1. GRINDHOUSE (MAIN TITLES)
This the instrumental heard in the trailers was actually one of the first elements Rodriguez created for the film. He composed this down-and-dirty theme while creating Cherry's character, deciding to make her a go-go dancer once he new Rose McGowan could (and would) dance in the film. The bump-and-grindhouse percussion beat builds slowly, punctuated by a screaming sax which evokes both the striptease vibe while wailing and screeching to foreshadow the horrors ahead. The lead guitar delivers an already-iconic riff which is the musical calling card of this nitty-gritty double helping of cinematic fear and funk.

2. DOC BLOCK
RR shifts tempo and style quickly, calling back to the synthno-score sounds of 1980s horror and sci-fi flicks. The keyboard effects and piano swirl around each other, bouncing off diverse genre soundtrack themes from Brad Fiedel's original TERMINATOR, hints of Jerry Goldsmith's distinctive 'hinge squeak' effect, all while paying homage to several John Carpenter scores. The music tells your ear that Doc Block (Josh Brolin) is bad news and the diagnosis is about to get much worse.

3. THE SICKOS
When the Sickos break loose to create havoc, so does the film score. A motorcycle revs through a series of synth horror stings into a gauntlet of pounding percussion segments — perfectly suited for a chase or escape sequence.

4. YOU BELONG TO ME - performed by Rose McGowan
This 1952 standard by Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart and Chilton Price receives a sweet and soft vocal treatment by McGowan. The lyrics paint a romantic mood of world locations and idyllic scenes, all a stark contrast to the dark events turning Earth into Planet Terror. McGowan gives the song a more sensual, seductive tone unlike her tough, kick-ass image as the girl with the machine gun-leg. Her version may not rival classic interpretations by Patti Page or Jo Stafford, but no doubt it fits nicely into the film and broadens the range of the soundtrack disc.

5. GO GO NOT CRY CRY
Rather like a remix of the main titles theme, here Rodriguez and Del Castillo mix guitar riffs with a faster percussion tempo which is more 80s power rock/pop derived than the bluesy R&B influences heard in track 1.

6. HOSPITAL EPIDEMIC
A jarring but creepy blend of 80s synth with 90s digital sampling, with guitar jolts sounding reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's western score stings. A short and somewhat disjointed track for listening sake, but likely it serves well as a score cue in the hospital when the Sicko plague hits the proverbial fan.

7. USELESS TALENT #32 - performed by Rose McGowan
McGowan's whispering vocal refrains wander in and out of this all-electronic score so typical of the techno-flattened sound of 1980s film themes. At the same time the track pulls in more recent variations off this theme, sounding not unlike Shirley Manson's work in Garbage.

8. HIS PRESCRIPTION. . .PAIN
The synth tempo and instrumentation nail this track into film score output circa 1982, reminiscent in some ways to alan Howarth's work on HALLOWEEN III for instance. The bleep-bloop theme cycles through underlying electronic strings in the shortest track on the disc.

9. CHERRY DARLING
Rodriguez reworks his main theme in this somber and soulful piano track, erasing the ass-grinding tempo to deliver a dark, brooding study of his heroine who is down but not out. This track is such a nice variation on the signature theme that it's really too short for its own good, but it's still a nice showcase of RR's performance and compositional skills.

10. THE GRINDHOUSE BLUES
Rodriguez's guitar work returns in a slow blues track, mixing in down-low sax with hints of latin-influenced acoustic guitar. Fortunately RR gives this cut more time to play out, as it richly deserves, providing one of Planet Terror's best soundtrack achievements.

11. EL WRAY
The track's title character gets his own southwestern/Texas theme promising he's a man of action. The distorted guitar stings mix flavors of Morricone with a gritty rock/blues edge that certainly stands out in style from the motifs established via Doc Block and his techno-synth evils. Judging by this track, business is about to pick up when El Wray enters the scene.

12. POLICE STATION ASSAULT
Another electronic-based cue suggesting chaos and violence as the Sicko epidemic spreads. Mixing more hints of Carpenter's score work at the opening with a callback strongly reminiscent of Brad Fiedel's discordant, open-throttle compositions in 1984's THE TERMINATOR.

13. DAKOTA
In contrast with the blonde loveliness of the track's title character, this cut turns a suspense-building entrance into a series of relentless synth pursuit cycles. Sounds like trouble is closing in on Dakota but have no fear, she's one hot mama who knows the score.

14. ZERO TO FIFTY IN FOUR
One of the most restrained and modest tracks on the disc, this synth/percussion blend packs much less wallop than its title implies. It certainly imitates 80s scoring styles with dead-on accuracy, sounding nearly lifted from a film of that era, but otherwise is a glorified cue track.

15. FURY ROAD
One of the coolest tracks on the disc, this high-action piece could easily feel right at home on the MAX MAX or THE ROAD WARRIOR soundtrack. It opens with a pulse-pounding tempo driving a heavy rock guitar interpretation of El Wray's theme. Halfway through the track, the orchestration and composition turn eerie and dark, returning to synth mode recalling the motif set up around Doc Block and the Sickos. My only wish is Rodriguez gave us two more minutes of the track's heroic first half to enjoy a bit longer.

