Los Angeles, CA -- Virgin Records is pleased to announce the release of Stigmata, the highly anticipated soundtrack to the MGM motion picture, in stores on August 24.
The Stigmata soundtrack features over forty minutes of original orchestral score by The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan and industry veteran Mike Garson. Corgan and Garson have also penned the album's title song, "identify," a new track written expressly for the film with vocals by pop sensation Natalie Imbruglia. Stigmata also features "The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell," an electrifying new track from the legendary David Bowie and remixes of Chumbawamba's "Mary Mary" and Bjork's "All Is Full of Love," both exclusive to the soundtrack. Finally, rounding out this exceptional collection of music are previously released tracks from Massive Attack, Remy Zero and Afro Celt Sound System featuring Sinead O'Connor.
Billy Corgan has had his songs featured in films before, and composed part of the score for the feature film Ransom. Composing score for a film brings its own demands. Corgan recounted his and Mike Garson's initial intentions: "Mike Garson and I set out trying to make music that did not rely on well-worn movie cliches to support the movie, and also to make music that would hopefully stand up on its own without the movie." Addressing the film's opening track, "identify," Corgan continues, "The idea of writing a title song came from trying to do something a little different. Back in the day people used to write songs that were directly connected to a movie's score. The music for 'identify' came from one of the love scenes in the movie. Mike Garson and I decided to make that cue the title song, and the words were written with the story in mind, from Patricia Arquette's character, Frankie's, perspective."
Mike Garson began studying piano at the age of seven and, to date, has written more than 3,000 pieces. In his early years Garson studied classical composition with Leonard Eisner of Julliard and attained degrees in Music and Education from Brooklyn College. He also studied with Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Hal Overton, Robert Starer and Lennie Tristano. While still in school, he perfected his performance style in New York jazz clubs, where he played with notables such as Stanley Clarke, Elvin Jones, Lee Konitz and Freddie Hubbard. With a reputation for virtuosityand versatility Garson is in demand by high-profile rock artists, and has worked with David Bowie, Seal and Nine Inch Nails. Garson's groundbreaking piano solo on the title track to David Bowie's Aladdin Sane has inspired a new generation of musicians to push the envelope of creativity. Garson spent a greater part of 1998 touring with The Smashing Pumpkins.
One of the main draws of David Bowie's involvement in the Stigmata soundtrack was the movie's parallel to an extremely controversial story tied to a phenomenon that many believe to be true. David Bowie has long been interested in religion in film (i.e. The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Last Temptation of Christ), and this movie's subject matter piqued his interest. "I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the soundtrack," says Bowie, "as the movie's subject matter has interested me since the publication of The Jesus Scroll, a book written by Donovan Joyce in 1973. It outlined an alarming conspiracy involving the Catholic Church trying to put the lid on the supposed discovery of the last writings of Jesus himself. These were written in Masada, where Jesus was serving as a freedom fighter and presumably died in the slaughter there, thirty years after his presumed crucifixion. In short, this singular scroll suggested that the Church, the priest and the trappings of ritual were not necessary the link with God and that God was in fact, inside our very selves."
About Stigmata...Frankie Paige (Patricia Arquette) is in her twenties. She works as a hairdresser. She has a boyfriend. There are a hundred other girls like Frankie Paige within a mile radius of her apartment.
But unlike all of them, things happen to Frankie -- terrible things she can't understand or explain. And though she has tried everything to make them stop, they're just getting worse. She goes to doctors and psychologists, but they don't have answers any more than she does to the most important question: why her?
At the darkest moment of one of her episodes, a chance encounter with a local priest is caught on tape and the frightening implications of the incident drive the Vatican to send their own investigator, Andrew Kiernan (Gabriel Byrne). Confronted with the powerful force that has taken control of Frankie, Kiernan immediately recognizes the true danger she is in and he must search his own soul for the strength to save her life, even if it goes against everything he believes.
Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne and Jonathan Pryce star in MGM Pictures' gripping supernatural thriller Stigmata, produced by Frank Mancuso Jr. and directed by Rupert Wainwright. The screenplay is by Tom Lazarus and Rick Ramage from a story by Tom Lazarus. The film features music by Billy Corgan and Elia Cmiral.
Nia Long (Soul Food), Patrick Muldoon (Starship Troopers) and Portia de Rossi (TV's Ally McBeal) also star in the film, which was filmed on location in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Rome, Pittsburgh and Mexico City.
Stigmata will be released through MGM Distribution Co. on September 10.
A complete track listing is as follows:
1. Chumbawamba "Mary Mary" (Stigmatic Mix)
2. Remy Zero "Gramarye"
3. Bjork "All Is Full Of Love" (Mark "Spike" Stent Mix)
4. David Bowie "The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell"
5. Afro Celt Sound System "Release" - featuring Sinead O'Connor
6. Massive Attack "Inertia Creeps"
7. Natalie Imbruglia "identify" (music by Billy Corgan and Mike Garson, lyrics by Billy Corgan)
Original score by Billy Corgan and Mike Garson:
8. identify (dust) - 1,000,000 voices
9. pop pop - await - reflect (pretty)
10. reflect (clouds) - truth
11. of square waves - random thought
12. reflection/possesion
13. reflect (gray) - of sine waves
14. distrbnce (after sckhausen) - reflect (pause) - orah
15. sustain - identify (affectation)
16. all answers revealed - reflect (devotion) -
17. purge - 10,000,000 voices - reflect (purity) - identify (peace)
18. reflect (time) - ree whispers
About Virgin Records' SoundtracksFor over a decade, Virgin Records has released original motion picture soundtracks from a variety of acclaimed films, including Life is Beautiful, The Last Emperor, Psycho, The Piano, The Sweet Hereafter, The Mission, Rob Roy, What's Love Got to do With It, and Glory. The soundtracks for Life is Beautiful and The Last Emperor both received Academy Awards for Best Music (Original Score). The label's diverse catalog showcases material from many of the world's most renowned film music composers, including Michael Nyman, Ennio Morricone, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carter Burwell, Danny Elfman, and Eric Serra.
# # #Natalie Imbruglia is available for interviews. For more information, please contact the Virgin Records publicity department:
Laura Cohen
310/288-2710
laura.cohen@virginmusic.com
Giovanna Melchiorre
212/253-3113
giovanna.melchiorre@virginmusic.com
