Album Review: Various Artists, The Man Who Fell To Earth

In addition to his glittering music career, David Bowie also made a significant contribution to cinema. As with his records and live performances, the late singer broke new ground in the medium, albeit on a more modest scale.

Unlike most rock-come-movie stars, his performances in Nic Roeg’s sci-fi classic The Man Who Fell To Earth, as well as Merry Christmas, Mister Lawrence and The Prestige, won admiring reviews that, compared to Mick Jagger’s notices, were virtually standing ovations.

Given that he revisited the story in theatrical form late in his life – in collaboration with Irish playwright Enda Walsh – The Man Who Fell To Earth (which tells the tale of an alien who crash-lands on Earth, and ends up broken and alone) was clearly a project that mattered to him. It’s perhaps fitting then, that a restored version of the film, and a release – for the first time – of its soundtrack are the first posthumous reissues of Bowie’s output.

The singer actually recorded a soundtrack for the movie, although complex legal wranglings have meant it has never seen the light of day. We don’t have it now either, but the music here – consisting largely of pieces by the Mamas and Papas’ John Phillips and Japanese composer Stomu Yamashta – makes for sumptuous listening. While Phillips’ contributions are mostly garish (if fun) country pastiches, Yamashta’s avant garde ambient suites are uniformly superb. The unsettling chamber piece ‘Memory Of Hiroshima’, in particular, is simply stunning.

Elsewhere, there are a few odds and ends which are enjoyable if inessential, including Louis Armstrong’s mellow, jazzy take on ‘Blueberry Hill’ and The Kingston Trio’s folk ballad ‘Try To Remember’. Overall, though, The Man Who Fell To Earth is powerful and emotionally resonant stuff.