"The music to the Wicker Man is quite extraordinary. I think it is probably the best music I have heard in a film"Christopher LeeLord Summerisle - The Wicker ManA timely reissue for this seductive and alluring soundtrack on the 45th anniversary of the film's release on December 6th 1973 at London's Metropole Cinema. Based on the themes of fertile pre-Christian practices of pagan Britain, The Wicker Man did not follow the predictable formula of 1970's British horror movies. The equally non-formulaic music score was provided by talented songwriter Paul Giovanni, and his assistant Gary Carpenter. With only six weeks allotted to write, research and record the soundtrack, Giovanni drew on the rich traditions of Celtic music to present a brilliant collection of eclectic folk songs underpinned with aeons old verse.The first eight tracks are the stereo masters which would have been the soundtrack to The Wicker Man that Paul Giovanni originally intended for album release but ultimately never happened because of the films troubled history. These masters were carefully preserved over the years and were presented for release for the first time in 2002.The following three tracks were recorded for the film and used for playback purposes on set but only existed in mono versions and were digitally restored and enhanced for CD release.The balance of the tracks were compiled from various sources (with occasional sound effects) and present elements of the background score to the film to give a more complete representation of this unique score."The brilliant thing about The Wicker Man soundtrack is that it's risibly silly and total genius at the same time" - The Times
