Edge of Darkness is the 1985 soundtrack by Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

 and Michael Kamen

Michael Kamen

Michael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...

 for the British television series Edge of Darkness

Edge of Darkness

Edge of Darkness is a British television drama serial, produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six fifty-five minute episodes in late 1985...

. The soundtrack's theme won the Ivor Novello Award

Ivor Novello Awards

The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They are presented annually in London by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and were first introduced in 1955.Nicknamed The Ivors, the awards take place...

 for songwriting and composing, besides winning the 1986 BAFTA Award

British Academy Film Awards

The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...

 for Best Music.

Background

For Clapton, it was his first experience writing for film; shortly after attending Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam

Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...

's movie Brazil

Brazil (film)

Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...

with his friend Kamen, who had scored the film, he received a call from the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 asking him to do the music for Edge of Darkness, and he subsequently asked Kamen for assistance.

Critical praise

Like the television series, the soundtrack was praised widely: The Age

The Age

The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...

called it outstanding; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...

said it was "particularly noteworthy." The single reached #65 on the British charts, on which it spent three weeks in January 1986.

Track listing

1. "Edge Of Darkness" (3:19)
2. "Shoot Out" (3:48)
3. "Obituary" (2:09)
4. "Escape From Northmoor" (3:09)
5. "Oxford Circus" (3:17)
6. "Northmoor" (3:02)

Releases

Originally sold as a 45 rpm 12" record

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 and as a cassette

Compact Cassette

The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

, it was re-released in February 1989 as a 3" CD single (with a cover changed from the record's mainly black and red cover). A live version on the main theme was issued on a single together with a live version of "Wonderful Tonight

Wonderful Tonight

"Wonderful Tonight" is a song written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album Slowhand and released as a single the following year. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd, and it is mentioned in her autobiographical book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me...

" in 1991, and on the 1991 live album 24 Nights

24 Nights

24 Nights is a live album by Eric Clapton, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England in 1990 and 1991. It was released on October 8, 1991. The album is a "best of" from the 42 concerts Eric Clapton did at the Royal Albert Hall in those two years...

.