Friday Night Lights [Soundtrack]

Explosions in the Sky | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 12, 2004)
• Original Release Date: October 8, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B000649YAM
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,420 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. From West Texas

2. Your Hand In Mine

3. Our Last Days As Children

4. An Ugly Fact Of Life

5. Home

6. Sonho Dourado

7. To West Texas

8. Your Hand In Mine

9. Inside It All Feels The Same

10. Do You Ever Feel Cursed?

11. Lonely Train

12. Seagull

13. The Sky Above, The Field Below

14. A Slow Dance

Editorial Reviews

Novelist H. G. Bissinger's story about a high school football team in Texas went to the big screen with Billy Bob Thornton in the lead role. The score and background music was largely composed for the film by indie faves Explosions in the Sky, with a little help from Daniel Lanois, David Torn, and Bad Company. Producer Brian Reitzell has gone against convention in designing musical atmospheres for the film that don't conform either to the martial music generally associated with football or the C&W associated with Texas. Instead, he opted for a more autumnal, introspective sound that serves as a perfect backdrop for the film, but also stands up on its own without benefit of any other audio-visual cues.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Texas sounds like this, October 21, 2004

By 

emptycylinder (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Friday Night Lights (Audio CD)

I have to begin by saying that the previous reviewer mentioning Creed and Nickelback has to be joking. That can't be a serious review. In addition, Explosions in the Sky is from Texas. In fact, three of the band's members are actually from the Midland/Odessa area where the film is set (which is, in part, why they were asked to score the film). Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Now, the music. I'll be fair and say I haven't seen the film yet, so I have to review the music based solely on its quality. On that front, it's pretty good.

For Explosions in the Sky fans, there is, disappointingly, none of the group's trademark loud/soft dynamics, and a lot of the drumming is buried in the mix or non-existent. So, if you're looking for this to smack you with some distortion or volume like one of the previous EITS records, you're not going to get that. What you will get is a wonderful version of "Your Hand in Mine." And, just like the title suggests, it has strings. The other songs fall toward the band's more melodic work and are often backed by strings.

It's peaceful, quiet listening that really does sound like Texas - spacious but intimate, complex, dusty, bright, sad and hopeful. For counterpoint, listen to the Daniel Lanois track "Sonho Dourado," which sounds like what people think Texas sounds like. It's a fine song, but it's all surface.

If you're a fan of Explosions in the Sky's previous work; if you like post rock; if you like quiet music with some angular, arpeggiating, bright guitar work; if you love the beauty of twilight; if you believe in the sound of Texas - pick this up.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this band, December 14, 2004

By 

Nathaniel Phillips (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Friday Night Lights (Audio CD)

Explosions came to my college a couple years back as an opener for another band and absolutely blew my mind. I had never heard music like this before, and one of the guitarists was cool enough to let me hang with him after the show and tell me all about his gear so I could (attempt to) replicate some of their distinctive guitar sounds on my own. I am so ecstatic that these guys have been able to get on a major motion picture soundtrack to share their sound with a nationwide audience. Their music truly inspires. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, October 19, 2004

By 

John C. Seipp, Jr. (Great Neck, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Friday Night Lights (Audio CD)

Explosions in the Sky were an excellent choice for the soundtrack to this movie. Their music creates an impressive background mood for a film this touching. If one believes that a run-of-the-mill common sounding band such as Nickelback or Creed should have provided pieces for this film, perhaps he or she should go see one of the crappy generic action films that Hollywood seems to spew out every other week. Needless to say, I greatly appreciated this musical selection.