Charmed: The Book of Shadows

Charmed: The Book of Shadows
Soundtrack album by Various Artists (Charmed)
Released	19 April 2005[1] (US) 05 September 2005[2] (UK)
Genre	Television Soundtrack
Label	Fox Music Image, Silva Screen[3]
Producer	Jonathan Miller Jonathan Platt Ken Miller[4]
Various Artists (Charmed) chronology
Charmed: The Soundtrack Charmed: The Book of Shadows Charmed: The Final Chapter

Charmed: The Book of Shadows is a soundtrack album released in 2005, featuring music from the Charmed television series. It is also known as Charmed: The Book of Shadows: Music From and Inspired By.^[5]

The album is made up mostly of tracks by little-known artists, though some better known ones, such as Dido and Ashlee Simpson, are also featured. None of the television show's original score is included, however its theme tune, "How Soon Is Now?", appears as a bonus track on the UK edition of the album. Although the album was released in 2005, it contains music from Charmed's first seven seasons.

The album was produced by Jonathan Platt, Jonathan Miller, the president of Artists' Addiction Records, and Ken Miller, the Senior Vice President of Spelling Television. Platt said of the series' chronology of soundtrack albums:

“

Charmed is an amazing show which showcases some of the hottest and cutting edge music. It gives us a great opportunity to release a soundtrack to a long running successful show.[6]

”

The album is the second in the trilogy of Charmed soundtrack albums, after 2003's Charmed: The Soundtrack. A followup, Charmed: The Final Chapter, was released in November 2006.

Cover artwork

The front cover of the album features publicity photographs of the series' three lead actresses, from left to right, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs. Despite being released in 2005, the images used are from the series' fifth season which ran from 2002 to 2003. The cover also features a small photograph of the Book of Shadows after which the album is named.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]

The album received generally positive reviews.

Allmusic awarded the soundtrack three stars out of five.^[8] It praises the way in which the album "streamlines its approach", in comparison to the first soundtrack album, by focusing on a wide variety of female artists, echoing the theme of female empowerment raised in the television series. Whilst aware that the album has little direct tie-in with the series, the reviewer complements its use of little-known artists as well as its mixture of different musical genres in creating an original approach to a television soundtrack:

“

In fact, Charmed: The Book of Shadows plays a lot more like a handmade mixtape or playlist than a soundtrack full of promotional opportunities, which can only be to its credit.

”

Furthermore, the series' use of emerging musical artists has also been praised by other critics, including the Microsoft-owned Ciao which states that:

“

At a time when commercial radio playlists offer little space for anything but the most predictable major-label product, television shows [such as Charmed and Dawson's Creek] are often the only mass media outlet available to emerging musical acts.[9]

”

Release history

Country	Date
United States	April 19, 2005
Canada
Australia
United Kingdom	September 5, 2005

Track listing

1. "20th Century Fox Fanfare (Low Tone)" — David Newman
2. "Take It Off" — The Donnas
3. "Take A Look" — Liz Phair
4. "Sand In My Shoes" — Dido
5. "Fallen (Dan The Automator Remix)" — Sarah McLachlan
6. "I Can't Make Me (Chris Lord Algo Remix)" — Butterfly Boucher
7. "San Francisco" — Vanessa Carlton
8. "Pieces Of Me (David Garcia And High Spies Remix)" — Ashlee Simpson
9. "Unbroken" — Missy Higgins
10. "Free (Swiss American Federation Club Remix)" — Sarah Brightman
11. "I Close My Eyes" — Shivaree
12. "Home" — Zero 7
13. "How Soon Is Now?" — Love Spit Love (UK Bonus track)

Charts

Charts	Peak Position	Certification	Sales/Shipments
Billboard U.S. Top Soundtracks[10]	9
Billboard U.S. Independent Albums[11]	20

References

1. ^ Charmed: The Book of Shadows, Amazon.com (2005)
2. ^ Charmed: The Book of Shadows, Amazon.co.uk (2005)
3. ^ Charmed: The Book of Shadows, Amazon.co.uk (2005)
4. ^ Charmed: The Final Chapter Soundtrack official website (2006)
5. ^ Charmed: The Book of Shadows: Music From and Inspired By, Amazon.com (2005)
6. ^ Charmed: The Final Chapter Soundtrack official website (2006)
7. ^ Allmusic review
8. ^ Charmed: The Book of Shadows, Allmusic (2005)
9. ^ Charmed: The Soundtrack, Ciao (2003)
10. ^ "Billboard Top Soundtracks - Charmed: The Book of Shadows", Billboard, May 7, 2005
11. ^ "'Charmed: The Book Of Shadows' Soundtrack Debuts At No 20 On The Billboard Independent Charts", Top-40 Charts, May 19, 2005