Eat Pray Love (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2010 film Eat Pray Love directed by Ryan Murphy based on Elizabeth Gilbert's 2006 memoir and starred Julia Roberts as Gilbert. The album accompanied 14 songs performed by an assortment of musicians, and a score cue composed by Dario Marianelli. The album was released through Madison Gate Records on July 20, 2010, and also featured a deluxe edition that contained 8 tracks of Marianelli's score.
Contents
Background
The soundtrack to Eat Pray Love consisted of 24 tracks ranging from pop, jazz and rock to Indian classical music in tandem with the storyline. Eddie Vedder, Josh Rouse, Gato Barbieri, Neil Young, Marvin Gaye, U. Srinivas and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Vedder wrote an original song for the film, titled "Better Days", while his song "The Long Road" with Ali Khan was also in the film and album. Dario Marianelli's score only consisted of one piece in the soundtrack, while the remaining eight cues were featured in the deluxe edition.
Marketing
The audio CDs of the soundtrack was marketed with Starbucks and featured in several chains across United States.
Reception
Carol Anne Szel of Goldmine called it a "mixed bag" and added "The movie’s soundtrack is a musical puzzle that can’t be put together". Aseem Chhabra of The Caravan wrote, "Eat Pray Love does have a few redeeming qualities, most important being the soundtrack. Murphy has packed it with several classic songs and pieces of music that have previously featured in other films[...]". Justin Chang of Variety wrote, "Dario Marianelli’s score provides melodious connective tissue for a soundtrack swollen with opera, Neil Young and various locale-appropriate tunes". According to James Christopher Monger of AllMusic, "the accompanying soundtrack offers up a nice blend of contemporary pop, region/story-specific world music, and classic rock and soul".