Whale Rider

1	Paikea Legend 3:30
2	Journey Away 3:34
3	Rejection 1:43
4	Biking Home 3:26
5	Ancestors 1:43
6	Suitcase 1:04
7	Pai Calls the Whales 1:32
8	Reiputa 2:14
9	Disappointed 2:55
10	They Came to Die 2:20
11	Pai Theme 3:48
12	Paikea's Whale 4:01
13	Empty Water 1:40
14	Waka in the Sky 1:56
15	Go Forward 5:53

Barnes & Noble

Though recorded at her home studio in Australia, Lisa Gerrard's sweeping score for Whale Rider is a timeless, world-class affair. Using an evocative mix of Western orchestral instruments and traditional Maori shell flutes, percussion, and keening native vocals -- as well as her own ethereal, impossibly beautiful voice -- she crafts a subtle musical setting for director Niki Caro's inspirational, award-winning story of a young girl's fight to fulfill her personal and spiritual destiny. Gerrard first achieved acclaim as the mesmerizing singer for goth heroes Dead Can Dance, but she's since gone on to a fruitful career crafting music for film -- notably collaborating with Hans Zimmer on the acclaimed Gladiator score. From the haunting aural poetry of the title theme, "Paikea Legend," to the enchanting closer, "Go Forward," Gerrard is in her musical prime on the richly pancultural Whale Rider, the first score she's done on her own. Catch this wave and you'll be floating above a mythic world of aching beauty and wonder. L.D. Beghtol

Entertainment Weekly

While the movie is torpid at times, the same can't be said of the soundtrack, which is a soul-stirring entity all its own. [B+] Nicholas Fonseca