In my earlier review, I compared WALL•E—at least the first half—to a silent film. (True, the sentences, “Directive?”, “WALL•E,” “EVE,” and “Classified!” are indeed spoken, but since that’s it, I’m willing to fudge a little.) Silent films were, of course, not actually silent; a pianist—or, for larger locales, an organist, or even an entire orchestra—provided music to accompany the visuals. I had hoped that WALL•E would honor that tradition by having an outstanding soundtrack. I was not disappointed.

The WALL•E soundtrack, though certainly not the most technically complicated score I’ve heard in recent years, does stand singularly one of very few scores where I can re-experience the movie simply by listening to the music. Specifically because WALL•E and EVE have so few words to speak, my aural memories of them are through their orchestral backing. I can still see the dreary desolation of Earth in 2815 A.D., laugh at WALL•E’s inquisitiveness in Wall-E, feel WALL•E’s horror at EVE’s comatose state in Worry Wait, and feel their carefree love for each other in Define Dancing. That’s something I can say about depressingly few soundtracks these days. I’m very happy that WALL•E’s did not disappoint.