Various Artists, Gabriel Yared, Alison Krauss, Jack White - Cold Mountain

Director Anthony Minghella's take on Charles Frazier's bestselling novel is powered by wistful romanticism and a dramatic structure that's been compared to Homer's Odyssey. That latter creative tack parallels the Coens' O Brother, Where Art Thou in crucial ways, and is further enhanced by another T-Bone Burnett-produced soundtrack of Appalachian-inflected folk traditionals, sympathetic originals by diverse songwriters (Elvis Costello and Sting), and a core of gritty performances (the White Stripe's Jack White and Alison Krauss) that rise above mere star appeal. White shows his traditional blues jones is no mere affectation on "Wayfaring Stranger" and a cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Sittin' On Top of the World," then makes a rewarding turn into the wistfully romantic with his original "Never Far Away." Krauss gives a haunting performance of Costello's "The Scarlet Tide," but doesn't fare as well with Sting's plaintive, Celtic-tinged "You Will Be My True Love." The soundtrack's evocative sense of time and place is further underscored by traditionals performed by a slate of other bluegrass/country-folk heavyweights and a powerful pair of gospelized, almost ethereal performances by the Sacred Harp Singers at Liberty Church. A few of Gabriel Yared's gentle orchestral cues (crucial to the film's characters and dramatic continuity) are essentially tacked on as the coda to the remaining collection of earthy Americana. Dark, dusty, and ever bittersweet, Burnett's musical archaeology here is something considerably more than merely "O Brother Redux." --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

Haunting... lyrical... beware....

While you may not love every track, you will, if you are a music lover, appreciate The Scarlet Tide and You Will Be My Ain True Love. Gorgeous melodies and poignant lyrics there. And beware; the score will take you right back to Cold Mountain, conjuring up images and whatever it was you experienced at the fate of Inman. September 7, 2008

rnjdiscs sucks as a seller rip off........

NEVER RECEIVED MY CD OR GIVEN AN ANSWER WHY, WOULD NEVER USE THEM AGAIN AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST COMPLAINT THEY SHOULD BE OFF AMAZON..... August 30, 2008

Cold Mountain CD

After seeing the video, I knew I wanted a copy of the music. I was pleased to find there is more to the audio than was included in the movie, and the music, as I expected, it outstanding. March 5, 2008

Awesome Album

T-Bone Burnet ("O Brother Where Art Thou?") has done it again with another collection of folk and americana music. This album contains a good variety of civil-war and similar sounding music. I highly recommend it. October 1, 2007

"Caterwauling" POS

The only appropriate place to put this CD is in the trash can. Sacred Harp Singers--puleeze. I'd rather listen to a dentist drill. There isn't one "song" on this thing that you can listen to and enjoy. I purchased this because T Bone Burnett produced it and thinking I'd get something like Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

The S. Mack review nails it. Save your money. August 18, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...