Imagine my surprise to find that after nearly two weeks I still haven't taken it out of my player. This is one of those rare CDs where I wouldn't dream of skipping a track. The faster-paced pieces are mixed well with the slower-paced ones and snippets of movie dialogue, resulting in the CD being wonderfully high-energy and cohesive from start to finish. There are some fantastic tracks here, with my favorites being "Malaguena," "Pistolero," and "Sands Theme."

Another surprise: As I said I hadn't thought much about the music while watching the movie, but upon listening to the CD I found scenes and images coming right back. It's not just the soundbytes; who can listen to "Pistolero" without picturing that insane high-speed motorbike/car chase?


Sweet Music   September 16, 2003
Ashley (Midland, Texas United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This soundtrack went very well with the film. The guitar was awesome to say the least. Some of the better songs are, "Siente Mi Amor", "Cuka Rocka", and "Malaguena". Of course there is also the infamous, "Sands' Theme" which was both written and produced by Johnny Depp himself! The only thing lacking from this cd is the fact that no lyrics were included. And, one of the coolest things about this soundtrack, is that they have actual sound clips from the movie on the ends of certain songs. An example would be Depp's line of, "Are you a Mexi-can or a Mexi-can't?" There are three Depp quotes, two Antonio quotes, and one Cheech quote. All in all, I recommend this cd to fans of Latino music as well as fans of soundtracks. The music in the "El Mariachi" movies is inspiring.


Great listening experience!   July 21, 2004
Eric Scott (Bloomington, California USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Not only does this CD effectively capture the flavor of the movie, it also stands on it's own as a wonderful listening experience. Each track has something to recommend it, and the pacing is good ... and the Salma Hayek piece near the end simply warms my soul. The snippets of dialogue here and there are brief, well-chosen, and add rather than detract. Overall, a great CD and a great listen.


A perfect soundtrack   September 16, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This soundtrack melds perfectly with Rodriguez's goofy action epic. The film has a similar rock beat to Desperado, mixed with RR's epic score. Several tracks standout (most notably Juno Reactor's sublime "Pistolero) but overall the entire soundtrack is fantastic. Depp's theme that he wrote for his classic character Sands is also very original and fantastic. I highly recomend this to any fans of the film, or just good music in general.


Start to Finish, a Real Mexi-CAN of a Soundtrack   November 30, 2004
Champ (Spokane, WA USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Alright, so the main reason I got the soundtrack was Pistolero by Juno Reactor,a real driving, pumped-up techno song. I started to get into the rest of the music on the soundtrack, and I find it an essential cd I carry along with me. The great thing about this soundtrack is you can listen in on Mexican traditional music and a glimpse of the culture, and still have some real badass-sounding guitar! Whatever you may think of the film, you can imagine the actors playing their parts in your head, since they play and sing in the soundtrack (as the first one). There is an aura in the music I can't put my finger on; there's a history, an old feel to it, but it lingers with new musical ideas. Kinda like the movie, in terms of making it. I agree fullheartedly with previous reviews: where the movie fails, the music fills in the gaps and expands on Mexican music, making the entire movie/soundtrack experience very deep and epic. I dunno, maybe I'm rambling, but I emphasize that this soundtrack adds culture and kickass to your collection, as it did mine.