Track Listing

1. Theme - Jon Brion
2. Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
3. Collecting Things - Jon Brion
4. Light & Day - The Polyphonic Spree
5. Bookstore - Jon Brion
6. It's the Sun - The Polyphonic Spree
7. Wada Na Tod - Lata Mangeshkar
8. Showtime - Jon Brion
9. Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes - Beck
10. Sidewalk Flight - Jon Brion
11. Some Kinda Shuffle - Don Nelson
12. Howard Makes It All Go Away - Jon Brion
13. Something - The Willowz
14. Postcard - Jon Brion
15. I Wonder - The Willowz
16. Peer Pressure - Jon Brion
17. Dream Upon Waking - Jon Brion
18. Strings That Tie to You - Jon Brion
19. Phone Call - Jon Brion
20. Nola's Bounce - Don Nelson
21. Down the Drain - Jon Brion
22. Row - Jon Brion
23. Drive in - Jon Brion
24. Main Title - Jon Brion
25. Spotless Mind - Jon Brion
26. Elephant Parade - Jon Brion

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27148 in Music
• Released on: 2004-04-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack

Customer Reviews

Sunshine for your spotless mind.
Mostly consisting of incidental music by Jon Brion but with other tracks littered throughtout, this OST is a work of haunting beauty. A mixture of ear pricking eerieness and frantic dream like sequences make this a constant delight. Worth owning just for the brilliant reworking of the Korgi's 'Everybody's got to learn sometime' by Beck though.
I would recommend knowing the movie well before you consider purchasing this as it is one of those soundtracks that is probably best appreciated as a companion. Enjoy.

Almost as good as the film
Whilst the quality of the material in this collection is consistently high, Jon Brion's intimate, melancholic score fights to compete for mind-space with the contributions from other artists rather than merging seamlessly as they did they on screen. This is undeniably effective in creating an evocative, emotionally chaotic listen - deliberately trying to recall the films cut and paste style - but one feels that if the two disparate elements had been given separate CDs to strut their stuff they would have been easier to listen to. That said, it's a fault that can be overlooked and it doesn't change the fact that what music does exist on the CD beautifully captures the various themes of the film.

After opening the album with Brion's "Theme", a warm, multifluous track, we have ELO's little-known gem "Mr. Blue Sky", from their mediocre 1977 album 'Out of the Blue'. Used on the trailers, it's a brilliant Beatle-esque summation of the films quirky charms, and Gondry's direction. The Polyphonic Spree make two entries on the album, though "Light & Day" is the more fitting song, the latter "It's the Sun" lacking the emotional complexity of the film's narrative.

The songs that work best are those that Brion had a hand in: Beck's cover of the Korgis' 1980 hit "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" reworked especially for the film, and his own "Strings that Tie to You" a plaintive track that flirts with the idea of romance, nostalgia and memories.

Fans of Brion's work (an eclectic back catalogue including being member of one-album band The Grays and a brilliant solo career) will be disappointed that the score segments run to just over ten minutes of music, and though the smaller vignettes like "Sidewalk Flight" and "Showtime" are as imaginative and complex in construction as one would expect, the amount on offer is a rather poor showing for an official OST.

This OST will work best as a companion to the film once it's released on DVD - whilst watching Eternal Sunshine you are hardly aware of the various sonic accompaniments thanks to the engrossing visuals, but a re-listen is a soothing, romanitc, nostalgic experience, and one definitely recommended.

super guitar based sadness!
hello, i haven't seen the film for this soundtrack, but pre-ordered it from the states i needed it that much. the beck cover is, in my opionon the standout track, but that is coming from a beck fan! its gorgeous meloncholy stuff, even though it does tend to be a tad predictable by the end and is quite long.