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2.07.09 # 20:44 # Soundtrack # 4 Comments
The Public Enemies soundtrack. …Before you ask, hip-hop legends Public Enemy do not feature.
So the soundtrack is half blues/jazz, half Elliot Goldenthal’s score, and opens with contemporary bluesman Otis Taylor’s fantastic cover of “Ten Million Slaves” (as heard in the trailer). Also of note are the new version of classic jazz track “Bye, Bye, Blackbird” sung by Diana Krall and a good bit of Baptist music at track 12.
Elliot Goldenthal scored Heat for Michael Mann, the only other time they’ve worked together. It’s fitting as this is another great crime saga. Here Goldenthal uses a large scale orchestral approach to capture the high style of 30s Chicago and the sense of gloom that came out of the Great Depression. To be honest, his work is a bit too downbeat for me but overall the Public Enemies soundtrack feels fresh by nature of the era it’s trying to capture (a period of time rarely visited by movies these days), and the cover songs are terrific.
You can buy it on cd here
Or as mp3s here
Public Enemies Soundtrack ( Songs / Score ) - Track Listing
1. Ten Million Slaves - Otis Taylor
2. Chicago Shake - The Bruce Fowler Big Band
3. Drive To Bohemia - Elliot Goldenthal
4. Love Me Or Leave Me - Billie Holiday
5. Billie’s Arrest - Elliot Goldenthal
6. Am I Blue? - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra
7. Love In The Dunes - Elliot Goldenthal
8. Bye Bye Blackbird - Diana Krall
9. Phone Call To Billie - Elliot Goldenthal
10. Nasty Letter - Otis Taylor
11. Plane To Chicago - Elliot Goldenthal
12. Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah - Indian Bottom Association Old Regular Baptists
13. Gold Coast Restaurant - Elliot Goldenthal
14. The Man I Love - Billie Holiday
15. JD Dies - Elliot Goldenthal
16. Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground - Blind Willie Johnson
Leave your thoughts on the Public Enemies soundtrack in the comments.
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That Otis Taylor version of “Ten Million Slaves” is fantastic. They use it prominently in the film - although one of my few problems with the film was the way Mann put cool electric blues over bank-robbing scenes, essentially saying ‘look how cool bank-robbing is’. Bank-robbing is pretty cool cinematically, but when you’re dealing with a real-life character who murdered real-life cops, it’s a little different.
That’s a pretty pointless flaw that you found in the movie. Tell me, did you complain watching the same thing in Heat? That is, if you’ve seen it.
Also. It’s a Movie.
I thought the soundtrack was incredible… a big part of the mood. Just enough Chicago blues coupled with contemporary raw edge, which is the brink the story ran on.