Customer Reviews

Death Wish: Original Soundtrack Recording

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Surprising that with the popularity of this film and Herbie Hancock's name that this soundtrack didn't get a bigger release. It carries a nice low price however, and it's a highly recommended collection of funky, moody, dark, and intense pieces. Highlights include the theme and "Fill Your Hand", but the best is the "Revenge Suite", a wonderful 9 minute piece that spans Bronson's nightly vigilante activities and works remarkably well on its own, as does most of the disc. Incidentally, a good portion of the music heard in the film is unfortunately not on this album. (The opening music in Hawaii as well as the ominous cues heard over the credits upon the couple's return to New York City are absent.) Likewise, some of the music on this disc is not featured in the film. (For instance, the "Death Wish Theme" is great but isn't really the opening theme in the film.) Nevertheless, I would encourage Hancock fans, soundtrack fans, and people looking for a solid disc that plays very nicely all the way through and apart from the film to certainly pick this up. Perhaps a bigger label will re-release this with all of the music from the film. It's worth mentioning that this soundtrack is a world better than Jimmy Page's often-painful score for Death Wish II. Hancock should have been brought back.

I can't speak for the work in the film, but the music works pretty well on its own - mainly moody piano numbers. Give it a listen.

Way back in the 70's (when I was in college), I had the 8-track(!!) of this fabulous soundtrack
that I played to death - I couldn't get enough of it. It's so haunting and has such ATMOSPHERE.
Also have the vinyl edition re-released in 1980 with the cool cover of a large menacing city at
night that perfectly matches the music. The cd version released on One Way Records in 1996
sounds great (as opposed to some of the things One Way has released over the years). Herbie
Hancock was HEAVILY into electronics at this time in his career (mid 70's), and it shows with
brilliant effect on "Death Wish". For me, this is some of the best stuff he ever composed, and it's
timeless. The orchestrations, as well, are MAGNIFICENT. On "Death Wish", he used some of the
same players that were in his jazz/funk group at the time. Of special note is the incredible reed
man Bennie Maupin, who is heard on the fast, intense last cut "Fill Your Hand", smoking through
the chart on sax. I consider Hancock's score for "Death Wish" a MASTERPIECE. As is the case
with alot of movies, the soundtrack for "Death Wish", for me, has far more depth than the film
itself. It totally stands on its own as one of Herbie's finer recordings, and is a classic timepiece
from a long-gone era that sounds better than ever now on cd. At the time of Herbie's work on
"Death Wish", he offered to author Sheryl Roberts his feelings on his creative process: "On one
level I consider myself a jazz musician not restricted to jazz." With regard to his fascination
with electronics and its creative potential, he further stated, "Ever since I've played the piano,
I've thought orchestrally. I've always been interested in texture, colors, dynamics, and touch."
"Death Wish" is a classic example of his artistry related to this philosophy. Produced by Hancock
himself along with the legendary David Rubinson (who also produced his mind-bending Warner Bros.
recordings "Mwandishi", "Crossings" and Columbia's "Sextant", and the classic mega-selling "Head-
Hunters"), it's a work of art that has stood the test of time. Thanks, Herbie. 100 million stars.

P.S. For another look at even more brilliant work by Hancock with the above mentioned Bennie
Maupin, check out Maupin's gorgeous, meditative 1974 ECM recording "The Jewel In The Lotus",
finally released on cd several years ago. Staggeringly beautiful and deep, it remains Hancock's
only appearance yet on the stellar ECM label, and features him in full form in both acoustic and
electronic settings with the fabulous reedman and his group, with all selections composed by
Maupin. Another mind-bending classic that sounds better than ever now on cd - WAY ahead of
its time.

Given Herbie Hancock's name and the outright quality and mood of so many of the track's of this score, I am surprised that it took so long to release this to CD and that it was not picked up by a bigger label. This is a really funky, moody, perfect score for the film and it makes for great listening away from the Bronson-famous chiller.

This is great soundtrack work by a top flight musician. Herbbie Hancock does not restrict himself here to the consistancy he lends his non-soundtrack albums, be it gutbucket funk, slick fare like Headhunters, or his classisist aoccustic work.

He throws everything into his Death Wish Stew: creepy panio interludes, big production Barry White instrumental funk, loping string sections, and even some Asian flavored materal.

Beautiful work by a master musican. Hancock is so adpet that he can take wildly divergent styles, and use these like tools from a toolbox to create a coheasive film score. Like any of our most exalted talents, he does not care about genre, just about making his music express the desired emotions as best he can. He completely sucseeds here.

It is hard to beleive this is music for a low brow thriller.

I haven't seen this movie so I can't really comment on how it works with the film. I do have a lot of Herbie Hancock's stuff, and I don't feel that this music holds together well as independent compositions. It's really dark music as well in terms of its tonality and mood; probably very appropriate for the scenes it accompanies but a little depressing to me heard in stark isolation. I'd recommend this for Hancock completists, but all of his Blue Note albums, Headhunters stuff, even the Warner Brothers recordings would come way in advance of this one.

--SD