JIMMY PAGE’S OBSCURE BUT INTERESTING DEATH WISH II SOUNDTRACK
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Jimmy Page was asked by neighbor Michael Winner to score his 1982's Death Wish II and Page accepted the project, being as Led Zeppelin was now history following the death of drummer John Bonham. 1974's original Death Wish was scored by jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock and is a good movie score. Page does not try to top Hancock and instead does a rock/blues solo album with a few tracks of incidental music. The album was recorded in his SOL studios and features a collection of musician friends. The album is a strange piece of music overall but not in a negative way. Page uses ample Roland guitar synthesizers as well as actual synths. Reputedly some of the score was revisions of Page’s Lucifer Rising soundtrack which was never used for the Kenneth Anger film due to personal conflicts. I have that soundtrack and there are similarities in pieces like Hotel Rats and Photostats and A Shadow in the City, but I would say not really all that much. The incidental music is droning and eerie while the rock parts are straight ahead jams and classic Page riffing. The album went nowhere as far as the charts are concerned and only Page aficionados seem to even know the album was ever made.-
I once had the album back when I owned vinyl and after that I could never find it on CD though it was released in 1999, but soon went out of print. I found this copy someone made on a BT from their vinyl and you can hear a few pops though really it is a clean sound. Page would shortly form The Firm with Paul Rodgers and go through a long period of doing pretty good rock albums but nothing near the power of his Led Zeppelin material. Death Wish II was his first solo outing and an album sadly forgotten really by one of the great guitar players and composers in rock history. If you are a Page fan you want this. I am and I think it is a good album with some things Page had never done before in Zeppelin. For example, check out Carol’s Theme, a nice acoustic guitar with lush strings (synthed I am sure). You should be able to download the tracks if you want. I found the movie to be a little forgettable - but there were some good scenes of punks getting wasted by a more seasoned Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) - as well as the subsequent sequels. I still enjoy the first movie. Zeppelin bassist/keyboardist John Paul Johns scored a Michael Winner film called Scream for Help after Page decided not to do another soundtrack and was joined by Jimmy and Yes vocalist Jon Anderson for a couple good tracks. I have never seen the film but would like to.-
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Tracks:Who's to Blame (Jimmy Page) - 2:41 The Chase (Page) - 5:48 City Sirens (Page, Gordon Edwards) - 2:01 Jam Sandwich (Page) - 2:35 Carole's Theme (Page) - 2:50 The Release (Page) - 2:35 Hotel Rats and Photostats (Page) - 2:40 A Shadow in the City (Page) - 4:01 Jill's Theme (Page) - 4:00 Prelude (Page) - 2:20 Big Band, Sax and Violence (Page) - 2:51 Hypnotizing Ways (Oh Mamma) (Page) - 2:49
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- Personnel: Jimmy Page – acoustic guitars, electric guitars, guitar synthesizer, synthesizer, theremin, bass, producer Gordon Edwards – vocals, electric piano, piano Stuart Epps – engineer, mixing Chris Farlowe – vocals Dave Lawson – piano, synthesizers Dave Mattacks – drums, percussion David Paton – bass David Sinclair Whittaker – piano GLC Philharmonic – orchestra, and the Sol Symphonic – strings
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July 24th, 2008 at 3:33 am
ok - A little led for you head goes without saying; I loved the Firm - I have their one (?) album on cd (haha); I enjoyed some of Coverdale and Paige stuff - Robert Plant solo is awesome - I loved the Death Wish movies - and agree, none of it touches the original Led Zeppelin.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:24 am
I love Jimmy Page. I actually saw Zeppelin in ‘77 in Cincinatti Ohio right before the tour was canceled becasue of the death of Robert Plant’s son. I later saw Robert Plant in San Antonio Tx and finally saw the underrated Unledded tour in eastern Washington State at The Gorge ampi-theater. A good show really. In truth I have tended to like Plant’s solo work more than Page’s sparse output, but I still admire the man and keep up with what he is doing in his charity work and hobnobbing with other musicians. In an interview Page says he was with Tupac Shakur earlier in the evening that 2pac was killed… for example.
The Firm did two albums actually. The Firm and it was followed by the more structured but less satisfying The Firm Mean Business. On Mean business I love the song Fortune Teller. I liked Page’s work with Paul Rodgers and Davis Coverdale very much and wish he had done more stuff like this rather than redoing old Zep tunes with the Black Crows. I also always thought he would release some sort of acoustic finger style album in the manner of Bert Jansch type material but it never happened despite rumors.