V/A - Coal Miner's Daughter - CD
(Milan Records)
I'm not a huge fan of country music. However, there are a few country singers
that have that something special that puts them above the rest. Loretta
Lynn is one of them. This is the soundtrack to the movie of her life.
The thing about this soundtrack is that Loretta Lynn doesn't sing
one note on this release. The actress who portrays Loretta in the movie,
Sissy Spacek (Carrie, Badlands), does the actual singing,
and she does it hauntingly well. Beverly D'Angelo (Hair, National
Lampoon's Vacation) also shines as she delivers a couple of Patsy
Cline tunes for the soundtrack. The bottom line is that this is a great
soundtrack for a great movie.
-- Mite Mutant (2001)
The Commitments - Soundtrack (Deluxe Edition) - CD
(Universal Music
Company) If you are a lover of music and you have not seen the movie
The Commitments, then you must immediately visit your favorite video
store, rent the movie, watch it and I can almost guarantee that you will
want to go out and pick up this CD which contains the music from the movie
soundtrack. The bonus is that this 2-CD release also contains five songs
from Andrew Strong who played the lead singer in the movie.
While the Commitments were a manufactured band (the members were mostly unknown actors, with the aforementioned Andrew Strong being only in his teens (I know it's hard to believe after seeing and hearing him sing), their treatment of classic soul standards does for that genre what the Blues Brothers did for the blues. It exposes a generation of music lovers to a style of music that many has come to feel was dated. However, just like the movie did back in 1991, this release (damn, that was 1991?). this release will do the same for people who were too young to recall the movie.
If nothing else, you need to get this just for the opening track "Mustang
Sally". It is unbelievable. Other great songs include "Take Me to the River"
and Try a Little Tenderness", but in the end all of the songs are wonderful.
Believe me, this is a must have.
-- Mite Mutant (2007)
Chuck Berry - Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll - CD
(Universal
Records) This album was orginialy released in 1987 to celebrate Chuck
Berry's 60th birthday. It was also released as a film and featured a
slew of celebraties. Some are great such as Keith Richards, Robert
Cray, Eric Clapton, Julian Lennon and Etta James,
others are scary like Linda Ronstadt. Most of Chuck Berry's
are featured on this live disc such as "Mabellene", "Sweet
Little Sixteen", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", "Johnny
B. Goode" and my favorite "Roll Over Beethoven". Chuck
Berry is an institution and his songs have been redone by so many bands
over the years it's hard to find somebody who hasn't heard at least one
of his tunes. An amazing record of an amazing man.
-- Grog (2006)
Dan in Real Life - Soundtrack - CD
(Capitol Records)
-- (2007)
Tobin Sprout - Fortunes - CD
(Pravda Records)
This release starts off with a slow and somewhat sluggish merry-go-round
calliope instrumental and quickly segues into catch American singing with
a British accent alterna-pop. If you're a fan of Guided By Voices,
then you know what I'm talking about. You also know that Tobin Sprout
is a former member of GBV, and it's very apparent on this release.
"Good Gurdy" has a quirky British feel to it and I could almost
hear the Austin Powers movie band "Ming Tea" singing it.
Other Tobin standouts include "Slow Flanges", "Old
Gray House" and "Burned Letter".
-- Mite Mutant (2006)
The Funk Brothers - Standing in the Shadows of Motown - CD
(Hip-O) I was really
surprised with this release. Too many times have we received CDs where bands
would cover hits and they would just suck. I have to say that this CD did
just the opposite. All the classic Motown hits and made fresh and are just
as good as the originals, and in some cases they even sound better to me.
Kudos goes out to the artists' who sing on this soundtrack (I can't wait
to see the movie). They include Joan Osborne, Meshell Ndegeocello,
Ben Harper and Cincinnati legend Bootsy Collins, among others.
But the real stars is the band The Funk Brothers, the backup bands
for the Motown hit machine and who the movie is about. On the liner notes
to this CD I learned that this group of musicians played on more number
one hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis
Presley and the Beatles. COMBINED! They are also the band that
is playing the music on this release as well, which means the number of
their hits will go even higher.
-- Mite Mutant (2002)
V/A - Forces of Nature - CD
(Dreamworks Records)
A soundtrack full of pop-poop. I can actually remember when U2 used
to be cool and not some musical whore. The many covers on this release are
horrible. There are a few standouts like Tricky's "Slowly", but overall
this isn't worth the bucks.
