Producer Brian Joseph Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, and Italian composer Daniele Luppi have spent the last five years creating a vintage, Italian soundtrack that is reminiscent of the spaghetti western films of the sixties and seventies. The album, which was recorded in Rome, reunites Cantori Moderni, the choir from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly soundtrack. Rome was recorded using vintage equipment and features an ensemble of older Italian musicians. Once the music for Rome was finished, Jack White (The White Stripes) and Norah Jones were chosen as vocalists for the album.

Track listing:
1. "Theme of "Rome""
2. "The Rose with a Broken Neck"
3. "Morning Fog"
4. "Season's Trees"
5. "Her Hollow Ways"
6. "Roman Blue"
7. "Two Against One"
8. "The Gambling Priest"
9. "The World"
10. "Black"
11. "The Matador Has Fallen"
12. "Morning Fog"
13. "Problem Queen"
14. "Her Hollow Ways"
15. "The World"

Standout Tracks: "Season's Trees", "Two Against One" and "The Matador Has Fallen"

The album opens with "Theme of "Rome"", a short, western, acoustic track that sets the tone of the album. The "Theme of "Rome"" features the Cantori Moderni choir, some light percussion and a string section. One thing I really enjoy about this album are the instrumental tracks. None of them are to long or drawn out, and each one sheds a different light on the "Theme of "Rome"" or a melody from another song. "The Matador Has Fallen" is my favorite of the instrumental tracks, and almost sounds like it was recorded by Genesis in the early seventies. It features organs, choir, drums and the amazing bass tone that is heard throughout the album. "The Gambling Priest" is also another unique instrumental track, featuring acoustic guitar under some light noodling of the electric guitar. The song also has some heavy use of the choir, strings and celesta.

Norah Jones does the vocals for "Season's Trees", "Black" and "Problem Queen." I must say, while I have liked some of her previous albums, nothing compares to the vocal work Norah Jones does on this album. The song "Season's Trees" is one of the strongest of the album, featuring a string section gently backed by celesta. The lyrics and vocal melodies are well done and mix almost flawlessly with the music. "Black" is another song sung by Norah Jones."Black" is an acoustic track with a very strong chorus melody that is also backed by the celesta and organ. I really like the slight reverb effect on her voice during the chorus. The bass and drums work really well together in this song and I really like the strings and background choir during the bridge.

Jack White is the featured vocalist for "The Rose with a Broken Neck", "Two Against One" and "The World." Jack White, another musician I only enjoy every now and then also really delivers on this album. "Two Against One" is easily the catchiest song on the album. This song definitely has the most interesting acoustic guitar parts and really utilizes the harpsichord and backing vocals. "Two Against One" also has the strongest chorus, and some of my favorite lyrics on the album. Rome ends with "The World," also sung by Jack White. The song has some peculiar vocal melodies, and some very interesting instrumentation. While the album is fifteen tracks, it doesn't feel very long at all.

Rome is really one of the best sounding and unique albums to come out this year. It is well composed and has an excellent cast of musicians. The instrumentation and production value of the album are modern versions of styles we haven't heard in decades.