The original soundtrack and score for the motion picture
The Book of Eli, was composed by
Atticus Ross, who has worked with the Hughes Brothers on two previous occasions, as well as artists such as
Nine Inch Nails,
Korn, and
Jane’s Addiction. Despite his extensive work in television and cinema, this marks
Ross' debut into feature film scoring.
Ross worked with his wife,
Claudia Sarne, and brother,
Leopold Ross, at his home studio in Los Angeles before going to London’s Abbey Road Studio to finish with an 80-piece orchestra. The score contains a well balanced mixture of electronic elements, rock instrumentation and ornamentation in places, and beautiful classical elements with excellent dynamics, layered, expansive textures and effects, without once sounding overdone. Given the post-apocalyptic nature of the film, and the sonic impressions offered in its trailer, what transpires here is actually quite understated as a listening experience -- a real positive. It allows the tension in the soundtrack’s own sense of narrative to develop slowly, purposefully, and effectively. The cues, whether they be adorned by strings, synths, guitars, drums, or operatic voices, are equally balanced and utilized not simply as workmanlike devices for furthering the story in the film, but to adorn a work that can be widely enjoyed apart from its cinematic counterpart. ~ Thom Jurek