''Death Wish II: The Original Soundtrack - Music by Jimmy Page '' is a soundtrack album by Jimmy Page, released by Swan Song Records on 15 February 1982, to accompany the film ''

Death Wish II ''Death Wish II'' is a 1982 American vigilante action film directed and co-edited by Michael Winner. It is the first of four sequels to the 1974 film '' Death Wish''. It is the second installment in the ''Death Wish'' film series. In the story ...

''.

Overview

Following the XYZ project, Page was asked by his

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

neighbour, movie director

Michael Winner Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...

, to record a soundtrack for the film ''Death Wish II'' in late August 1981. Page was given a deadline of a few weeks to write and record the album at his personal studio The Sol and to travel on location to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

with Winner for songwriting themes. Winner later explained: ''Death Wish II'' starred Charles Bronson, and was set around Los Angeles, which inspired Page to write a blues-flavoured soundtrack. The soundtrack features Dave Mattacks from Fairport Convention, former

Pretty Things The Pretty Things were an English band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent. They took their name from Willie Dixon's 1955 song "Pretty Thing". A pure rhythm and blues band in their early years, with several singles charting in the Unit ...

keyboards player Gordon Edwards, and veteran singer

Chris Farlowe Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940) is an English rock, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single " Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which rose to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 19 ...

, who also later appeared on Page's 1988 solo album '' Outrider''. Page used a Roland guitar synthesizer on a number of the tracks. Tracks from this album were later reused by Winner for ''

Death Wish III ''Death Wish 3'' is a 1985 American action thriller film directed and edited by Michael Winner. It is the third film and the last to be directed by Winner in the ''Death Wish'' film series. It stars Charles Bronson as the vigilante killer Paul K ...

''. Page was later asked by Winner to compose the soundtrack for ''

Scream for Help ''Scream for Help'' is a 1984 British horror film directed by Michael Winner, written by Tom Holland, and starring Rachael Kelly, David Brooks, and Marie Masters. Set in New Rochelle, New York, the film follows a teenage girl who discovers that ...

'' (1985), but he declined and suggested

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

to the director instead. This album is Page's only solo material to appear on Led Zeppelin's record label Swan Song Records. His two later albums with The Firm were released on

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and ''Outrider'' was on

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. Swan Song ceased operations in 1983. In Japan a vinyl LP was released that featured rare outtakes from the Sol sessions. ''Death Wish II'' was released in CD format in 1999, but all CD versions of the album are now out of print. Today used copies are highly collectible, and can sell for over a hundred dollars. Even though the track "Prelude" is credited solely to Page himself, it is based on " Prelude No. 4 in E minor (Op. 28)" by Frédéric Chopin. The album was re-released by Jimmy Page exclusively through JimmyPage.com on 1 December 2011, in a "heavyweight vinyl package includes previously unreleased material, all-new 2011 sleeve notes and updated artwork." Only 1000 copies were released. Numbers 1–109 have been signed by Jimmy Page, while numbers 110–1000 are available unsigned.

Track listing

1999 Compact disc edition
Same track listing and order as the vinyl release.

Personnel

* Jimmy Page – vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars,

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnersh ...

, synthesizer,

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

, bass, producer *Gordon John Edwards – vocals, electric piano, piano * Stuart Epps –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, mixing *

– Vocals *Dave Lawson – piano, synthesizers *

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician and as a performing artist. Apart from playing the drums, he ...

– drums, percussion *

David Paton David Paton (; born 29 October 1949) is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with " Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" b ...

– bass * David Sinclair Whittaker – piano *GLC Philharmonic – orchestra *The Sol Symphonic –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Death Wish Ii (Album) Action film soundtracks Albums produced by Jimmy Page 1982 soundtrack albums Swan Song Records soundtracks Jimmy Page albums Death Wish (franchise)