Customer Reviews

Sin City (Score)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The music for "Sin City" had grabbed attention as soon as the trailer first showed. The instrumental version of The Servant's "Cells" made the film all the more appealing; it also made the song a favorite among music downloaders. No one, myself included, even put a thought into what kind of music the actual movie might have. I guess we figured it was going to be your traditional soundtrack.

No way, Jose. "Sin City" is anything but your traditional soundtrack. The first third of the soundtrack features music by Graeme Revell; John Debney owns the second third; riter/director/editor/cinematographer Robert Rodriguez contributes the final third of the soundtrack.

The soundtrack begins with the "Sin City" theme, written by Robert Rodriguez. It's a cool, slick song enhanced by the quiet percussion and hoarse sax. Robert Rodriguez has the next song as well, "One Hour to Go", before Graeme Revell takes over. Revell's score, which covers Marv's tale (played in the film by Mickey Rourke), is my personal favorite. It's jazzy, strong, and it fits Marv like the jackets that the character loves so much to wear. The most refreshing thing about Revell's music is his wide range of instruments. "Marv" is possibly the best of the Revell-composed music - it's slick, heavy, strong, blasting, a very cool piece. Some people may remember this from the trailer.

Next up in the film is Dwight's (Clive Owen) tale, scored by John Debney. Debney's music is more old-fashioned, vaguely reminescent of the Bogart-era of film noir scores. While Debney's music still includes the screeching sax, he goes much more for a light, fast-paced jazz soundtrack. A perfect example of this is "Jackie Boy's Head".

The final third of the soundtrack is music by Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez - who also scored his film "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" - gives us just what you'd expect, a traditional soundtrack that works, but never really draws you in. This is probably the darkest section of the soundtrack. Rodriguez also contributes the terrific closing theme - aptly-titled "Sin City End Titles".

Along with the Revell/Debney/Rodriguez music, we also get "Absurd", a techno piece by Fluke, which has a brief appearance in a bar, and "Sensemaya" by the Silvestre Revueltas. Rodriguez says that "Sensemaya" was the inspiration for much of the film's music.

All in all, "Sin City" is one of the very best films of all-time, and the soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks of the decade. The very different styles of each of the composers make this an extremely interesting album to listen to.

Walk down the right back alley in "Sin City", and you can find anything.

Now, i loved the movie, but the soundtrack blew me away! all the songs fit the movie perfectly. However, it is missing the instrumental version of "Cells" by the Servants, which plays on the DVD title menu
so, here you go:
http://epical.bobdeveaux.com/TM/cells-sincity.mp3
Instrumental Version!
Have Fun

Trailer music is almost NEVER on soundtracks. If you bought it ASSUMING it was on there without even looking or anything (it's common knowledge these days that the song is an instrumental version of "Cells" by The Servant...currently they say they are NOT going to even release an instrumental version commercially).

If you bought a CD expecting a song to be on it without bothering to look, please don't rate the CD poorly just because of your error.

PS: just because a song is in a trailer for a movie does not make it the "main song" of the movie. It's unlikely it will even appear in the movie. Trailers are totally different beasts.

PPS: YES! this does mean that the instrumental version of "Cells" by The Servant, as heard in the Sin City trailers is NOT ON THIS DISC.
This was not an "omission" because this is the SCORE anyway, and NOT the soundtrack. Current comments from the Servant also indicate that it will not be on the soundtrack either--IF there is one.

ANYWAY...the music here is pretty good, pseudo-jazzy. It'd've been nice to include some old school "western"/country like the bars in Sin City have (here's hoping they have it in the film as well)...but again, that'd be better located on a soundtrack anyway.

To clear up the confusion about what is and what is not included on the soundtrack...

There are three trailers for the movie - the original teaser which opens with the full Josh Hartnett scene (and includes swearing and nudity later on), and two regular trailers. The music used in the teaser is music from the movie (in fact it's the first track on the CD). The music used in the second two trailers is the song by The Servants.

While it's a good song, I don't think it fits the mood of the movie as well as the actual score.

This soundtrack is fantastic. Rodriguez should continue scoring his own movies (with help, of course).

