By Shelby Clemons, Staff Writer
One of the greatest parts of The Great Gatsby is the soundtrack that comes with it. Rather than going down the road of sticking with Jazz Age music for a 1920s movie, Baz Luhrmann decided to use plenty of modern music from big-name artists. Most tracks are very modern, but with just enough jazzy flare and saxophones to fit the film.
The best (and most memorable) tracks come from Jay Z, Fergie, Lana Del Rey and Florence + the Machine. From The XX to Kanye West, the album mixes slow, dramatic songs with fast, dance-y instant hits that make for a diverse and interesting album.
Jay Z’s “100$ Bill” is one of the best tracks, works well for the glitzy film and is just a great song in general. Just as great as that is “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” by Fergie. Somehow, it makes dubstep jazz work (will.i.am’s “Bang Bang” does the same, but is much less of a hit). Florence + the Machines “Over the Love” fit the film’s trailers perfectly, setting the stage for the necessarily dramatic music that takes over the climactic scenes.
Another hit that hyped up the film in its previews was “No Church in the Wild” by Jay Z, Kanye West and Frank Ocean, which I haven’t stopped listening to since I first heard it. The most popular song on the album (according to iTunes) is Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful,” which is a slow tune with heavy beats that asks, “Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?” Beyoncé and André 3000 cover the late Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” which is another highlight of the album.
Putting rap and electronic music into a 1920s film is a little odd and risky, and while it isn’t well-executed at times, The Great Gatsby has plenty of standouts on its soundtrack.
Courtesy of cdn.popdust.com