-- Mite Mutant (2001)
V/A - Halloween (Deluxe Edition) - CD
(Universal Music
Company) What a wonderful soundtrack this is. I'm happy to see that
for the most part Rob Zombie stuck with mostly '70s classic rock
tunes with a few '80s songs that have a '70s classic rock feel to them.
Each song is separated with a sound bite from the movie, which I also like
in movie soundtracks for some reason. I also enjoyed the enhanced creepiness
that Tyler Bates vocals evoke on the two instrumental tracks including "Halloween
2007", which is an update of the classic Halloween music.
Some of the tracks on this release include "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by
Blue Oyster Cult, "Tom Sawyer" by Rush, Peter Frampton's
"Baby, I Love Your Way (Live) and so much more. I'm also thankful that Rob
Zombie was smart enough to not include any of his songs of the release
which would have ruined the whole "classic" feel that this CD conveys.
-- Mite Mutant (2007)
V/A - Jackass the Movie - 2CD
(American Recording
Company) I just recently got cable (my girlfriend wanted it) and so
now I finally know what the show Jackass is all about, juvenile male bonding.
And what better music to go with juvenile male bonding than nut-crunching,
body-slamming rock-n-roll? The producers on this CD did a wonderful job
of picking the music for this release that consist of a nice mixture of
bands with various punk sounds. From the theme tune" Corona" by the Minutemen
to the partymob tune "We Want Fun" by Andrew W.K. to "Angle of Death"
by Slayer. What this release all boils down to is simply pure fun.
-- Mite Mutant (2002)
V/A - Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - CD
(Maverick Records)
I have heard this movie described as a combination of Pulp Fiction
and Trainspotting. This movie soundtrack seems to lean more toward
that of Pulp Fiction, but isn't as strong. Soul, punk, reggae, oldies-but-goodies
are just a few of the 70's sounds that make up this soundtrack.
-- Mite Mutant (2001)
V/A - My Blueberry Nights - CD
(Blue Note Records)
If I were to use one word to describe this soundtrack it would be mellow.
All the tunes on this release have a laid back feel to them. They are very
relaxing. The songs on this release also sound like the music you would
find playing any afternoon on any NPR station around the country. It starts
off with two striking tunes "The Story" and "Living Proof" respectively
by modern day songstresses Norah Jones and Cat Power. Ry
Cooder is represented by 3 instrumental pieces, with "Ely Nevada" being
my favorite of the three. Other standouts include Ruth Brown's "Looking
Back", Mavis Staples' "Eyes on the Prize" and the wonderful instrument
"Yumeji's Theme" by Chikara Tsuzuki. An overall nice soundtrack from
a movie that will probably never play in Dayton, Ohio.
-- Mite Mutant (2008)
V/A - The Best Of Miami Vice - CD
(Universal
Records) This re-release was no doubt timed to coincide with the new
Hollywood shouldn’t-have movie of the same name. Although much of what’s
present here was a big hit on the original television series, at this point
it’s pure nostalgia – Jan Hammer’s Vice theme, Glenn Frey’s
saxophone-laden “You Belong To The City” … you get the point. Also appearing:
The Pointer Sisters, Sheila E., Autograph, Foreigner,
and George Thorogood & the Destroyers.
-- Billy Catfish (2006)
V/A - The Out of Towners - CD
(Milan Records)
This release starts out with one of those cheesy duets that I hate. Even
though the rest of the CD is speckled with a few decent tunes, I wouldn't
recommend this release.
-- Mite Mutant (2001)
V/A - The Princess & The Warrior - CD
(Trauma Records)
The music is very airy, the vocals are whispy and it all comes together
is a soundtrack that is best described as beautiful. The first half of the
CD is composed of songs with vocals, while the second half is instrumental
scores. Don't stop, tick tock. Sweet.
-- Mite Mutant (2001)
V/A - The Punisher - CD
(Wind Up Records)
This is a collection of nineteen nu-metal / hard "modern rock" / metal bands
with new songs for this soundtrack. Most of these bands are pretty well
known especially on the clear channel "modern rock" stations. The big song
is the Seether / Amy Lee song "Broken" at least as far as radio is
concerned. Queens of the Stone Age do a decent job of covering Romeo
Void's "Never Say Never"but can't quite measure up to the original.
Other bands include Puddle of Mudd, Nickelback, Trapt,
Chevelle, Finger Eleven, Drowning Pool, Hatebreed,
Damageplan with Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) and
a few others. If you like it heavy and basic then this is right for you.
-- Grog Mutant (2004)