Kill Bill: Volume 2 Original Soundtrack
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| Artist(s) | Various Artists |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | Volume 2 Original Soundtrack |
| Label | Maverick |
| In many ways, the soundtracks that director Quentin Tarantino commissions are as iconic as his films, and Kill Bill Volume 2is no different. The combination of dialogue snippets and songs reflect the atmosphere of cold-blooded revenge that’s the central theme of the film. And, as expected from Tarantino’s soundtracks, there’s been some clever digging through the archives once again. Wisely, there are three tracks from legendary soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone, who made his reputation with his spacious Western epics, all of which add some heavy menace.… | |
In many ways, the soundtracks that director Quentin Tarantino commissions are as iconic as his films, and Kill Bill Volume 2is no different. The combination of dialogue snippets and songs reflect the atmosphere of cold-blooded revenge that’s the central theme of the film. And, as expected from Tarantino’s soundtracks, there’s been some clever digging through the archives once again. Wisely, there are three tracks from legendary soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone, who made his reputation with his spacious Western epics, all of which add some heavy menace. And rockabilly has rarely sounded as threatening as the reverb-heavy Charlie Feathers’ track “Can’t Hardly Stand It”. Perfectly complementing the dust-and-tumbleweeds on offer is “A Satisfied Mind”, from Johnny Cash’s acclaimed Rick Rubin-produced later years, weighing the soundtrack down with even more gravity. Kill Bill Volume 2 is rarely a jolly listening experience, but that’s very much to its credit. Tarantino’s previous soundtracks have often veered rather too close to the cartoonish, mixing levity with brutality; Kill Bill Volume 2 remains stone-cold throughout. —Robert Burrow
Reviews
Amazon.com
Quentin Tarantino wraps up his dizzy double-dose of martial arts film tribute cum informed paean to junk cinema with the throw-it-all-against-wall abandon that’s become his cliched trademark, if not necessarily his true strength as a filmmaker. That sensibility has long informed his quirky, world-pop savvy soundtracks as well, though this chapter’s collection gratifyingly sacrifices a dollop of eclecticism in favor of a little more focused nuance. Revolving loosely around a decidedly international, free-floating axis of Latin rhythm (Chingon’s “Malaguena Salerosa, ” the flamenco-demento of Lole Y Manuel’s “Tu Mira”) and Western twang, Tarantino’s choices include Morricone both familiar (The Good, the Bad and Ugly’s evocative “Il Tramonto”) and less so (Il mercenario’s “l’arena,” “A Silhoutte of Doom”), fellow Roman film scorer Luis Bacalov’s slinky, guitar-driven “The Summertime Killer” and a couple disparate slices of Americana by country legend Johnny Cash and rockabilly loose cannon Charlie Feathers. The director’s pop fare covers less adventuresome territory, though Malcolm McLaren’s trip-hop take on the Zombie’s British Invasion chestnut “She’s Not There” somehow seems all-of-a-piece with the retro groove of Shivaree’s “Goodnight Moon” and melodramatic kitsch of Japanese actress Meiko Kaji’s “Urami Bushi.” It’s all interspersed with excerpts of Tarantino-penned dialog from the film, snippets that only inspire an even greater admiration for his adventurous taste as musical compiler/supervisor. —Jerry McCulley
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In many ways, the soundtracks that director Quentin Tarantino commissions are as iconic as his films, and Kill Bill Volume 2is no different. The combination of dialogue snippets and songs reflect the atmosphere of cold-blooded revenge that’s the central theme of the film. And, as expected from Tarantino’s soundtracks, there’s been some clever digging through the archives once again. Wisely, there are three tracks from legendary soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone, who made his reputation with his spacious Western epics, all of which add some heavy menace. And rockabilly has rarely sounded as threatening as the reverb-heavy Charlie Feathers’ track “Can’t Hardly Stand It”. Perfectly complementing the dust-and-tumbleweeds on offer is “A Satisfied Mind”, from Johnny Cash’s acclaimed Rick Rubin-produced later years, weighing the soundtrack down with even more gravity. Kill Bill Volume 2 is rarely a jolly listening experience, but that’s very much to its credit. Tarantino’s previous soundtracks have often veered rather too close to the cartoonish, mixing levity with brutality; Kill Bill Volume 2 remains stone-cold throughout. —Robert Burrow
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Kill Bill: Volume 2
“The Bride” (Uma Thurman) gets her satisfaction—and so do we—in Quentin Tarantino’s “roaring rampage of revenge,” Kill Bill, Vol. 2. Where Vol. 1 was a hyper-kinetic tribute to the Asian chop-socky grindhouse flicks that have been thoroughly cross-referenced in Tarantino’s film-loving brain, Vol. 2—not a sequel, but Part Two of a breathtakingly cinematic epic—is Tarantino’s contemporary martial-arts Western, fueled by iconic images, music, and themes lifted from any source that Tarantino holds dear, from the action-packed cheapies of William…