16. HELICOPTER SICKO CHOPPER
You can almost hear the giant copter's blades slicing through the air (and through the sickos) as this track takes off. The mood turns mysterious halfway through, punctuated by a few synth stings, which sounds like this music cue is shared with another, less action-oriented scene in the film.

17. THE RING IN THE JACKET
A soft piano reprises the main theme much more tenderly than introduced at the top of the disc. Rodriguez turns the energetic melody inside out to make what was once a go-go grind track into a somber refrain, signaling dark times for our heroes.

18. KILLER LEGS
Spanish guitar stylings and bold horns amp up the power again as Cherry puts her high-caliber leg into action, with machine-gun rock guitar riffs taking over as explosive mayhem unfolds. This track has all the makings to underscore a kick-ass action sequence that fires with both barrels. Turn it up and enjoy.

19. MELTING MEMBER
If you don't yet know the reason behind this track title, I won't spoil it for you. Let's just say this sequence certainly puts the sick in Sicko, and gives fellow director Quentin Tarantino a cameo you won't soon forget (not even if you want to). The horror gets up close and personal with menacing guitar licks and a couple shock horror stings backed by a synth-voice chorus that's so 80s it hurts. One of Rodriguez's bolder compositions for the score and well done.

20. TOO DRUNK TO FUCK — performed by Nouvelle Vague
The one pre-existing song track imported into Rodriguez's score, this is a cover of the 1981 Dead Kennedys' controversial punk single from Nouvelle Vague's self-titled 2004 album. The French band shook off the original versions speedy surf-rock guitar sound for Nouvelle Vagues unusual-but catchy bossa nova style. The wild vocals make this version a kitschy, kooky alternative to the punk hit, and a most enjoyable highlight on the PLANET TERROR soundtrack.

21. CHERRY'S DANCE OF DEATH
The second-longest track of the disc, Cherry's Dance pulls together the electric guitar main theme with spanish acoustic guitar riffs and the wailing go-go club sax as the heroine settles business on PLANET TERROR. Performed by Rodriguez's band Chingon, this track makes a fitting high-impact finale theme to the story and score. It pulls out all the stops, but builds each theme and motif into a sum greater than the parts which ends the score on a high note of musical satisfaction.

22. TWO AGAINST THE WORLD — performed by Rose McGowan
PLANET TERROR's lead actress reprises her sweet and haunting vocals in an slower reinterpretation of track 7. The dance mix influence is dropped in favor of more spanish guitar flourishes which hearken back to motifs associated with El Wray's character. It's a sad refrain after the events of the story, but also a somber celebration of surviving the murderous devastation which turned Earth into PLANET TERROR.

SUMMARY
While anyone can appreciate Robert Rodriguez's considerable music-making talents, both as a composer and performer, one's actual enjoyment of the PLANET TERROR disc likely depends a great deal on how much one enjoys film scores in general, and 1980s era music in particular.

If you know films from that decade and are somewhat familiar with the music which accompanied them, you'll appreciate many of the touchstones upon with Rodriguez cleverly builds his score. Enjoyment of late-70s through mid-80s horror/sci-fi films — both good and not — plus standout titles like the HALLOWEEN series and THE TERMINATOR will add more meaning to the cue tracks.

Such films set and abused benchmarks in electronic, synthesized film music, from distinctive innovators like John Carpenter and Brad Fiedel, and these famous compositions form the spine of Rodriguez's score. Yet wisely the director/composer doesn't merely rip off these recognizable themes and sounds, but instead relies on their familiarity to give his 21st century film that dated, gritty, scratched-negative vibe which is all but forgotten in today's digitally clean cinema.

GRINDHOUSE is a highly anticipated film already before it bows in theaters, and Rodriguez's bump-and-grind main theme has already made its own iconic mark on the film score landscape. This bluesy-R&B influenced power guitar theme may bear little resemblance to true grindhouse scores, but modern audiences not as familiar with the grindhouse era can already associate it to Rodriguez's powerful riff without having seen the film.

Rose McGowan's three tracks of vocals serve her well, not only for her character Cherry Darling, but as another calling card for the actress herself. Other highlights include Go Go Not Cry Cry, The Grindhouse Blues, El Wray and Killer Legs. The inclusion of Nouvelle Vague's cover of the Dead Kennedy's punk satire quickly became a favorite while reviewing this disc.

Deciding between the two, overall I prefer and enjoyed Quentin Tarantino's DEATH PROOF soundtrack better, but as a collection of pop tunes and vintage classics, of course it's the more easily accessible score too. In PLANET TERROR, Rodriguez's individual tracks demonstrate great talent worth appreciating, but combined together to don't make as solid a listening experience across 22 cuts. Still, I recommend the PLANET TERROR disc to anyone who enjoys and 'gets' GRINDHOUSE when it opens in theaters April 6th.

READ FILMEDGE'S REVIEW OF GRINDHOUSE NOW PLAYING!