Mega Tip! Quartet Records, in collaboration with Carosello Edizioni Musicali, presents a definitive, expanded 2-LP edition of Ennio Morricone’s celebrated score for 1971 Italian thriller Giornata Nera Per L’Ariete (aka The Fifth Cord), directed by Luigi Bazzoni and starring Franco Nero, Silvia Monti, Ira Von Fürstenbergm Edmund Purdon, Pamela Tiffin and Agostina Belli.

Morricone’s thriller scores remain some of his most distinctive and original works. As demonstrated in his scores for Dario Argento’s efforts in the genre, Morricone’s uncanny ability to combine lyricism, unbridled avant-garde experimentation and stylish elegance was his most significant contribution to the category. Giornata Nera Per L’Ariete shows Morricone once again embracing the sophisticated avant-garde sound while beginning his score with a haunting tune performed by Edda Dell’Orso heard over the film’s main titles. The lullaby-like theme has a timeless quality, providing a disturbing and disarming melody for the film. As with many of his giallos, Ennio Morricone’s score for Giornata Nera Per L’Ariete was never released on an album (only the main theme was included in the Morricone compilation album Colori in 1971). In 1996, under the composer’s supervision, the Point label released the first official album of the score on CD. The first vinyl edition was released by Dagored on a generous LP in 2001. It was subsequently released by Spettro in 2016, this time using the same program that Morricone had produced in 1996.

For this new deluxe, 2-LP Quartet release, the music has been fully restored, remixed and edited by Daniel Winkler from the original session tapes, presenting the first vinyl edition of the complete score as Morricone conceived it for the film. It has been specially mastered for vinyl by Chris Malone, and is presented in a luxurious gatefold jacket printed in transparent bloody red and giallo splatter.