Track Listing

1. Guitar Solo, No. 1
2. The Round Stones Beneath The Earth...
3. Guitar Solo, No. 2
4. Why Does Thou Hide Thyself, Clouds...
5. Organ Solo
6. Do You Know How To Use This Weapon?
7. Guitar Solo, No. 3
8. Nobody's Story
9. Guitar Solo, No. 4
10. Stupid White Men...
11. Guitar Solo, No. 5
12. Time For You To Leave, William Blake...
13. Guitar Solo, No. 6

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9738 in Music
• Released on: 1996-02-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
Musicologists looking for evidence of Neil Young's connection with the avant-garde likes of Sonic Youth need look no further than this uncompromising soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's film Dead Man--the first post-punk western to make any sense at all. The music here is scattered and fragmentary, and performed mainly on electric guitar. Though Young's instrumental musings work well in the film, this soundtrack album will be of interest mostly to hardcore Young fanatics (for whom the feedback epic of "Weld" was too brief). The film's most accessible piece of music came during the opening credits, with Young blending acoustic and electric guitars to great dramatic effect. Unfortunately, it's not on this CD. Rent the video. --Steve Appleford

Customer Reviews

Hurrah for William Blake!
I have read through the other Amazon reviews, and I sympathize with the reviewers who were frustrated with this CD because they didn't like the dialogue sections or the sections during which Depp reads from William Blake. So if you buy this with the intent of experiencing Neil Young exclusively, you will be disappointed.

But I have to say that as a lover of Neil Young (I have more of his music in my collection than that of any other artist), a lover of DEAD MAN (I have seen it multiple times), and as a lover of the real poet William Blake, I couldn't be happier with this CD unless, of course, it was longer.

I can hardly imagine anything BETTER than hearing Johnny Depp (one of my favorite actors) read from William Blake!

I keep my music on my computer and also have a collection of audio poetry on my computer (yes, I am a University English Lecturer and poetry really turns me on). Depp's readings from Blake, with Young's haunting music in the background is mind blowing and more than I could ever ask for in my wildest English-Lecturer-dreams.

This CD will take you to a place in the deepest center of yourself where your dreams reside. William Blake believed in the supernatural and in the power of dreams. He also was a rebel. He was one of the most spiritual people ever to have existed. DEAD MAN is also about a spiritual quest, and that's why the marriage of Young's guitar and the dialogue/poetry readings from DEAD MAN really work!

Excellent to listen to in order to jumpstart your own creative life! Highly recommended.

5 Star Soundtrack, 3 Star CD
I bought this wanting to re-experience the hypnotic guitar music of Dead Man. What is the trend lately with companies adding dialogue from the film onto soundtracks? Oh well, I can deal with that in this instance because the dialogue to Dead Man sufficiently blends with the resonating guitar, but what's the deal with the background noises? On the copy I got the feeling somebody had mastered the album with two boom boxes in their Dad's garage. There is the distinct sound of a motorcycle being gunned and several points in the album...weird. Thankfully the guitar is usually loud enough to overwhelm this.

Also, as pointed out elsewhere, that great methodic opening and closing theme is absent. Too bad. Young comes off in regards to this movie like a modern day Ennio Morricone - puncutating key moments in the film with discordant strikings of his guitar. This really is a fantastic soundtrack - but again, as said elsewhere, don't buy it without seeing the movie first.

Masterful
As in the movie, the tracks on this soundtrack start clean and gradually turn into a grungeful and distorted piece of the same thing. And it sounds great! No other musician could pull off what Neil Young did here. This music reflects upon the premise of the movie: William Blake starts out in Cleveland in a suit and tie and slowly ends up an injured and wanted man, strugglisg to survive long enough to "Go back to where all spirits come from, and all spirits return" as put by Nobody.

This album is also a bit different from the movie, it has added sounds throughout. Maybe the sound of a vehicle driving along and stopping, with doors opening and shutting along the way, possibly to symbolize his journey? Or to add a bit of interesting background noise to give it more of a grunge feel? I'm still trying to figure it out...

And there is a lot of dialogue added to the soundtrack, most from the movie, and also some of William Blake's poetry read by Johnny Depp. If you listen closely, you can notice that some of the dialogue has been changed: "I've got some food here that even Nero couldn't command." "I've got some food here that even Goldilocks couldn't command." Which version came first would be interesting to know...

So overall it's one of the best soundtracks I've ever bought, if you're a fan of the movie it's a must have, and if you're not a fan of the movie...why are you reading this review?