This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

Includes 5 untitled hidden tracks following "Super 16."

KILL BILL was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Film/TV/Visual Media.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

In its first teaser trailers, when it was still going to be released as a single film, Kill Bill was sold with the immortal teaser "In the year 2003 Uma Thurman is going to Kill Bill." Of course, Uma didn't come close to the messy business of killing Bill until early 2004, when the second part of Quentin Tarantino's grindhouse epic Kill Bill was released, but she sure started to kill in Kill Bill, Vol. 1, where the Bride, the character she created with QT, began her arduous revenge upon the five former colleagues that killed her fianc‚e at her wedding rehearsal, then left her for dead at the altar. As Tarantino plot lines go, this is the simplest yet, but revenge movies shouldn't be encumbered by deep subtext. Instead, he divided the film into chapters, giving him opportunity to play with both time and location, and then decided to shoot each chapter as a homage to a different kind of exploitation film -- something that's reflected in the soundtrack. After Nancy Sinatra's torchy "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and Charlie Feathers' tough, swaggering rockabilly chestnut "That Certain Female" set the story and the mood, the record is devoted primarily to instrumental pieces that range from surging epics to the calm kitsch of Zamfir's "The Lonely Shepherd," to the intense funk pastiche of Tomoyasu Hotei's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" (the song that kicks off nearly every trailer and ad for Kill Bill). The reduced presence of dialogue from the film -- a hallmark of Tarantino soundtracks -- is a reflection of the film, which places emphasis on action and visuals. Hell, even the tracks on the soundtrack have minimal lyrics, consisting largely of instrumentals. This gives it more of a meandering feeling, and the soundtrack kind of peters out, ending in two quick excerpts of futuristic electro music by Quincy Jones and Neu!, then a gaggle of sound effects and kung fu hits. Nevertheless, its cavalcade of contradictory moods has its own coherence, and is more musical than most pop music soundtracks. Plus, this has no familiar material, nor does it have anything that would be a single on Clear Channel, which is why it works as an album of its own -- it doesn't just reflect the movie; it follows its own logic, and displays fearless imagination. It makes you hungry for Vol. 2, both the movie and soundtrack. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Quentin Tarantino has always armed himself with an arsenal of eclectic songs for his pop-culture-filled films, and the soundtrack to KILL BILL VOL. 1 is no exception. To kick off the first part of his ultra-violent kung fu revenge extravaganza, Tarantino offers up Nancy Sinatra's brooding "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)." The tone swiftly changes to upbeat rockabilly with the Charlie Feathers ditty "That Certain Female," and the stylistic shifts keeping coming with Luis Bacalov's spry spaghetti Western tune "The Grand Duel - (Parte Prima)" and Bernard Hermann's creepy "Twisted Nerve."

Hip-hop innovator/martial arts fan the RZA contributes two songs (one intriguingly paired with a Charles Bernstein number), Santa Esmeralda stretches out "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" into a 10-minute salsa-flavored epic, Meiko Kaji breezes through "The Flower of Carnage," and Neu! appears in an ominous excerpt. Like Uma Thurman as KILL BILL's lead character, any soundtrack that features this bizarre blend of artists--along with Zamfir, Master of the Pan-flute--commands respect and demands that the audience take note of the killer cuts.

Rolling Stone (10/30/03, p.90) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Quentin Tarantino pieces together another soundtrack winner..."

Entertainment Weekly (10/31/03, p.75) - "...A compelling blend of pop-culture oddities, fist-pumping action, and arch, ironic kitsch..." - Rating: B+

Q (12/03, p.144) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Here Quentin Tarantino maintains his reputation for slick soundtracks: and as with its predecessors, pieces of stylised movie dialogue are sandwiched between a host of rare cuts..."

Uncut (11/03, p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Nothing if not eclectic, and, of itself, furious fun..."

Mojo (Publisher) (12/03, p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 - "What gives it the edge is brand new material from the RZA and a boffo collection of chop-socky sound effects."