Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su – The Last Emperor

 

The Last Emperor is the soundtrack album for the film of the same name. It features nine pieces composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, five by David Byrne, one from Cong Su, and a few incidental pieces of source music. The album won the Best Original Score award at the 1987 Academy Awards, and won the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media award at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989.

1 Ryuichi Sakamoto– First Coronation

2 Ryuichi Sakamoto– Open The Door

3 Ryuichi Sakamoto– Where Is Armo?

4 Ryuichi Sakamoto– Picking Up Brides

5 Ryuichi Sakamoto– The Last Emperor (Theme Variation 1)

6 Ryuichi Sakamoto– Rain (I Want A Divorce)

7 Ryuichi Sakamoto– The Baby (Was Born Dead)

8 Ryuichi Sakamoto– The Last Emperor (Theme Variation II)

9 Ryuichi Sakamoto– The Last Emperor (Theme)

10 David Byrne– Main Title Theme (The Last Emperor)

11 David Byrne– Picking A Bride

12 David Byrne– Bed

13 David Byrne– Wind, Rain And Water

14 David Byrne– Paper Emperor

15 Cong Su– Lunch

16 The Red Guard Accordion Band– Red Guard

17 The Ball Orchestra Of Vienna– The Emperor's Waltz

18 The Girls Red Guard Dancers– The Red Guard Dance

The Last Emperor

Snake Eyes Original Score by Ryuichi Sakamoto

Depending on your viewpoint, director Brian De Palma has been frequently lauded/taken to task for liberally appropriating the stylistic flourishes of other directors. And if De Palma's biggest "inspiration" on Snake Eyes is Alfred Hitchcock, the director found an admirable, if unlikely, semblance of frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann in Ryuichi Sakamoto. Though better known for more delicate, electronic, and ethnically tinged work, here Sakamoto does a truly amazing Herrmann impression, cranking up the brass and swirling the strings into an unsettling sonic maelstrom that would've done late '50s Hitch proud.

Snake Eyes instantly begins with an awesome theme played out on lush violins. It echoes Bernard Herrmann classic scores to Hitchcock movies. Usually when a score imitates another movie it doesn't stand on its own. But the Snakes Eyes score manages to come into its own and still be original. Sakamoto's score ends with the beautiful 'Snake Eyes-Long Version'. It's a shame that this came out in the modern day. If this score accompanied a classic movie it would have been well-remembered. It is an alternately fun and lush score to De Palma's underrated and visually stunning film. Sakamoto's haunting theme (best on extended track 11) is a loving tribute to Morricone and Herrmann and the cheesy '70s gangster film thrill/scare cuts are a treat. Also includes 2 vocal tracks by Meredith Brooks and LaKiesha Berri.

1. Snake Eyes
2. Assassination
3. The Hunt
4. Julia's Story #1
5. Tyler And Serena
6. Kevin Cleans Up
7. You Know Him
8. Blood On The Medals
9. Crawling To Julia
10. The Storm
11. Snake Eyes(Long Version)
12. Sin City - Meredith Brooks
13. The Freaky Things - LaKiesha Berri

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