Dead Man (Music from and Inspired By the Motion Picture)

I was utterly mesmerized listening to this pure, pure music while watching a perfect film. Putting the raw talent of Neil Young with Johnny Depp in a dark, violent, sometimes funny movie was genius. This music is for the few, but those few of us love it.

I remember watching this movie (which I loved) and btw if you liked it check out Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai. Same director, same feel, great stuff. Anyhow, I was watching this and I said to myself, I NEED to have this soundtrack, it was half the movie, it fits so perfectly. Neil Young's struck gold, there are parts where he is playing mid range with these ghostly echoes but just striking these background notes with such subtlety that it sounds like Native American battle drums rhythmically pounding in the distance. He will play such beautiful pieces but there is something else happening, so complex, a darkness, lurking in the background. It's like good misdirection by a magician. It's weird and experimental but give it a shot. The perfect setting to listen to this is [on your deck, in the rain, smoking a rolled cigarette, listening to the thunder in the distance. contemplating, whatever it is, one needs to contemplate lol] this is what batman listens to while brooding in the bat cave.

This soundtrack is recommended to people who know about music. @ArmChairCritic: Is your "review" supposed to be about the soundtrack or the film? It certainly does not evince any knowledge of music or methods of learning to improvise on guitar. Sorry for the rant and I will now get to the review of the MUSIC. This is music to close your eyes and dream (or have nightmares) to. The music works well with or without the film, and I love the reverb-drenched, fuzzed-out guitar. It would be great to hear Neil experiment like this more often.

If you liked the movie and want to listen to middle-of-the-film background music, then this is for you. The fantastic opening theme and closing credits music are NOT included and that's really all I want. It's a good album for guys trying to learn how to improvise on the guitar and pretty much play the same theme over-and-over again until that chick you were trying to impress at a party... now, not so much. And by the way... Dead Man is one of my favorite films. But because Jarmusch is one of those artists that never goes back to anything he's done (he never watches his old films), his movies rot after they're made.

I wish johnny would do more films like this... And neil would follow suit with his guitar... They just don't come like this anymore

First of all let me note how talented of a person Neil Young is. He has proved to all of the world that he can do it all. I disagree with the review that says this soundtrack is only comparable to Pat Garret and Billy the Kid by Dylan. Pat Garret is a totally different genre of soundtrack.My sole reason for thinking that is simply because Pat Garret has the ability to stand alone as an album itself, whereas Dead Man is more of a supplementary to the film. Don't get me wrong though, this soundtrack is listenable without the film, but along with the film you are able to understand and read the emotions in the music. This soundtrack gives Johnny Greenwood's There Will Be Blood a good run for it's own existence, although I would still prefer TWBB's Soundtrack. Now it's absolutely clear to me where Johnny drew some of his inspirations from. I personally think that these are some of Neil's best compositions and guitar works. It really taps into the stock of his creative spirit and understanding of the emotions music can conjure. Frankly . . . It's beautiful and nothing short of it. It also solidifies my theory that Neil Young's music teaches to other musicians and writers that no matter how unorthodox your music is, it's still music and it's still yours and no one else can argue against tose two facts.

There is only one similar album in modern rock discography to "Dead Man" and that would be Bob Dylan's soundtrack to "Pat Garret & Billy the Kid." Both films being near swan songs of the once vigorous Western genre, perhaps this shouldn't be surprising. But unlike Dylan's accessable offering, Young's film score is much darker and far more arcane. There is no catchy song suitable for FM radio as was "Knocking on Heaven's Door" and so"Dead Man" remains an obscure soundtrack to an equally obscure art-house film. More's the pity for as the Irish say, because this is Neil Young at his purest. His rather abrasive guiter work here is of a power and magnitude seldom heard. The music here is faintly similar in instumental style to his classic "Cortez the Killer", but here Young sings no songs. The interludes of the actors' spoken words take the place of lyrics. I would not recomend this soundtrack to the casual listener, nor to those whose knowledge of Neil Young is limited to popular tunesmith albums like "Harvest." This is for the most hardcore Neil Young fans amoung us; music perfect for a dark winter's night shared with a friend named Jack Daniels.

Outstanding movie w/ an outstanding soundtrack.I remember watching the movie hearing the music in the background and saying i have to find out who this is.Great and original stuff

Oh, what a fantastic album. This came out right in the middle of the first period of soundtrack albums that had clips of the movies interspersed with the track - I'm looking at you Quentin Tarantino soundtracks, but unlike those, which are fine, all of the music here is original Neil Young improvising themes to Jim Jarmusch's Anti-Western Dead Man. It functions sort of as a companion to the film, a way to experience it within a different context, as the tracks are not exactly as they appear in the film - sound effects of car engines rumbling, surf gently crashing, and car doors slamming, are mixed into the guitar solos, shifting the tone of the music, so it's more it's own thing. There are also tracks of Johnny Depp reading William Blake's poetry and whole scenes of dialogue from the film. The one thing missing is the clean recording of the title sequence music - something that would have been nice to have at the end of album, but doesn't really fit in the concept. Neil Young fans, Depp Fans, ambient Fans, check it out.