Kill Bill, Vol. 1 [Original Soundtrack]

by KILL BILL 1 / O.S.T. (ENH)

Overview

In its first teaser trailers, when it was still going to be released as a single film, Kill Bill was sold with the immortal teaser "In the year 2003 Uma Thurman is going to Kill Bill." Of course, Uma didn't come close to the messy business of killing Bill until early 2004, when the second part of Quentin Tarantino's grindhouse epic Kill Bill was released, but she sure started to kill in Kill Bill, Vol. 1, where the Bride, the character she created with Tarantino, began her arduous revenge upon the five former colleagues who killed her fiancee at her wedding rehearsal, then left her for dead at the altar. As Tarantino plot lines go, this is the simplest yet, but revenge movies shouldn't be encumbered by deep subtext. Instead, he divided the film into chapters, giving him an opportunity to play with both time and location, and then shoot each chapter as an homage to a different kind of exploitation film -- something that's reflected in the soundtrack. After Nancy Sinatra's torchy "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and Charlie Feathers' tough, swaggering rockabilly chestnut "That Certain Female" set the story and the mood, the record is devoted primarily to instrumental pieces that range from surging epics to the calm kitsch of Zamfir's "The Lonely Shepherd" to the intense funk pastiche of Tomoyasu Hotei's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" (the song that kicks off nearly every trailer and ad for Kill Bill). The reduced presence of dialogue from the film -- a hallmark of Tarantino soundtracks -- is a reflection of the film, which places emphasis on action and visuals. Hell, even the tracks on the soundtrack have minimal lyrics, consisting largely of instrumentals. This gives it more of a meandering feeling, and the soundtrack kind of peters out, ending in two quick excerpts of futuristic electro music by Quincy Jones and Neu!, then a gaggle of sound effects and Kung Fu hits. Nevertheless, its cavalcade of contradictory moods has its own coherence, and it's more musical than most pop music soundtracks. Plus, this has no familiar material, nor does it have anything that would be a single on digital radio, which is why it works as an album on its own -- it doesn't just reflect the movie; it follows its own logic, and displays fearless imagination. It makes you hungry for Vol. 2, both the movie and soundtrack. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	09/29/2003
Label:	Maverick
UPC:	0093624857020

Tracks

1. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
2. That Certain Female
3. The Grand Duel - (Parte Prima)
4. Twisted Nerve
5. Queen of the Crime Council
6. Ode to Oren Ishii
7. Run Fay Fun
8. The Green Hornet Theme
9. Battle Without Honor or Humanity
10. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
11. Woo Hoo
12. Crane/White Lightning
13. The Flower of Carnage
14. The Lonely Shepherd
15. You're My Wicked Life
16. Ironside
17. Super 16
18. Yakuza Oren 1
19. Banister Fight
20. Flip Sting
21. Sword Swings
22. Axe Throws

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Vince Tempera   Primary Artist
Charles Bernstein   Primary Artist
Charlie Feathers   Primary Artist
Lucy Liu   Primary Artist
Luis Bacalov   Primary Artist
Julie Dreyfus   Primary Artist
Nancy Sinatra   Primary Artist
Quincy Jones   Primary Artist
Neu!   Primary Artist
Al Hirt   Primary Artist
Tomoyasu Hotei   Primary Artist
David Carradine   Primary Artist
Gheorghe Zamfir   Primary Artist
Bernard Herrmann   Primary Artist
Uma Thurman   Primary Artist
Santa Esmeralda   Primary Artist
RZA   Primary Artist
Meiko Kaji   Primary Artist
The 5.6.7.8's   Primary Artist
Isaac Hayes   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Shinya Fujimoto   Producer
Vince Tempera   Composer
George Donald McGraw   Composer
Michele Kuznetsky   Music Supervisor
Koji Ryuzaki   Arranger
Andrew Cooper   Photography
Alon Amir   Artwork
Conrad Pienk   Producer
Masaaki Hirao   Composer
Franco Bixio   Producer
Toshiaki Tsuchima   Composer
James Last   Composer
Sonny Bono   Composer
Isaac Hayes   Composer,Producer
Bennie Benjamin   Composer
Charlie Feathers   Composer
Lee Hazlewood   Producer
Leroy Gomez   Producer
Jim Foglesong   Producer
Ronny Weiser   Producer
Luis Bacalov   Composer
Quentin Tarantino   Composer,Executive Producer
Quincy Jones   Composer
Michael Rother   Composer,Producer
New Dylans   Producer
Tomoyasu Hotei   Composer
Gheorghe Zamfir   Producer
Bernard Herrmann   Composer,Producer
Billy May   Composer
RZA   Composer,Producer
The 5.6.7.8's   Producer
Gloria Caldwell   Composer
Klaus Dinger   Composer,Producer
Mary Ramos   Music Supervisor
Lawrence Bender   Executive Producer
Tempera   Producer
Wendi Morris   Music Coordinator
Charles Bernstein   Composer,Producer
Raymond Donnez   Composer