The album was released alongside the film in March 2000, and featured Bono as its executive producer, with new music from U2 and other artists.

"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" was later released as a bonus track on Australian, British, and Japanese versions of All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Jon Hassell's "Amsterdam Blue (Cortége)" was originally recorded as a tribute to Chet Baker and submitted to Bono and director Wim Wenders, who made the song a pivotal part of the soundtrack.

[2] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album three out of five stars, noting that, "It's easy to get lost in the slow, dark crawl of the music," but "once the soundtrack loses momentum, it never regains its forward motion.

"[4] Jeffrey Gantz of The Boston Phoenix gave the album three out of four stars remarking that the strongest tracks are the U2 songs and the rest of the soundtrack provides, "a yearning LA noir atmosphere... but doesn't contribute much on its own.