O.s.t. - Kill Bill - Kill Bill: Volume 1
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Free Music Notes for Kill Bill: Volume 1
Free Music Review: Play the long version of "Battle Without Honor or Humanity"
Hit: 5 Stars
I went to my first funeral recently and of course afterwards I was wondering what my own would be like. Apparently you have input in a few areas and one of them is music, and if I had my druthers I would like "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei playing as the casket is brought into the church. It would be nice if my eldest daughter dressed up like Gogo Yubari, but that would probably be a bit much. But right now that particular song has been playing on a continual loop in my mind and you can only play Chapter 13 of the "Kill Bill, Volume 1" DVD (which gives you Al Hirt's "Green Hornet" along with "Battle Without Honor or Humanity) so often and just listening to the little bit of the song on the main menu, after a bit of "Twisted Nerve" to set the stage, is sheer madness. But the real reason I picked up the soundtrack for "Kill Bill, Volume 1" is so that I can play my song of the moment whenever I get into the car.
Now, to be clear, while I am hooked on that one particular song and happy to discover that the song actually goes for a whole 2:28, it is not the only primo track in the collection. The epic is a 10:30 version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"/"Esmeralda Suite" by Santa Esmeralda starring Leroy Gomez. There there is Luis Bacalov's "The Grand Duel" and then James Last & Gheorghe Zamfir and his pan flute for "The Lonely Shepherd" (4:20). Then for short bursts of fun there is Charlie Feathers' "That Certain Female," the whistling of Bernard Herrmann's "Twisted Nerve," Al Hirt's "Green Hornet," The 5,6,7,8's "Woo Hoo," and an excerpt from Quincy Jones' theme for "Ironside." Then we can mention that the whole thing starts with Nancy Sinatra doing the Sonny Bono song, "Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)."
For my money that is ten prime tracks, which for a soundtrack albums is absolutely outstanding. The only ones I have are, of course, Nancy Sinatra (my favorite female vocalist from the Sixties if you must know), and the theme from "Ironside" (I have a lot of CDs of television themes). Since this is a Quentin Tarantino film there are a few audio excerpts from the film, O-Ren Ishi's speech as "Queen of the Crime Council" and most of the final dialogue of the film when the Bride tells Sofie Fatale "You're My Wicked Life" (which you will probably find ends too soon for your tastes). But "Kill Bill" is about stunning visuals and great music rather than unforgettable dialogue in the tradition of "Pulp Fiction." In fact, if they had ditched the dialogue and added the two little bits of music that come at the start of the film before Nancy starts singing I would have been happier (being nostalgic over the "Feature Presentation" music is what happens when you get old).
Free Music Review: A Killer Of A Soundtrack To A Stunning Film!
Hit: 5 Stars
Quentin Tarantino returned in October 2003 with his martial arts masterpiece "Kill Bill - Volume 1," a film that was more ground-breaking and visually pleasing that anything seen all year. After an absence of six years from the film industry, Tarantino returned bigger than ever when the film thrashed its way into cinemas around the world and broke all records imaginable for a film with a kick-ass female lead. Tarantino's original plan was to make this a 4 hour epic, but decided to split the film into two volumes. There are many advantages of this for him: twice as much money at the box office, two as much money from DVD sales, twice as much hype for the second volume and two stunning soundtracks...Tarantino is well known for his love of popular culture, and his soundtracks to the films he directs are always painfully and methodically planned out to ensure worldwide appeal. It is often said that a soundtrack can make a film, and in the case of Kill Bill, they sure are right! The soundtrack to Volume 1 of Kill Bill is the ultimate and you are left with a feeling that Tarantino surely cannot top it with his soundtrack to Volume 2 by the time it finishes. On this soundtrack we get some of the film's most memorable music all contained on one disc for your listening pleasure. Take the opening track, Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" which instantly brings in themes of old Western films. A true classic, revived for this soundtrack. Someone's been listening to too much Elvis on Charlie Feathers' "That Certain Female," whilst the instrumental qualities of "The Grand Duel - (Parte Prima)" by Luis Bacalov make for one of the most visual and atmospheric tracks on offer here.(...)
OVERALL GRADE: 10/10
"Kill Bill - Volume 1 Original Soundtrack" is actually the first soundtrack to a film that I have ever bought. I don't usually pay much attention to the music in a film, because I'm usually too focused on the acting and storyline, but as always, Tarantino is different and supplies his fans with both an amazing, spectacular film and a stunning, musically-enthralling soundtrack that appeals to listeners of all ages, races and groups. This is truly a brilliant soundtrack and I would recommend it to anyone.
Free Music Review: You can see the carnage through the choice of music...
