Firstly, Peter, there are actually eleven (11) tracks on There Will Be Blood. The final track, number 11, is titled "Prospector's Quartet". Also of note, track 10 is actually titled "Stranded the Line", and not "Smear" as you have incorrectly on the link above. FIX IT OR DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Secondly, Nonesuch lists track 8, "Proven Lands", having a running time of 4:49. The actual track length is 1:51 (shame too, it's a cue that could have interesting chord progression given a long running time, but who am I to judge Mr. Greenwood's talents).

Now, onto this beautiful piece of music. Although Nonesuch's CD release of There Will Be Blood runs a brief 33:02, not a single second is wasted (forget what I said in the previous paragraph). My guess is also that Paul Thomas Anderson's film uses Greenwood's music sparsely, considering the Penderecki-influenced cues alone ("Henry Plainview" and "There Will Be Blood") are so threatening in tone. The other music seems to fit into the smaller, emotional scenes (as well as giving the cinematography seen in the trailer a nice compliment) and provides some subtle, not-too-important motifs. After all, the music's ability to be thematic is not what this picture is about. Greenwood's score is almost anti-thematic in it's spareness and intimacy. If I had to guess the size of BBC Concert Orchestra I would say less than 45 or 50. This music is nearly all string-driven (with occasional violin and cello solos as well as the use of the Emperor Quartet performing on the later cues); an occasional piano will drive the notes forward, almost David Shire-like. Having not heard Greenwood's previous film score effort, Bodysong, I can't say whether his "cinema" style carries over. Although as a longtime fan of Radiohead, I can say that Greenwood's experimentalist and multi-instrumentalist (as well as avant garde tenedencies) have found there way into this very infectious score. The more I listen to it, the more I'm drawn into the atonal atmosphere that Greenwood provides to the film's characters and atmosphere. That said, I certainly can't wait to witness the film with all of its audio/visual components on display.

Although I place high accolades upon this score, it should be well-stated that this score certainly isn't for everyone; especially those with short attention spans as some of the longer cues might seem tedious due to the lack of "thematic progression". But certainly, I do think that fans of classical music (especially Polish music) would appreciate the effort that Greenwood has put forth onto this score.

NP> There Will Be Blood (*****/*****)