Track Listing

1. "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" - Nancy Sinatra
2. "That Certain Female" - Charlie Feathers
3. "The Grand Duel - (Parte Prima)" - Luis Bacalov
4. "Twisted Nerve" - Bernard Herrmann
5. Queen Of the Crime Council - dialogue excerpt from film featuring Lucy Lui & Julie Dreyfus
6. "Ode To Oren Ishii" - The RZA
7. "Run Fay Run" - Isaac Hayes
8. "Green Hornet" - Al Hirt
9. "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" - Tomoyasu Hotei
10. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" - Santa Esmeralda
11. "Woo Hoo" - The 5.6.7.8's
12. "Crane"/"White Lightning" - The RZA/Charles Bernstein
13. "The Flower of Carnage" - Meiko Kaji
14. "The Lonely Shepherd" - Zamfir
15. You're My Wicked Life - dialogue excerpt w/ David Carradine, Julie Dreyfus & Uma Thurman
16. "Ironside" excerpt - Quincy Jones
17. "Super 16" excerpt - Neu!
18. Yakuza Oren 1
19. Bannister Fight
20. Flip Sting
21. Sword Swings
22. Axe Throws

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4245 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Explicit Lyrics, Soundtrack, Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
Soundtracks have always been an integral part of Quentin Tarantino's films, sometimes playing as big a role as the actors, and the soundtrack to his kung-fu exploitation flick Kill Bill Vol. 1 is no exception. Who can forget the marvellous ear-splitting use of Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle with You" in Reservoir Dogs, or Dusty Springfield's sublime "Son of a Preacher Man" in Pulp Fiction?

Tarantino is the executive producer for the Kill Bill Vol. 1 soundtrack and considering his penchant for the wilfully obscure and talent for dusting off old gems, it's not surprising this overtly eclectic collection makes fascinating listening. Along with the jarring--if, thankfully, few--dialogue excerpts, comes delightful gems such as Santa Esmeralda's masterful "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". There's the slide guitar-fuelled rockabilly cool of Charlie Feathers' "That Certain Female", Spaghetti Western atmospherics from Luis Bacalov, and Wu Tang Clan rapper RZA belting out "Ode to Oren". Not for the faint eared then, but despite breaking every continuity rule in the book, it makes for marvellous listening. --Christopher Barrett

Customer Reviews

Quality accompaniment for a Brilliant Film
I am not usually a big fan of film soundtracks but having watched Kill Bill Volume 1 I was inspired to buy this one immediately. Throughout the film I was thinking WOW this is a good track, what is it? Whereas some of the ones I already knew such as Santa Esmeralda and just wanted it on CD.

Having got the CD I was mightily impressed with the track listing and playing it back evoked such good memories of a brilliant film. I would recommend this soundtrack to anyone but particularly those who have seen the film. It contains a diverse range of music taking in soul, rap and japanese rock and will appeal to many people.

Play the long version of "Battle Without Honor or Humanity"
I went to my first funeral recently and of course afterwards I was wondering what my own would be like. Apparently you have input in a few areas and one of them is music, and if I had my druthers I would like "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei playing as the casket is brought into the church. It would be nice if my eldest daughter dressed up like Gogo Yubari, but that would probably be a bit much. But right now that particular song has been playing on a continual loop in my mind and you can only play Chapter 13 of the "Kill Bill, Volume 1" DVD (which gives you Al Hirt's "Green Hornet" along with "Battle Without Honor or Humanity) so often and just listening to the little bit of the song on the main menu, after a bit of "Twisted Nerve" to set the stage, is sheer madness. But the real reason I picked up the soundtrack for "Kill Bill, Volume 1" is so that I can play my song of the moment whenever I get into the car.

Now, to be clear, while I am hooked on that one particular song and happy to discover that the song actually goes for a whole 2:28, it is not the only primo track in the collection. The epic is a 10:30 version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"/"Esmeralda Suite" by Santa Esmeralda starring Leroy Gomez. There there is Luis Bacalov's "The Grand Duel" and then James Last & Gheorghe Zamfir and his pan flute for "The Lonely Shepherd" (4:20). Then for short bursts of fun there is Charlie Feathers' "That Certain Female," the whistling of Bernard Herrmann's "Twisted Nerve," Al Hirt's "Green Hornet," The 5,6,7,8's "Woo Hoo," and an excerpt from Quincy Jones' theme for "Ironside." Then we can mention that the whole thing starts with Nancy Sinatra doing the Sonny Bono song, "Bang, Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)."

For my money that is ten prime tracks, which for a soundtrack albums is absolutely outstanding. The only ones I have are, of course, Nancy Sinatra (my favorite female vocalist from the Sixties if you must know), and the theme from "Ironside" (I have a lot of CDs of television themes). Since this is a Quentin Tarantino film there are a few audio excerpts from the film, O-Ren Ishi's speech as "Queen of the Crime Council" and most of the final dialogue of the film when the Bride tells Sofie Fatale "You're My Wicked Life" (which you will probably find ends too soon for your tastes). But "Kill Bill" is about stunning visuals and great music rather than unforgettable dialogue in the tradition of "Pulp Fiction." In fact, if they had ditched the dialogue and added the two little bits of music that come at the start of the film before Nancy starts singing I would have been happier (being nostalgic over the "Feature Presentation" music is what happens when you get old).

Another fantastic tarantino cult soundtrack
Once again Tarantino has created a unique film and soundtrack. In my opinion the film was everything i didn't expect it to be, it really took me by suprise. The soundtrack is also a little different compared to say, reservior dogs or pulp fiction, but its still a really cool album filled with fantastic tunes and even sound effects from the film! Once you understand that this is a film that Tarantino made for his screen character's, like Clarence and Alabama "true romance," then you can really apriciate what he has done here.