Salt (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by
ReleasedJuly 20, 2010 (2010-07-20)
Recorded2010
GenreContemporary classical
Length59:10
LabelMadison Gate
ProducerJames Newton Howard
James Newton Howard chronology
The Last Airbender
(2010)
Salt (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
(2010)
Inhale
(2010)

Salt (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2010 film Salt. The film's original score is composed by James Newton Howard and released through Madison Gate Records through iTunes on July 20, 2010, and physically as an on-demand CD-R from Amazon.com on August 10, 2010.[1]

Development

[edit]

Salt is Howard's maiden collaboration with Noyce. Howard described it as a "state-of-the-art" score which was a mixture of orchestra and electronic music. The instrumentation consisted of drums and other percussion elements, along with the orchestral accompaniment. Describing the complexity of the film's score, he recalled a sequence where Jolie meets her husband Mike Krause (August Diehl), where he wrote a piece of music that described it as a "fantasy, magical" moment energized on Krause's quality and building their relationship.[2] The song "Orlov's Story" includes a Russian lullaby that music editor Joe E. Rand found at Amoeba Music, and which served as inspiration for the choir heard in other tracks – but the chants in the rest of the score are only random syllables, as Rand and Howard thought actual Russian words would be a spoil about Salt's allegiance.[3]

Reception

[edit]

Thomas Glorieux of Maintitles described it as a "overlong action exercise of James Newton Howard".[4] Filmtracks.com wrote "Salt is a functional but not spectacular score with a few notable highlights."[5] Jordan Raup of The Film Stage wrote "the score, by James Newton Howard, features heavy guitars anytime Jolie does something bad-ass."[6] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter and Justin Chang of Variety described the score as "nerve-teasing" and "topnotch".[7][8] Lisa Kennedy of The Denver Post called it as "propulsive".[9] In contrast, A. O. Scott of The New York Times criticized it as "loud and empty".[10]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by James Newton Howard

Salt (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Prisoner Exchange"4:09
2."Escaping the CIA"5:20
3."Cornered"1:09
4."Orlov's Story"4:43
5."Chase Across DC"6:51
6."Hotel Room Preparations/Parade"3:59
7."Attack on St. Bart's Cathedral"3:10
8."A Dark Goddamn Hole"1:47
9."Taser Puppet"1:34
10."You Are My Greatest Creation"4:13
11."Destiny"2:22
12."Barge Apocalypse"2:26
13."Day X"1:37
14."I'm Going Home"2:16
15."Eight Floors Down"2:51
16."Arming the Football"2:11
17."Not Safe with Me"2:27
18."You're About to Become Famous"1:38
19."Mano a Mano"1:51
20."Garroted"3:32
21."Go Get Em"3:10
Total length:59:10

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.[11]

Orchestra

Instruments

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Salt (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes Store. July 20, 2010. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010.
  2. ^ Reynolds, Christopher; Brill, Mark (2010). "On the Art and Craft of Film Music: A Conversation with James Newton Howard". The Hopkins Review. 32 (4): 321–352. ISSN 1939-9774. Archived from the original on June 4, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  3. ^ Rand, Joe E. Commentary track: Salt. Salt DVD.
  4. ^ "James Newton Howard: Salt - maintitles.net". maintitles.net. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  5. ^ "Salt (James Newton Howard)". Filmtracks.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  6. ^ Raup, Jordan (July 21, 2010). "[Review] Salt". The Film Stage. Archived from the original on June 4, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  7. ^ Honeycutt, Kirk (July 16, 2010). "Salt – Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  8. ^ Chang, Justin (July 16, 2010). "Salt Review". Variety. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  9. ^ Kennedy, Lisa (July 21, 2010). "Movie review: Angelina Jolie's worth her salt as CIA action heroine". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  10. ^ Scott, A. O. (July 22, 2010). "Spies, Spider Venom and Sex Appeal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 2, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  11. ^ "Salt (Original Motion Picture Score), by James Newton Howard". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2024.