"Cells" is the song you heard in the trailer, which isnt in the movie soundtrack.
The band is 'The Servant'. Go to "theservant.co. uk". In the lower left hand corner there is a password box for members.

Enter "ilovecells", and you can download the instrumental version of this song.

This soundtrack captures the film perfectly. I was worried the music from the film would end up being the film's weak link, but it isn't in the least. This very moody, noir soundtrack doesnt let up or really even shift gears too much from beginning to end, which is why I usually prefer a film's score as opposed to its soundtrack.
Compliments the film beautifully and no emo/radio-bands are slipped in on you at any time.
This disc will spend many hours singing to my ears.

An impressive soundtrack that's faithful to its movie! The music by Rodriguez, John Debney, and Graeme Revell, is impressive.
Track Listings
1. Sin City (Rodriguez) (1:55)
2. One Hour to Go (Rodriguez) (2:12)
3. Goldie's Dead (Revell) (2:16)
4. Marv (Revell / Rodriguez) (2:10)
5. Bury The Hatchet (Revell) (2:40)
6. Old Town Girls (Revell / Rodriguez) (:45)
7. The Hard Goodbye (Revell) (4:32)
8. Cardinal Sin (Revell / Rodriguez) (2:15)
9. Her Name Is Goldie (Revell) (1:01)
10. Dwight (Debney) (2:11)
11. Old Town (Debney / Rodriguez) (3:16)
12. Deadly Little Miho (Debney / Rodriguez) (2:58)
13. Warrior Woman (Debney) (2:19)
14. Tar Pit (Debney) (2:12)
15. Jackie Boy's Head (Debney) (:36)
16. The Big Fat Kill (Debney) (3:17)
17. Nancy (Rodriguez) (1:34)
18. Prison Cell (Rodriguez) (1:49)
19. Absurd - Fluke (3:41)
20. Kiss of Death (Rodriguez) (1:58)
21. That Yellow Bastard (Rodriguez) (1:36)
22. Hartigan (Rodriguez) (1:44)
23. Sensemaya - Composed by Silvestre Revueltas, Conducted by Eduardo Mata with the New Philharmonic Orchestra (5:59)
24. Sin City End Titles (Rodriguez) (3:16)

Apart from two tunes, the entire "Sin City" soundtrack was composed by director Robert Rodriguez, conductor John Debney, and Graeme Revell. The crew pays tribute to the generic style of movie scoring popular in countless film noir films of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Much of the dissonant chording and persistant motifs of the string-heavy arrangements would have been right at home in older films like "The Man Who Cheated Himself" or "Double Indemnity". There's some chromatic baritone bass guitar riffing that wouldn't be out of place in "Peter Gunn" and plenty of bongos and saxophone cameos. You can close your eyes and almost see the rainswept streets, neon lights, and shadowy strangers in trenchcoats and fedoras.

This isn't an exercise in nostalgia, however. There's a good, consistent theme running throughout the CD as well as sporadic and subtle contemporary elements, such as distorted electric guitars and synths. None of the composers hit us over the head with these elements, and do not attempt to create a hybrid style as in the Alias TV soundtrack. But their presence reminds us that this is 2005, not 1949. It adds just enough flavor to pull "Sin City" away from pastiche and into its own arena.

"Sin City" fans will scoop this up immediately, but even nonfans like myself will find much to admire and enjoy in this score. By all means try it out!

The soundtrack in this movie is amazing. It is often simply an undercurrent, giving a good mood to a scene. Other times it drives the scene, and made me desire the soundtrack. I, in fact, did not notice the music in the trailer; however, I searched for an instrumental version. Google "Petition for Servant Cells" and you will be directed to a website called BDA Rules. Not only do they have a fan made (read: low-quality) instrumental version of the song, but they also have a petition to The Servant to create an instrumental version of the song. Enjoy!

While the previous reviwer was correct that Cells the trailer song is not on the soundtrack, Servant did indeed create an instrumental version and you can obtain it at this link follow the instructions it is at the Servant website so its legal and its for a limited time only!

http://www.bdarules.com/2005/05/servant-release-instrumental-of-cells.html

Your Welcome ;)