David Holmes, Various Artists - Ocean's Eleven

The idea of remaking the Rat Pack's infamous shaggy-dog story cum Vegas heist thriller may have seemed ludicrous without a Rat Pack. But that didn't deter ever-inventive director Steven Soderbergh, who's again wisely teamed with not only Out of Sight star George Clooney, but that underrated project's Irish-born club mixer turned scorer David Holmes, as well. The resulting soundtrack is a spunky, cross-cultural joyride that careens from Perry Como's "Papa Loves Mambo" to the loopy hip-hop of Handsome Boy Modeling School's "The Projects," while paying some gratifying visits to Percy Faith, Arthur Lyman, Quincy Jones, the terminally cool Claude Debussy, and, of course, King Elvis along the way. Holmes's own concoctions are as smartly retro-hip and seamless, slyly intertwining cool jazz-funk and smoky cine-Muzak with some dance-floor grooves that keep the musical tension boiling. The sharp dialogue snippets that bubble throughout seem a quirky throwback to soundtracks gone by, a sometimes oversized olive in Holmes's inviting musical cocktail. --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

Same Issue As Others: Good Music, Dialog Distracting

Like many of the other reviewers, I really enjoy the music tracks on the album. Definitely not all, but most, and a few songs are absolutely standout (Tess, $160 Million Chinese Man). BUT, the insertion of dialog throughout is a distracting buzzkill. Even if you don't mind it at first, when you are playing your favorite songs for the 100th time, the dialog gets extremely old! Also, I was amazed that the inserted dialog wasn't even the actual dialog occuring while the track was playing during the movie. They just inserted it on the soundtrack needlessly. Getting beyond it, I would still recommend the album for the enjoyable tunes. FYI - the Oceans 12 soundrack has no dialog, and has many enjoyable tracks as well. August 10, 2008

Steven Soderbergh Is An Idiot

If I want to watch the movie I will play the DVD. If I want to hear the music from the movie I will play the soundtrack. Is that a difficult concept to understand, Steve? This soundtrack is riddled with movie dialogue and it completely ruins the music. I DON'T WANT MOVIE DIALOGUE ON MY SOUNDTRACK. He did the same thing with the "Out of Sight" soundtrack. Either stop doing it or produce two versions of the soundtrack and see which one sells better. September 9, 2007

If you really want the music....

DAVID HOLMES made a name with this soundtrack, and to get his name out, he sent out a PROMO COPY for the OSCAR race. now, i don't normally recommend downloading music but it IS ILLEGAL to buy this CD as it was not intended to be bought. i am lucky to OWN it as i bought it on EBAY it its THE ENTIRE SCORE - NO DIALOGE. Its less then 45 mins in length and has 35 tracks if i am not mistaken. it worth getting. my friend have downloaded it off of TORRENTRACTOR or TORRENTSPY and i recommend you do that, plus add the tracks you get here and make a COMPLETE soundtrack. that what i did. July 3, 2007

Dialogue helped and hurt.

I understand why some listeners are frustrated that the film's dialogue was included with some of the tracks. For the most part, I enjoy how it brings back memories of this very clever film. But there are times where I wish I didn't have to hear it. Wouldn't it be nice if this was produced like the musical instrument lesson books with CD's that have one set of songs as solo and one set of songs with accompaniment? I'd love that choice. Funny, though, how I never notices some of the background music in scenes. I love those old songs, and would love to be able to have those songs without dialogue. All in all, I am satisfied with this CD. I am glad I knew ahead of time that this was produced so "uniquely". May 21, 2007

Oceans Eleven Soundtrack

Some songs are a mix of lines and music (mostly moments) from the movie. There are several uninterrupted music only selections. The songs fall in chronological order and all have the same modern, funk. My personal favorite is the rap song (which also has a heavy amount of funk)which is shown in the movie just as Brad Pitt's character is introduced and giving his poker classes. It's funky without being hard or uninteligible. Also, the music played while the heist is being completed is a funky, hip victory song. Great background party music. May 13, 2007

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