The Book of Eli Original Soundtrack: Panoramic (Track 01) (by Atticus Ross)

The Book of Eli Original Soundtrack: Panoramic (Track 01)  

Full soundtrack; The Book of ELI

Panoramic Cover
Atticus Ross - Panoramic (The Book of Eli's Soundtrack) oleh Ekohm Abiyasa (12 video)

The Book of Eli Soundtrack Review: This is a review of motion picture score The Book of Eli by Atticus Ross.

"It has a post-apocalyptic vibe here, which is all good, just the wrong kind of vibe as to what I expected."

The Book of Eli, directed by Albert and Allen Hughes, starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis is a story set in a post-apocalyptic world about a man carrying the book that will save the world. Nothing original about the story, though I've been told it's a very violent affair as well which might save the movie. Violence and action is a good thing, but a violent movie needs a violent score. Atticus Ross is the composer and he might be new to most of you (he was to me). Let's get on with the review.

Track List

1. Panoramic	****
2. Outland	***
3. The Journey	****
4. Amen	***
5. The Convoy	***
6. Solara Violated	***
7. Safe	****
8. Human	***
9. Meant to be Shared	***
10. The Passenger	****
11. Den of Vice	**
12. Gattling	***
13. Blind Faith	***
14. Convoy Destruct	***
15. Movement	***
16. Carnegie's Demise	***
17. The Purpose	****

What do we know about Atticus Ross? He is an English composer who is only credited to scoring 5 episodes of the television series Touching Evil in 2004 where he met the directors. Other than that he is also credited for scoring New York, I Love You last year. He is however probably most known for his collaboration with Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. Be ready Atticus, your name is about to become big, as The Book of Eli is a big movie with big actors, and this could make someone's career.

Calms the Mind

I want to start with the whole sound of The Book of Eli. To me it doesn't sound very violent, but it's very atmospheric, even calm. I am curious to whether this was a choice by the directors, the composers or both. Either way, it puzzles me. The reviews I've read leads me to believe this is a very violent action movie, and very unlike The Road in that respect, yet the score sounds more like The Road in that it doesn't even try to keep long action sequences. There are hints of it with some percussion, but mostly it's post-apocalyptic ambience - not that it can't be nice, just wondering. 'Panoramic' is a nice cue, but like most cues on The Book of Eli, fails to really lure me into Eli's world. If I had to guess I would say that Eli is more of a non-violent prophet, but that's not the case. It's spread quite thinly with few highlights as one cue becomes like the next. Highlights include 'The Journey', 'Safe', 'The Passenger' and the end cue 'The Purpose'. What makes these cues slightly better than the rest is that it has a very zen calming quality to them and a hint of melody. It's perfect background music for a lazy afternoon.

Emotionally The Book of Eli doesn't give me goosebumps, far from it, but it does however gives me a sense of afterthought and calm, and this is the best feature of the score, at least for the cues I've already mentioned. Cues like 'Amen' and 'The Convoy' for example doesn't really give me anything, it's one of the mere filler cues. 'Solara Violated', while an interesting title fails to deliver on that promise. It's simply an atmospheric mess, which is unlistenable when not connected to a scene from the movie. 'Movement' and 'Carnegie's Demise' are other examples of why I didn't exactly jump with joy here. It's droning away in my mind, I hear the music, but it's more like sounds without melody.

 

Conclusion

Because it gives me a calmness when I listen to some of it, I am kind of liking it... a bit. It has a post-apocalyptic vibe here, which is all good, just the wrong kind of vibe as to what I expected. So it isn't a violent epic, and I really wanted it to be, but I am not too sad about what Atticus Ross delivers. It's a solid score, just doesn't move my very overly-emotional feelings very much and if there's anything I dislike, it's indifference. For some parts I felt nothing, but some parts were nice and relaxing. I'm not sure what to say to Atticus except keep it up, and I would love to hear more from him.

CUE RATING: 63.5

Source from http://soundtrackgeek.com/reviews/the-book-of-eli-soundtrack-review.php