Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds - Motion Picture Soundtrack [Album]
 

Honestly, where would soundtracks be without the films of Quentin Tarantino? For a time, just about any film soundtrack would be comprised entirely of incidental music cues or songs that producers paid handsomely for. Then Tarantino came along and said, “Nah, I’d like to do something else instead.” Suddenly, whole segments of dialogue from a film were incorporated. They even blended into the surrounding songs. But most importantly of all, Quentin Tarantino made it kosher to borrow / steal / rip-off original tracks from other motion pictures. Such is the case with the Inglourious Basterds soundtrack, a wonderful collection of rarities and oddities that is sure to mollify any genre aficionado, especially war and western lovers.

Vintage compositions from Ennio Morricone are featured heavily throughout this album. And why the hell shouldn’t they be? Ennio Morricone is quite possibly the best living film composer today, after all. His immortal and iconic work for both classic war and spaghetti western movies precedes him - and the four (yes, four) spots he receives on the Inglourious Basterds tune roster seems more than at home here.

One thing that had been puzzling me prior to the release of the film was “What was Quentin Tarantino going to do with the soundtrack since this film is his only one thus far to not take place in modern times?” If that question confused you, allow me to elucidate: the movie takes place in World War II. Will the music be from that period in time, or later? Sure enough, as one might have suspected, Tarantino does use a few “modern” tracks, as exemplified by the addition of David Bowie and Giorgio Moroder’s “Cat People (Putting Out The Fire)” and Billy Preston’s “Slaughter” (from the film of the same name).

Selections from the works of Lalo Schifrin, Nick Perito, Charles Bernstein, and The Film Studio Orchestra round out the album, with a handful of really obscure stuff lying midway through your listening adventure to catch you off guard. Several vintage French and German songs take you back to the smoke-filled taverns of war-plagued Europe. A few songs are borrowed wholesale from various sources while others have been “inspired by” original recordings. In keeping up with the vintage look of the film, the disc and artwork resemble an old LP label and sleeve, respectively.

The end result? A dazzling mishmash of odds and ends - and a rather kick-ass soundtrack.

Tracklisting:
1. “The Green Leaves Of Summer” - Nick Perito
2. “The Verdict (Dopo La Condanna)” - Ennio Morricone
3. “White Lightning (Main Title)” - Charles Bernstein
4. “Slaughter” - Billy Preston
5. “The Surrender (La Resa)” - Ennio Morricone
6. “One Silver Dollar (Un Dollaro Bucato)” - The Film Studio Orchestra
7. “Davon Geht Die Welt Nicht Unter” - Zarah Leander
8. “The Man With The Big Sombreo” - Samantha Shelton and Michael Andrew
9. “Ich Wolt Ich Waer Ein Huhn” - Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch
10. “Main Theme from Dark Of The Sun” - Jacques Loussier
11. “Cat People (Putting Out The Fire)” - David Bowie
12. “Tiger Tank” - Lalo Schifrin
13. “Un Amico” - Ennio Morricone
14. “Rabbia E Tarantella” - Ennio Morricone

Re: Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds - Motion Picture Soundtrack [Album]
 

Great review Luigi as always. Really interested to check this out now.

Re: Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds - Motion Picture Soundtrack [Album]
 

I think the film is really brilliant, but the soundtrack as I noticed it in the film wasn't that special. Bowie's song was one of the few times music was really on the foreground and I found it actually quite annoying. But then again, I find Bowie annoying most of the time, so who am I to judge

I didn't think it was really that special musically, but well, it's hard to follow up a scene so brilliantly adapted to the music as the Reservoir Dogs scene with Stealers Wheel anyway. Probably the best video clip ever.

Re: Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds - Motion Picture Soundtrack [Album]
 

I heard this film is good but totally overrated. Nice review Luigi

Re: Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds - Motion Picture Soundtrack [Album]
 

Christopher Waltz definitely made this movie.