David Bowie's The Man Who Fell to Earth Soundtrack Is Being Released—40 Years Later

In 1976, in one of the most iconic performances of his career, otherworldly rocker David Bowie played a stranded alien in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth. Now, for the first time in four decades, the soundtrack to Bowie’s sci-fi cult classic is being released.

NME reports that the master tapes for the soundtrack, which features Japanese prog-rock musician Stomu Yamash’ta and John Phillips (of The Mamas & the Papas), were lost back in the 1970s. Now, they've finally been rediscovered. In honor of the film's 40th anniversary, both the restored soundtrack and a 4K restoration of the film will be re-released (fans in the UK will also be able to enjoy a brief run of the film in theaters this fall).

To be clear, the soundtrack doesn’t feature the music of David Bowie. Rather, it’s full of Yamash’ta's eerie, atmospheric compositions, as well as music by the likes of Louis Armstrong, The Kingston Trio, and The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Though Bowie starred in the film, and used a still from it as the cover of his Station to Station album, he didn’t compose any music for the film itself.

The vinyl and CD box set of the soundtrack will come with a reproduction of the original poster as well as a 48-page booklet about the film, making it the perfect collectible for fans of the Thin White Duke and vintage 1970s science fiction.

[h/t NME]

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