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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Extraordinarily literate and thoroughly compelling, The Wicker Man has often been called the Citizen Kane of horror movies. Writer Anthony Shaffer and director Robin Hardy built their contemporary (1973) English murder mystery/thriller upon gothic Druid underpinnings and wisely gave songwriter/composer Paul Giovanni (whose first and only film score this is) the freedom to create music of a piece. The score remains one of the most unusual in the entire genre: a collection of original, well-researched folk songs and instrumental underscore that evoke a rare, eerily discomfiting sense of displaced time and place; 70s folk-pop informed by ancient forces of nature and superstition. Long a holy grail among soundtrack aficionados, this lavishly packaged/annotated release has been prepared from recently discovered master tapes with a clarity and presence that gives the late Giovanni's haunting music the gratifying showcase it's so long deserved. --Jerry McCulley
Review
Long thought buried somewhere under the M3 along with prints of the full version of the film, this release represents a truly wondrous piece of archaeology. In most cases any film labelled 'cult' tends to use the label as a get-out clause for some wobbly production that had something to do with Russ Meyer. The Wicker Man was always much more than this. From, probably, the last period when British cinema was prepared to show more than gritty portraits of life 'up north' or sappy feelgood nonsense about Hugh Grant living in a ridiculously large apartment in London, The Wicker Man dared to combine a genuinely creepy story line about provincial paganism with a simply stunning collection of songs. Despite its trouble with the distributors the film has now been rightly placed in the pantheon of great celluloid, and its soundtrack deserves the same accolades.
Ironically the saviour of this sonic scariness was the other übermensch of cult movies, Roger Corman. Found within his private collection of film prints, Paul Giovanni's songs reside neatly against a portrait of the idyllic community of Summerisle whose adherence to an older order attracts the unwanted attentions of uptight Presbyterian policeman Edward Woodward. American Giovanni collected a fine bunch of sessioneers under the banner of Magnet and conjured up some surprisingly authentic-sounding folk numbers. The lilting (how come folk is always lilting?) melodies of numbers like ''Corn Rigs'', ''Gently Johnny'' and ''Willow's Song'' are stuffed with a vaguely sinister eroticism, reflecting Woodward's unease as he scratches the tranquil surface of the island community to discover its sinister secret (you know, the usual: child sacrifice, fertility rituals, Britt Ekland rubbing up against a wall etc.).
Christopher Lee (the Laird of Summerisle and, himself, a vocalist on the bawdy ''The Tinker Of Rye'') described this album as:''...quite extraordinary, it is probably the best music I've ever heard in a film''. He's not far short of the truth. Maybe it takes a foreigner to get to the dark heart of much of our indigenous music, but it's a darkness suffused with beauty. Coupled to the original incidental music - complete with snippets of dialogue, including Woodward's terrified shriek as the full weight of realisation hits him ! - this is a vital document of a time when the UK could still produce classic cinema. It's also a really fine album. --Chris Jones
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
”hail the queen of the may!”,
By
This review is from: The Wicker Man (Audio CD)
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”.
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fantastic release - A must buy!,
By Alex "London reviewer" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Wicker Man (Audio CD)
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.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The difference between the two releases, and why hardcore Wicker Man fans should probably own both,
By Herod (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Wicker Man (Audio CD)
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).
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