Elizabethtown

1	60B (Etown Theme) / Nancy Wilson 1:25
2	It'll All Work Out / Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers 3:45
3	My Father's Gun / Elton John 6:21
4	Io (This Time Around) / Helen Stellar 5:13
5	Come Pick Me Up / Ryan Adams 5:14
6	Where to Begin / My Morning Jacket 3:58
7	Long Ride Home / Patty Griffin 3:32
8	Sugar Blue / Jeff Finlin 3:44
9	Don't I Hold You / Wheat 3:39
10	Shut Us Down / Lindsey Buckingham 5:12
11	Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) / Hombres 2:07
12	Hard Times (Come Again No More) / Eastmountainsouth 3:45
13	Jesus Was a Cross Maker / The Hollies 3:47
14	Square One / Tom Petty 3:23
15	Same in Any Language / I Nine 3:42

Barnes & Noble

Having cut his teeth as a rock journalist, it's not altogether surprising that Cameron Crowe would pay particular attention to the music that appears in his films. While Elizabethtown -- unlike, say, Singles or Almost Famous -- isn't an especially music-centric flick, Crowe has really outdone himself in putting together the romantic comedy's soundtrack. In keeping with the flick's setting, the fictional burg of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, most of the 15 cuts here have a decidedly rustic vibe. That can manifest itself in obvious ways (the next-generation bluegrass of Eastmountainsouth's "Hard Times") or subtle ones (the mandolin-driven melody of Tom Petty's previously unreleased "It'll All Work Out"). Even when the tunes are devoid of twang, there's a hardscrabble dirt-road vibe at play -- as evidenced by the Hombres' three-chords-and-a-cloud-of-dust garage classic "Let It All Hang Out" and the clever choice of Elton John's dark 1971 composition "My Father's Gun." The starkness of those selections is nicely counterbalanced by a handful of wispy, atmospheric cuts highlighted by "Where to Begin," an eerie space-waltz contributed by My Morning Jacket, a band of bona fide Kentuckians who appear onscreen as well. It's rare that a soundtrack can fit the tenor of a film perfectly yet be easily appreciated without the visuals. Elizabethtown fits both those criteria perfectly. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Being a former teenage rock journalist, Cameron Crowe has made no secret of his love of pop and rock music, or the inspiration he derives from it. He's one of the few film directors who places pop music at the center of his films, littering his pictures with references to rock & roll, even at times where it may not be necessary -- witness how Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz inexplicably morph into the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in Vanilla Sky. Such a conscientious eye for detail does usually result in cohesive soundtracks, and the soundtrack for his 2005 film Elizabethtown is indeed cohesive. Appropriate for a film set in Kentucky, the record is heavy on sincere, introspective Americana and alt-country, peppered by a few relatively obscure tracks from classic rockers like Tom Petty and Elton John, whose Tumbleweed Connection cut "My Father's Gone" is one of the two best things here. It's languid and atmospheric but effectively epic and melancholy, and even if Bernie Taupin's lyrics don't tell a straightforward narrative, they give the impression that they do. Elsewhere, the album is tasteful, earnest, and well intentioned, although the songs generally take the clearest, safest paths to their end destinations. Nevertheless, it must be said that Crowe maintains a consistent mood for this record -- even more than he did on Jerry Maguire or Vanilla Sky. Stephen Thomas Erlewine