The Ecstasy of Gold

"The Ecstasy of Gold"
Song by Ennio Morricone from the album The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Released	1966
Genre	Film score, western
Length	3:22
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly track listing
The Death of a Soldier (9) "The Ecstasy of Gold" (10) The Trio (main title) (11)

"The Ecstasy of Gold" (Italian: L'estasi dell'oro) is a musical composition by Ennio Morricone, part of his score for the Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It is played while Tuco (Eli Wallach) is frantically searching a cemetery for the grave that holds $200,000 in gold coins. Sung by Edda Dell'Orso, it stands as one of the most well known of Morricone's themes.

Other uses

• American heavy metal band Metallica has used "The Ecstasy of Gold" as the introductory music for its concerts since 1983;^[1] it is included on the live albums Metallica Through the Never, S&M and Live Shit: Binge & Purge. An instrumental metal cover by Metallica (with minimal vocals and lead guitar work by lead singer James Hetfield) appears on the 2007 Morricone tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone. This metal version was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance. It was also used in the trailer for and appears in Guitar Hero: Metallica, in its original form as composed by Morricone; however, it is not a playable track. It reached #21 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts in April of that year.
• The song is one of several used by Las Vegas five-star luxury hotel/casino, The Bellagio, in their renowned water fountain show.^[2]
• Remixed by The Swimmer to create the song "Django"^[3] in 1997 for the Underground Beats (Volume 8) compilation.^[4]
• Famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma recorded this song in his tribute album, Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone.^[5]
• The opening scene of Jackass Number Two (2006), in which the cast is chased through a suburban neighborhood by bulls, is accompanied by this piece.^[6]
• Sampled by Jay-Z in the song "Blueprint²" in his album by the same name released in 2002.^[7]
• Remixed by Bandini for the Ennio Morricone Remixes 2 album released on February 10, 2004 by Compost Records.^[8][9]
• Bandini remix used in a Nike commercial directed by David Fincher featuring Troy Polamalu and LaDainian Tomlinson.^[10]
• Remixed by Mustard Pimp to create the song "Gold".^[11]
• Used in the introduction sequence of the 2010 Activision racing game, Blur.^[12]
• Covered on the 2009 album Roland & the Lamprey by chiptune artist Glomag.^[13]
• Sampled by rapper Immortal Technique in the song "Land Of The Gun".^[14]
• Used in the Achievement Hunter RTX 2014 Intro Video played before their panel at RTX 2014.^[15]
• Used as background music when the speaker of the footballclub Sparta Rotterdam is announcing the line-ups.

References

1. "We All Love Ennio Morricone". Metallica.com. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
2. "Bellagio Fountains - The Ecstasy Of Gold". YouTube. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
3. "The Swimmer Django". YouTube. 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
4. "Various - Underground Beats (Volume 8) (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
5. "Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone". Yo-yoma.com. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
6. "Movie connections for Jackass Number Two (2006)". Imdb.com. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
7. "Jay-Z-Blueprint 2 (With Lyrics)". YouTube. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
8. "Remixes 2: Ennio Morricone: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
9. Ennio Morricone - Remixes Vol. 2 (2-CD)   . "Ennio Morricone - Remixes Vol. 2 (2-CD)Compost Records". Compost-rec.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
10. "Nike "Fate" Leave Nothing commercial w/ LT & Polamalu". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
11. "Mustard Pimp - Gold". YouTube. 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
12. "Blur Soundtrack List (finally) - GameSpot.com". Uk.gamespot.com. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
13. "Discography". 8bitpeoples.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2010.
14. Video on YouTube
15. "Achievement Hunter Presents - RTX 2014 Intro". achievementhunter.com. 2014-07-13. Retrieved 2014-07-14.