William Shakespeare’s ROMEO + JULIET (Soundtrack) Album (1996)

William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet is a 1996 romantic crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It is a modernized adaptation of William Shakespeare‘s tragedy of the same name, albeit still utilizing Shakespearean English. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles of two teenagers who fall in love, despite their being members of feuding families. Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora also star in supporting roles.

It is the third major film version of the play, following adaptations by George Cukor in 1936 and by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968. It was released on November 1, 1996, by 20th Century Fox. It was met with generally positive reviews from critics, grossing over $147 million against its $14.5 million budget.

At the 47th Berlin International Film Festival in 1997, DiCaprio won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and Luhrmann won the Alfred Bauer Prize. At the 69th Academy Awards, Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch were nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration.

In 2005, the film was included on the BFI list of the 50 films you should watch by the age of 14.William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1996 film of the same name. The soundtrack was released on October 29, 1996, and contained two separate releases: the first containing popular music from the film and the second containing the score to the film composed by Nellee Hooper, Craig Armstrong and Marius de Vries.

The first soundtrack album to accompany the film was released on the Capitol Records label. It features songs by a number of artists including Garbage, Butthole Surfers and Radiohead (their song “Exit Music (For a Film)”, which appears over the end credits, was not included on the soundtrack however, but appeared a year later on Radiohead‘s album OK Computer).

The soundtrack was a popular and solid seller, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and went triple-platinum sales in the U.S. It was especially successful in Australia, where it was the second-highest selling album in 1997, going five times Platinum in sales.

A number of hit singles also resulted from the soundtrack, including Lovefool by The Cardigans, the love theme Kissing You by Des’ree, and a cover of Young Hearts Run Free by Kym Mazelle. Quindon Tarver‘s choral rendition of Rozalla‘s Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good) was later used in Luhrmann‘s Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) single. The album featured bonus tracks in the 10th Anniversary re-release in 2007.

Tracklist:

1. #1 Crush (Garbage)
2. Local God (Everclear)
3. Angel (Gavin Friday)
4. Pretty Piece of Flesh (One Inch Punch)
5. Kissing You (Love Theme from Romeo + Juliet) (Des’ree)
6. Whatever (I Had a Dream) (Butthole Surfers)
7. Lovefool (The Cardigans)
8. Young Hearts Run Free (Kym Mazelle)
9. Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good) (Quindon Tarver)
10. To You I Bestow (Mundy)
11. Talk Show Host (Radiohead)
12. Little Star (Stina Nordenstam)
13. You and Me Song (The Wannadies)
    10th Anniversary re-release bonus tracks
14. Introduction to Romeo (Craig Armstrong)
15. Kissing You (Instrumental ) (Craig Armstrong)
16. Young Hearts Run Free (Ballroom Version) (Kym Mazelle featuring Harold Perrineau & Paul Sorvino)
17. Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (Baz Luhrmann featuring Quindon Tarver)

https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/william-shakespeares-romeo-juliet