Soundtrack Review: The Book of Eli (2010)
Movie 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
01. Panoramic (****)
02. Outland (***)
03. The Journey (****)
04. Amen (***)
05. The Convoy (***)
06. Solara Violated (**)
07. Safe (****)
08. Human (***)
09. 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.
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(14 votes, average: 7.43 out of 10)
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Comments
I actually sort of enjoyed the track you had up. I guess I’m a sucker for quieter soundtracks that have an electronic feel to them. And the movie looks pretty good too.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 16th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Yeah it’s the best track of the album. I enjoyed it too, but it didn’t live up to my expectations as a whole.
I gave it a quick playthrough. I like the ‘chillout’ like sound of the first track, but unfortunately it dosn’t grip me after that point!
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 16th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Hmm yeah, the first track is the best. After that there isn’t much to shout about, but there are some relaxing tracks here which I found was the best quality of the score.
You must go see the movie. Some of the best sound design I’ve heard.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 19th, 2010 at 8:59 am
I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone who worked with NIN and Trent Reznor.
The movie is violent which is appropriate for the time, but until you see the movie I would suggest not reviewing this soundtrack. The reason is that there is quite a twist at the end which explains everything. Whoever told you that there was nothing new in the movie, in my opinion either didn’t see it and is going off of the previews and trailers, or missed the point. This movie has that ah ha moment that most of us hope for. The violence is a vehicle towards that moment, not the point. I liked the soundtrack because it fits the movie as a whole so well.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 19th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
I’m not to thrilled about this movie actually, which I got to see today, but let’s not make this a movie discussion. It’s about the music itself and I am glad I reviewed it before I saw the movie, because a movie color the music so much, and the opposite is true as well. For me, watching the movie and listening to the score is a completely different thing than listening to the score on it’s own which is what it’s all about for me. These days I try to listen the score before I watch a movie to get that raw impression of the music, that untainted image which is surely to be tarnished and ripped to pieces when other elements are involved.
It might not be everyone’s thing, but I review the music as music, which is another discussion I might add. Sometimes (more than a few times I hate to admit), I watch the movie before I review the music and afterward I feel not right. It’s not the real image, but a score too colored by what’s going on visually.
I like to make my own stories, imagine what it must be like in a setting, yet I do enjoy knowing what the movie is about and watching the occasional trailer to get a glimpse of what the director intended. A glimpse is more than enough for me though, just a peak please… nothing more. Let me just enjoy the damn score 
A great score is like a great book, let the imagination run wild!
Sorry for the small rant, just wanted to try to explain why I do the things I do (which wasn’t easy!)
Eric Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 1:28 am
I can understand that. I am a composer and a director myself and I have a hard time divorcing the music from the movie as that is the purpose for the music to be in the format it is in. Without the movie as a background for the soundtrack I would not enjoy this music either, however in the context it was intended I think it is perfect and enhanced the movie experience, which it is supposed to do. Thank you for the well thought out response. i enjoyed reading both the original article and your response to my comment.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 3:19 am
You are right. As a composer you write for film first, that is your job. It is FILM music after all. On top of that, there are forces you simply can’t compete with. The director, producers etc. they have something in mind and will get the music they want. If necessary they will replace you as the composer if you do something completely different than they intended. As a fan of the music first, movie second, I can’t afford to think about that though. If I did, then almost all scores I reviewed would get a high score. Very rarely I hear music in movies that is totally inappropriate for the movie and I am the first to tell you that most scores work well within the context of the movie. Then again maybe it’s just me 
Thanks for commenting! Really enjoy our ‘discussion’.
angie covarrubias Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
I liked the movie and the music-but I’m not a professional. I just really like soundtracks. I was wondering what that instrument was in the first song-the one that kinda played the melody after the song has been playing a bit? I just can not place it. thanks for the help.
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Jorn, gives some good descriptions of the score but he obviously has not seen the movie. Denzel isnt a crazed violent guy. he IS more of a prophet. The music does reflect that. I haven’t seen The Road but I have heard several people say it is s#$t compared to Eli. I liked Eli and the score definitely creates the right mood with some generic sound design of a monkey scraping a guitar string on the side of a garbage can, then rolling it down a hill (watch someone will now use that!). It does have a lot of violence but also has some seriously impactful messages. I think we will be hearing a lot mor about Atticus Ross.
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Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 15th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
True I haven’t seen the movie, but it’s all about anticipation isn’t it? Watch the trailers, read some reviews. From what I’ve read, it’s nothing like The Road (except the first 30 minutes).
Hey I like violence (in movies) and nothing is better than a violent prophet!
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