Brokeback Mountain [Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Artist), Gustavo Santaolalla (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla
• Audio CD (October 25, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Verve Forecast
• ASIN: B000BEZQ18
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,084 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Opening - Gustavo Santaolalla

2. He Was A Friend Of Mine - Willie Nelson

3. Brokeback Mountain 1 - Gustavo Santaolalla

4. A Love That Will Never Grow Old - Emmylou Harris

5. King Of The Road - Rufus Wainwright

6. Snow - Gustavo Santaolalla

7. The Devil's Right Hand - Steve Earle

8. No One's Gonna Love You Like Me - Mary McBride

9. Brokeback Mountain 2 - Gustavo Santaolalla

10. I Don't Want To Say Goodbye - Teddy Thompson

11. I Will Never Let You Go - Jackie Greene

12. Riding Horses - Gustavo Santaolalla

13. An Angel Went Up In Flames - The Gas Band

14. Its So Easy - Linda Ronstadt

15. Brokeback Mountain 3 - Gustavo Santaolalla

16. The Maker Makes - Rufus Wainwright

17. The Wings - Gustavo Santaolalla

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Argentina-born, California-based Gustavo Santaolalla helped shape the rock en Español movement by producing Mexican bands Molotov and Café Tacuba , and Colombian singer Juanes. In the late 1990s he made a switch to soundtracks, working on well-received albums for Amores Perros and The Motorcycle Diaries. His instrumental contributions to Ang Lee's tale of two cowboys in love are acoustic guitar-based and, let's face it, a bit on the sonic-wallpaper side.

The vocal tracks, on the other hand, are uniformly lovely, even if the selection of interpreters falls on the predictable side. Linda Ronstadt, Steve Earle, Willie Nelson, and Mary McBride on the soundtrack to a contemporary Western? What a shock! Still, they're all wonderful and Santaolalla wrote at least a couple of classic-sounding country ballads ("A Love That Will Never Grow Old," sung by Emmylou Harris, and "No One's Gonna Love You Like Me," sung by Mary McBride). And don't miss Teddy Thompson and Rufus Wainwright's sweet cover of Roger Miller's 1964 "King of the Road." --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description

This is the accompanying soundtrack to the Ang Lee movie that stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. The soundtrack features a top-notch collection of folk and blue-grass melodies combined with the stark beauty of Gustavo Santaolalla's (Academy Award-winning composer for Motorcycle Diaries) original score. Verve. 2005.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

161 of 169 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brokeback Heartbreak November 3, 2005

By Red Rivere

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

A fine collection of C&W songs performed by some great artists, with some evocative instrumental interludes from the film. The highlights are the moving A Love That Will Never Grow Old (next year's Oscar-winning song?) and I Don't Want to Say Goodbye, songs written by Gustavo Santaolalla and Bernie Taupin and performed by, respectively, the reknowned Emmylou Harris and Teddy Thompson, a talented young artist (check out his excellent self-entitled debut on Virgin Records). These songs do a great job of conveying the love of the two main characters in the film, but can be enjoyed by anyone. They are wonderful country ballads. Santaolalla's other songs are excellent too. No One's Going to Love You Like Me is a nice twangy Patsy Cline-y piece, while I Will Never Let You Go is a strong, more fast-tempo song. These songs are performed by more talented up-and-comers, Mary McBride and Jackie Greene. Rufus Wainwright's own The Maker Makes is tremendously desolate and moving. Wainwright and Thompson also team for an immensely enjoyable cover of King of the Road, their voices alternately blending and contrasting quite pleasingly. I think the Willie Nelson cover of "He Was a Friend of Mine" is fine. It is more uptempo, but Willie's vocal treatment is very touching. There's a nice, frantic fiddle piece too, "An Angel Went Up in Flames."

163 of 179 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Year's Best Soundtracks November 24, 2005

By mattyp4

Format:Audio CD

I stumbled upon this soundtrack at a record store recently & decided to give it a shot, as the roster of artists impressed me. I'm glad I made my purchase. This soundtrack is easily one of the year's best.

There are a number of distinguished country artists performing new tracks, some written specifically for the film. Willie Nelson is first up with a gorgeous cover of Bob Dylan's "He Was A Friend Of Mine." Emmylou Harris also turns in a poignant performance on "A Love That Will Never Grow Old," a beautiful song written specifically for the film by Argentinian musician Gustavo Santaolalla (who provides the film's score-- more on that later) & lyricist Bernie Taupin. I hope this gets some Oscar consideration!

Mary McBride, Teddy Thompson & Jackie Greene give nice performances in ballads also written for the film by Santaolalla/Taupin. The strength of these songs are impressive, especially considering the fact that they come from an Argentinian guitarist & a pop/rock lyricist. These songs sound like they belong in any classical country canon.

The only tracks that weigh down the album are Steve Earle's "The Devil's Right Hand," & Linda Ronstandt's Buddy Holly cover, "It's So Easy," both recycled hits for the artists in 1987 & 1977, respectively. They break the mood of the album & just sound out of place here.

Also somewhat out of place, but just simply delightful, is Rufus Wainwright & Teddy Thompson's cover of Roger Miller's "King Of The Road." The track doesn't even appear in the film, but it's inspired & downright fun.

But it's Rufus Wainwight's solo track, "The Maker Makes," that is the highlight of the album for me. It's a beautiful, twangy, heartwrenching little ballad that's performed on the piano. I get the chills each time I hear it! I'm a big fan of Rufus & Teddy Thompson, so I may be biased, but they too succeed in creating country songs that transcend their singer/songwriter limitations.

The tracks from Santaolalla's score start to sound kind of similar-- stark guitar instrumental interludes-- but they no doubt capture the essence & emotion of the film. I'm only familiar with his work from the Motorcycle Diaries (which was right up his alley), but he seems to segueway into American westerns seemlessly & with much grace.

Just about all the songs and instrumental cues on this album are huge achievements in conveying the emotional themes of the film: love, loss & longing. It's a soundtrack full of passion that transends musical genres. These aren't just country & western songs-- they're love songs.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing! April 20, 2006

By Part-Time Dreamer

Format:Audio CD

The film was impeccable, and so was the soundtrack. When I saw the film, the amazing music score really got my attention. It was so remarkable & so moving that you couldn't even overlook, and it really captured the essence & emotion of the film flawlessly. If you liked the film, then I'm certain that you will also like the soundtrack because the music is one of the best things about the film. I've cried so many times after watching the beautiful Brokeback Mountain, and I couldn't help it but wept after listening to this inspiring soundtrack. It was so beautiful, heartbreaking and haunting that I was moved & touched so profoundly & deeply.

Gustavo Santaolalla's sparse, romantic score perfectly sets the tone for the film's panoramic countryside, while Willie Nelson's haunting, spoken narrative on "He Was a Friend of Mine" creates a mood as captivating as the one on Emmylou Harris' version of "A Love That Will Never Grow Old." Santaolalla's music for movies has involved a certain amount of experimentation, his work here is just subdued. The film had song usage in mind from the start, and Santaolalla also wrote multiple classically-inclined country ballads that have both been very well received by Country music collectors.

I would also recommend this soundtrack to all of you who haven't seen the film. I've shared this soundtrack with six of my friends (they haven't seen the film back then), and ALL OF THEM told me they got chills after listening to it. Now, five of them have bought both the DVD & soundtrack because they simply loved it.