Customer Reviews

Shaun of the Dead

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Note to soundtrack producers: When we buy a soundtrack with a bunch of good songs, we want to hear the songs. Sure, a bunch of dialog scattered throughout is fine and fun, but not when it's cut into the music! (See the soundtrack to "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" for how to do it right.)

Basically, what they've done here, is try to create some new experience that isn't quite the movie and isn't quite the soundtrack. You don't get to hear the full versions of the songs as the artists recorded them. The beginnings and the ends are crossfaded together with snippets of dialog. It's like a soundtrack/radio drama hybrid with no plot. The dialog runs into the song, which runs into the dialog, which runs into the song, which runs into the dialog, etc., throughout the entire CD. On the first listen, you think, "Oh, yeah, Ed complaining that the zombie blew the call-and-response in 'White Lines.' That was funny...," but then you're kind of screwed for the rest of your life because the editors have mixed in the boys doing their, "...diggeda, diggeda, diggeda..." bit right into the middle of the song. If you truly want to hear 'White Lines' or any of the other tunes, you'll have to get them elsewhere. Sorry.

I'm not sure what the objective was with this disc, but if I wanted to relive the movie, I'd pop in the DVD. If I wanted to hear the songs, I would have liked to have played the CD, but that won't work here. The songs and the movie dialog on this CD are like Siamese twins sharing a single stomach. You get one, you get the other and there's no separating them. This is a bummer since they're good songs.

What I've got now is a CD novelty that I really can't use. I may trot it out once a year, but I'll be disappointed every time. Maybe I'll sell it on eBay...

This soundtrack perfectly captures the zany and irreverent feeling of the movie, with a great mix of songs, score, and lines of dialogue. Often, a movie soundtrack will be difficult to listen to, because of the inherent unevenness of mood or pace. However, because both the movie and its soundtrack are equally frenetic, this is a boisterous, energizing album. The snippets of dialogue are hilarious, but don't distract from the most important element - the music. (Note that the dialogue clips are definitely R-rated.) If you loved the movie, you'll love this import - totally worth the money.

Upon arrival in the States, I'm sure you'll see the soundtrack take off as well. A brilliant masterpiece of film calls for a equally as brilliant soundtrack and score. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have followed up on their smash UK BBC series Spaced with the most sucessful comedy in Britain's history with Shaun of the Dead. Although some songs on the album are only in the film for moments (like Panic by the Smiths), it allows you to breathe in the filmmakers knowledge for great pop culture references. The soundtrack also includes excepts from the movie itself lending it a very Kevin Smith, Mallrats soundtrack feel. If you liked the movie, I guarantee you'll like the soundtrack. And if you like the soundtrack, I give the full fledged Tony Rocky Horror recommendation that you'll go crazy for the film. If I had a third thumb, I'd use it. Two thumbs for the movie, and the third for the soundtrack. Buy it!

I loved the music in the movie and was disappointed that the CD had sound bites from the movie over the music. I really just wanted to enjoy the songs. I'm going to have to individually download the songs to get it without parts of the movie included.

Shaun of the Dead - OST is genuinely that; original. The disk is comprised of all the songs heard in the movie, some of which are remixed with dialogue from the movie. Very similar to Taretino's soundtrack, but on steroids. Edgar Wright must be as big of a fan of music as he is George Romero, because the 4am DJ session from the movie is played out through the entire album.

While some songs are untouched, like both Queen songs and The Specials, most of the other tracks are versions of songs in the movie mixed with dialogue. Some songs are even created using the dialogue as lyrics, Like Zombi / Kernkraft 400. Most of the mixing entails an intro or end to a song. There are even some original score tracks at the end.

I think the real treat of the soundtrack though is the bits of dialogue interspersed throughout. For a real fan of the movie, like myself, getting to hear familiar lines with songs that were in the background that can be heard in their entirety now. I think that this is one of the best soundtracks of recent years in that it accommodates pretty much every element of the films audio, from dialogue to songs to score. This ones got them all. Let's put it this way; I bought it as an import to the US, and it was worth every penny.

I think the snippets are hilarious, which makes this and Hot Fuzz different from other soundtrack albums. I suspect it's to stop people from taking just one song at a time from the album, but it might be just the producers' twisted sense of humour.

No doubt this was a great film, but if you want a little more from the story or experience of what shaun of the dead brought on screen,it delivers it on this soundtrack.
The music has a bit of a great mix from the film and the music chosen here to tell the story once more but with a more of a style like no other.
Worth the price, these songs have such great blends and mixes during every opening, worth the purchase if shaun of the dead fan.

Great soundtrack riddled with soundbites that make it worth it

i think shaun of the dead was great so when i heard the soundtrack i was even happier . It has highlights from the movie and it is really fab i would relly recomend it and I would definetly give 20/20.

This is a great, GREAT soundtrack. The film's score is brilliantly composed and the song selection is phenomenal. This album has tempted me to buy some sort of Queen "best of" album, because the two Queen songs that are included here are some of the greatest, least overplayed Queen songs there are (Bohemian Rhapsody? We Will Rock You? PLAYED OUT) Also, it's nice to hear some old (OLD) school hip hop from Grandmaster Flash, it's astounding that this is what hip hop used to be, compared to the crap they're slopping out today. Finally, the album contains the only good song the Smiths ever recorded, "Panic". The library tracks (or the remixes thereof) from Dawn of the Dead round out this soundtrack perfectly. My only gripe was the overuse of samples from the movie, some within the songs themselves. These would be better left either as their own seperate tracks, or off the album entirely. We've seen the movie, let the music speak for itself.

Overall, worth the price (though it is an import) and worth several (hundred? thousand?) listens.