An experienced music analyst could tell you that the inspiration for There Will Be Blood's unique sound has been drawn from various elements of 20th century European avant-gardism and neo-romanticism, but Jonny Greenwood's score does not need an educated dissection to be appreciated. What Greenwood does is create a primal piece that works largely outside the prevalent method of composing a film score and focuses more on basic, visceral sounds rather than dulcet compositions. 'Eat Him By His Own Light' expresses this perfectly, its grating string orchestral and erratic piano disconcerting and characteristic of Daniel Plainview's corruption and self-implosion. In a film where dialogue is sparse and characters restrained, Greenwood's score is set free, swinging wildly between haunting and understated to rabid, wild and dangerous like an emotional pendulum. The characters themselves give little away so the tone of the score works not unlike a narrator, revealing the inner-thoughts and intrinsic battles that they are facing. Of all the scores on this list, Greenwood's is perhaps the most unique as the composer is not drawn in on providing an easy-listen. He does not try to capture the beauty of the landscape or the dramatic tension of oil prospecting. It is a character driven piece and in a film where little redemption can be found between them, it makes for extremely uncomfortable, yet entirely fulfilling listening.
