Del Rey said of her experience contributing to the project: "It was an honor to work with Baz Luhrmann on his amazing adaptation of one of the most extraordinary books ever written.
"[12] Kia Makarechi of The Huffington Post noted that Beyoncé did not use the song on a personal record so it was "slightly curious" for Winehouse to ask her for a donation.
The Daily Telegraph described the film's music as a "decidedly modern mix of 21st century rap, rock and pop".
[20] The songs' themes include partying, murder, and heartache help to drive "the story's point home – illusionary love, the excess of the leisure classes, [and] the curse of money" as noted by Cristina Jaleru of the Associated Press.
"[22] The opening song, "100$ Bill" by Jay-Z contains a chopped and screwed beat and electro-rap elements, and is written from the perspective of a modern-day Gatsby.
It is a slower version than the original with chopped-and-screwed elements, a dark and haunting sound, using guitar, moody synth and electro bleeps to provide the instrumentation.
Musically, it is a lush ballad which contains Del Rey's sweeping vocals accompanied by dreamy strings and canned percussion.
[33][34] "Love Is the Drug" originally appeared on Roxy Music's 1975 album Siren; the song was written by band members Ferry and Andy Mackay.
[35] It contains jazz elements, trumpet wails, and skittering drums as well as honky-tonk, bass sax, sleazy strings, and vocal "oohs".
It contains references to the yellow dress she wears and the green light that hovers outside her home on the dock in East Egg; both were inspired by the novel.
[19][30] R. Kurt Osenlund of Slant Magazine commented that the song has the "instrumentals of a Cole Porter classic, but vocals akin to those of Jennifer Hudson".
[5][40] It was chosen for inclusion on the album as it reminded the Luhrmann of a character from the novel and it was a blend of modern and traditional music complete with a jazz band and Sandé's vocals.
[41][42] The song "Together" by the xx contains skeletal electro-pop elements and a slow atmosphere,[43][44] as well as a dark and insistent backing, metronomic beat, and breathy, deep vocals which climax with an orchestral swell.
[19] Thomas Corner of the Chicago Sun-Times, notes that "[it] evokes the narrative's palpable desperation in its hushed tone and nagging heart-monitor beat.
[16][25][38] Lucy Jones of NME notes it is instrumentally complete with "strings, martial beats", horns and Wouter "Wally" De Backer's vocals".
[48] "Kill and Run", which contains electronica elements and is performed by Sia,[42] was compared with Adele's songs, most notably with "Skyfall" because of its lush and languid sound, backed by strings, and because "[it] slowly builds to a crescendo that hits all the right emotional notes without becoming overwrought".
[50] A six-minute sampler of the soundtrack, which contained snippets of the songs, excluding "Back to Black" and "100$ Bill", was released on April 16, 2013, on YouTube.
[53] Beyoncé and André 3000's cover of "Back to Black" was premiered by Mark Ronson on his East Village Radio show on April 26, 2013.
[58] The double LP deluxe version of the album is on "metalized" vinyl where the first disc is platinum, the second is golden; they are packaged in laser-cut birch record jackets "riveted to aluminum spines".
[59] The materials were chosen to "showcase the Art Deco-meets-modern style, classic meets cutting edge, which is the essence of The Great Gatsby film".
[82] In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America gave the album a Gold certificate for selling more than 500,000 copies in the country.
Osenlud also commented that the soundtrack was a "literate answer to the mash-up, another hip and highbrow upgrade in both sights and sounds" for the composer Craig Armstrong.
He praised the album, writing in his review, "Buying into Luhrmann's vision is always the issue, but here, the music is crafted enough, inspired enough, and deep enough that it's worth diving into without reservations.
[85] Philip Cosores of Paste magazine noted that the album's songs were not related to hip-hop describing the music as "middling, neither offensive nor revolutionary, with memorable moments and forgettable ones".
Elysa Gardner of USA Today gave the album a 3.5 out of 4 star rating, noting that the better songs on the soundtrack are the ones that do not mention the events in the film.
[89] Thomas Corner of The Chicago Sun-Times described the album as an "anachronistic hootenanny", adding, "With nods to the roaring '20s without attempts at replicating them, most performances are restrained and pull at the various taut threads of Gatsby's unraveling.
"[45] Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine gave a mixed review writing that "The Great Gatsby speaks on Duke and Ella's behalf when it says, 'It don't mean a thing.'
[87] Drew McWeeny of HitFix gave the album a negative review saying that it was "probably the weakest for any of the Luhrmann films", describing it as "a non-stop wallpaper" of guest appearances by people who are famous in the present and "none of it sticks".
[90] Katie Hasty of the same publication also gave a negative review of the album, describing it as a "vehicular manslaughter" which combines different music elements "in ways that demean all genres".
[91] She also commented that the struggle of now-ness "is pertinent to one of the soundtrack’s few achievements" and concluded "the elegance of suggestion from its better songs is disrupted by its obnoxious neighbors".