Hit: 5 Stars
Curiously, the liner only has lyrics for "Bang Bang" by Nancy Sinatra and "Flower of Carnage" by Meiko Kaji. That's really the point, though. Tarantino wrote the film to be a "struck down woman exacts revenge on her would-be assassins". What more do you need? The lyrics to the other songs are really pointless, except for The Rza's Ode to Oren Ishii, but the small background music makes it easy to understand.
There's a little bit of rockabilly that only Elvis people can appreciate: Charlie Feathers' "That Certain Female" and "Woo Hoo" by the 5.6.7.8's just make you want to get up and boogie.
Those of you who noticed the yellow tracksuit should be pleased to know that the Theme Song to "The Green Hornet" is on this CD. Yep, this is all about Lee exacting revenge on Carradine.
Besides the Sinatra and Kaji tracks, the other two that really set things off are The Lonely Shepherd by Zamfir and The Grand Duel by Luis Bacalov. Both feel like they belong in a Sergio Leone film, except they borrow from other styles: The Lonely Shepherd has a Mexican/SW flavor as it builds, and The Grand Duel starts off with an Asian flavor.
The cool thing is you can almost see the carnage, smell the blood and hear the steel slice through flesh when listening to it, especially after watching the trailers.
The number one reason to own this CD: the theatrical trailers. There's the teaser that played before Gangs of New York as well as two full trailers that you can only see on this CD and in theaters. (The Full Trailer at Quicktime is much different than either of these.) The kicker: the "Quentin Tarantino Bootleg" trailer uses similar shots to what one would see in the trailer to Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". It seems like a shot-for-shot remake of that trailer, except they use Kill Bill footage.
Free Music Review: One of my favorite soundtracks ever!
Hit: 5 Stars
Of course it doesn't hurt that Kill Bill (volumes 1 and 2) is one (or two, rather) of my favorite movies. But the soundtrack is simply superb. Only the RZA tracks were written for the movie. The rest of the music is vintage stuff that Quentin plucked from obscurity to use in his movie. However, as is the case with all of Tarantino's soundtracks, the music forever becomes associated with the film. For example, will you ever be able to hear "Stuck In The Middle With You" without thinking of Michael Madsen slashing a cop's ear? Dick Dale's "Misirlou", of course, is already irrevocably linked to Pulp Fiction. You won't be able to hear Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street" without thinking of Jackie Brown.
The songs on the Kill Bill soundtrack are so utterly perfect, that it's mind-boggling. Of course, you have to see the movie to fully appreciate it. I feel that Kill Bill is one of the most perfect marriages of image and music to ever come out of Hollywood. Just on Volume 1 alone, you've got tracks like "The Grande Duel", "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" and "The Lonely Shepherd" that are so perfect in the movie that you would that they were written for the movie. But they weren't. Just imagine that climactic duel between Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu without "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". It would not be the same.
I think that the Kill Bill soundtrack is one of the most perfect non-score soundtracks ever. It's a testament to Quentin Tarantino's genius that he is able to perfectly assemble music to complement his images and still make highly listenable soundtrack albums. The Volume 2 soundtrack is equally excellent and features such gems as Chingon's "Malaguena Salerosa", Shivaree's "Goodnight Moon" and lots of Ennio Morricone. Highly recommended.
Free Music Review: Very Cool.
Hit: 5 Stars
The films of Quentin Tarantino have always had strong soundtracks to back-up the witty, quirky, violent material and "Kill Bill Vol. 1" is no different. Some might even argue that this soundtrack surpasses the previous Tarantino classic, "Pulp Fiction." "Kill Bill" works in both aspects of a great soundtrack: You can't help but picture the images from the film while listening to the music but you can also appreciate the material as just pure songs. The album mixes instrumentals with classic performances and you even get some dialogue from the movie (and a few sound effects as a bonus). The set opens with Nancy Sinatra's mournful, stylish "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" which displays her timeless voice stripped of strings and Lee Hazelwood's creepy voice and left to carry you along with the almost funeral-like electric guitar notes. "The Grand Duel" by Luis Bacalov has a western edge to it, almost with an Ennio Morricone flavor. Bernard Herrmann's "Twisted Nerve" is the catchy, famous whistle Darryl Hannah performs walking down a hospital hallway. There is enough diversity in this album to please even fans of oriental pop with "The Flower Of Carnage" and easy listening types with James Last's immortal "The Lonely Sheperd." There are little curiosities here like the 5,6,7,8's who do "Woo Hoo" with a surfer rocker flare that makes this basically senseless tune fun. Rapper RZA pops in with some techno/score music that takes us back to the Bride looking over the Crazy 88's with her Hatori Hanzo sword. What the soundtrack to "Kill Bill" proves is that Tarantino is a director of surprisingly impressive tastes when it comes to choosing the music for his films. Watch the movie and listen to the CD, they're both awesome experiences in this age of lame commercial filmmaking.