Gangs of New York [SOUNDTRACK] [IMPORT]

Howard Shore

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 17, 2002)
• Original Release Date: December 20, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack, Import
• Label: Universal Int'l
• ASIN: B00007DT8M
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,100 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Martin Scorsese's sprawling meditation on the rise of street gangs in 19th-century New York (the roots of the modern mafia) also became another soundtrack buff's "What If?" after the director scrapped the original orchestral underscore of modern collaborator (Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence, Bringing Out the Dead)/veteran scoring legend Elmer Bernstein and replaced it with this typically rich, Robbie Robertson-supervised collection of eclectic pop, folk, and neo-classical tracks. The latter come courtesy of three brooding excerpts from film composer Howard Shore's previously unpremiered concert piece Brooklyn Heights, tracks that help emphasize the film's darker emotional gravitas. Much of the other catalog choices by Robertson and Scorsese lean on an evocative slate of Celtic and folk-tinged selections that range from hammered dulcimers, fiddles, and tin whistles to the spare, emotive balladry of Linda Thompson and Shu-De; even U2's main theme, "The Hands That Built America," is cast in a similar mold. But that Irish musical stew gets leavened by everything from the postmodern dirges of Peter Gabriel and Jocelyn Pook to a black field hand recording by legendary musicologist Alan Lomax and even the Chinese flavors of "Beijing Opera Suite." It's an imaginative, compelling mix, one that gratifyingly pushes the usually staid boundaries of what film scores can truly encompass. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great soundtrack but can we have all the music please?, January 6, 2003

By	Daniel Miller (Elmsford, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

this is an excellent soundtrack. there are instrumentals, vocals, traditional pieces, very modern pieces, irish songs, african songs, chinese songs; a little bit of everything from the movie. According to the cd liner notes there were 86 different tracks played in the movie. there are only 18 tracks on the cd. this means many of the songs and much of the music from the movie are not included which is a pity because the music from this movie is so rich and diverse. There are pieces written just for the movie as well as classic irish music and even music recorded by the great alan lomax. The fifth track, which is a fife and drum piece
played while the characters are preparing for a street battle, is truly stirring. a strongly recommended soundtrack. hopefully the entire collection of 86 tracks will eventually be made available.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Soundtrack, December 23, 2002

By A Customer

I purchased the soundtrack right after seeing the movie. To my delight, the drum track that occurs in the opening scene is on the soundtrack as song #5. Just this alone was worth the price of the CD. If you see the movie you will understand! The other tracks are pretty good. However, there were some Americana fife & drum songs that should have been included from the movie. All in all, if you liked the movie, you will enjoy the soundtrack.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Irish-American folk music, January 29, 2003

By	Za'chary Westbrook "Jericho" (Salem, OR) - See all my reviews

When the American west opened up hundreds of immigrants, from Germany, Ireland, and Italy (chiefly). This fresh infusion of American citizens sparked a boom economy where men went from boot-black to big business man. But, as this changing of the ecomonic guard continued, the immigrants that made their fortunes in a matter of years began to worry about the growing number of new immigrants, this sparked a brand new wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. This is a period of American history you don't get from High school text books. The riots, the fears that a second civil war might come about, are all things we like to forget, and at the same time we forget an entire ethnicity's culture. The Irish-Americans that made up the majority of the New York workforce for the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century produced poets, musicians, actors, their own celebrities the same way the african-American community has in recent decades, but without the wide-spread fame. This CD explores the beauty of Traditional Celtic music as it evolved on American soil. These pieces like 'New York Girls' (a really fun jig dance piece), 'Paddy's Lamentation' (a ballad concerning the renegade drafting of immigrants for the civil war), and 'Unconstant Lover' (a very traditional Irish song) are perfect glimpses of the life of this forgotten sub-culture. Other songs like 'Dark moon, high tide', 'Shimmy she wobble', and 'Dionysus' are contemporary pieces that recall the period by some of the best names in this genre. The scoring by Howard Shore ('The Fellowship of the Ring') is undeniably beautiful, and the pop pieces by U2 and Peter Gabriel bring the music full circle as the generation that was secured by these early immigrants pays their respect. It's a must-have CD for anyone interested in musical history or Celtic music.