtrack but only an album that effectively recorded the soundtrack directly from the film (with loud incidental effects) had been available. Until now.

This release by Silva Screen is brilliant and a huge amount of effort has clearly been made in putting it together (I was even contacted by the record company before the album was released about the work they were doing due to my comments on Amazon about the previous soundtrack available).

The first 6-8 tracks contain crystal clear stereo and complete studio recordings of all the main songs from the film. There is also a carefully mixed medally of other incidental music.

The remaining tracks are once again carefully mixed incidental music pieces from the film. Whilst they contain very occasional sound effects, these add the the music. The mono recording quality is also very clear.

The packing and accompanying booklet prepared by one of the musical score assistants is imformative and contains new information not found elsewhere. It offers valuable incite to the making of the film.

I strongly recommend buying this release, even if you are not familiar with the film. It is a highly enjoyable "folky" listen.

I'll not go too deeply into the actual music contained on these CDs; suffice too say that it's beautiful, haunting, witchy folk music and one of the finest soundtracks ever released.

This review is aimed at those who are confused by the numerous discrepencies between the two releases. As one previous reviewer pointed out, there are two seperate releases of The Wicker Man soundtrack, and Amazon have rather lazily mixed up the reviews.

The first release (Trunk Records, 1997, white cover, 27 tracks) is generally considered to be the inferior of the two. It was sourced from the music-and-effects reel produced for the film, so the tracks contain background effects and the occasional snatch of dialogue. The sound quality is pretty poor, with a 'recorded from the TV using a low quality microphone' feel to it.

The second release (Silva Screen Records, 2002, yellow/orange cover, 16 tracks) is of much higher quality, due to the fact that the original studio recordings of the songs had been located. It is these versions that were originally intended for vinyl release in the 70s by Paul Giovanni/Magnet. Sound quality is crystal clear and the songs included are mostly complete, not the chopped-up versions that appear in the 84 minute cut of the film and the first soundtrack. Also, and perhaps most importantly, it includes the wonderful 'Gently Johnny', not available on the original soundtrack.

So, the second release is the clear winner, right? Well, not entirely. Firstly, the original inferior release contains some incidental music from the film not included on the second release. Secondly, the versions of 'The Landlord's Daughter' and 'Willow's Song' on the second release feature different singers to those who actually performed the songs for the film! It's almost as if they are cover versions. Regarding 'The Landlord's Daughter', the song in the film was actually sung by the cast who appear in that scene. The version here on the second release features an entirely different set of singers, recorded especially for Giovanni/Magnet's aborted 70s release. The story surrounding 'Willow's Song' is a little more steeped in mystery, but, whatever, it's not sung by the same woman who sang it in the film. So, if you want the versions of these songs as they appear in the film, you've got to go for the first release.

Also, I disagree, to a certain extent, with some of the other reviewers regarding the background effects audible on the first release. While it is undoubtedly nice to hear the effect-less versions of the second release standing on their own as beautiful folk songs, only the versions with the sounds effects in the background retain all of the atmosphere and mystery that made the music of The Wicker Man so haunting and memorable.

The conclusion - both releases have their merits, and hardcore fans of The Wicker Man need both releases. Casual listeners can choose between faithfulness to the atmosphere of the film (first release) or excellent sound quality (second release).