By Josh Watts and Kevin Crossman
These soundtracks have been rated on a variety of factors, including how well they represent their films, exclusive content, and overall quality.
Blades
of Glory only lands the number ten spot; not for what it has, but for what
it doesn't. It does include Bo Bice's humorously over-the-top theme for the
movie, and also Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch's "Good Vibrations,"
which was used to great effect in the film. The soundtrack has two glaring omissions,
though: Queen's "Theme from Flash," and Aerosmith's "Don't Want
to Miss a Thing." These were the scores to the biggest and funniest routines
performed by Michaels and McElroy, and the soundtrack could've seriously benefitted
from their inclusion.
Anyone
interested in picking up The 40 Year-Old Virgin soundtrack are probably
counting on one recording more than any others: the ensemble recording of "Age
of Aquarius" that ended the movie so dynamically. Well, that's here in
all of its glory, rounding off the end of the soundtrack with another cast recording,
Steve Carell singing karaoke from a deleted scene. However, the soundtrack outside
of the original recordings is a bit on the dull side even with a virgin theme
("Virgin Man," "Just Got Lucky").
Starsky
& Hutch was a good movie with some great musical choices. Having Owen
Wilson's character cover David Soul's "Don't Give Up on Us" was comedy
genius. Another great choice was including Leon Haywood's "I Want'a Do
Somethin' Freaky to You," seeing as how it was sampled so famously for
Snoop and Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' but a G Thang." Frat Pack friend Dan
Finnerty's "Feel Like Makin' Love" is on there, too (which begs the
question, "Why the hell didn't Old School have a soundtrack?"). The
original version of "Afternoon Delight" is on here, too, a song famously
covered in a certain other Frat Pack film. Once again, the exclusion of an Aerosmith
track, this time "Sweet Emotion," hurts the soundtrack a bit. Those
guys must be pretty hard to license.
Frankie
Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" was an essential and memorable song used
in the film, and it's included twice here, both in its original version and
an industrial version by Powerman 5000, the band of Rob Zombie's little brother
Spider One. A remix by Moby of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" is included
as well. Though the remix is actually pretty good, fans might have preferred
the original cut, especially considering its use in the hilarious walk-off scene.
Two big draws of this soundtrack are the inclusion of No Doubt's cover of "Love
to Love You, Baby," and the Wallflowers' version of "I Stared a Joke"
which are very good and only available here.
Nacho
Libre's musical history is a rocky one. Jared Hess wanted Beck to be the
man behind the music. Paramount Pictures disagreed, and wanted to replace him
with Danny Elfman. Both of them ended up on the film's soundtrack, with three
tracks from Beck and one from Elfman, all of which shine if you're fans of the
artists. The previously out of print "Hombre Religioso (Religious Man,)"
a very good theme of sorts for the movie is also included here. "Black
is Black" might be a sort-of tribute to Jack Black and features an effective
cowbell beat. The soundtrack is rounded off with bits of dialogue, additional
Seventies tinged selections, and a few songs from Black himself.
Every
one of Wes Anderson's films, which all feature heavy imput from Owen Wilson,
have been scored by composer Mark Mothersbaugh. Several of Mothersbaugh's compositions
for the film are included here, all of which are a pleasure to listen to. The
soundtrack also includes several highly notable musicians from the 60's and
70's, such as Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Paul Simon and The Velvet Underground.
Fans of the movie will certainly be glad to see that the beautiful orchestral
version of "Hey Jude" used so movingly in the film is included here
as well. It's unfortunate that the songs in the movie by The Rolling Stones
weren't able to be included, but there's certainly enough here to make up for
that. Make sure to get the collector's edition of the soundtrack, as the original
version doesn't include several of the great songs that're found here.
It's
almost impossible to think of this movie without one song immediately popping
into your head: Haddaway's "What is Love?" The over-the-top house
anthem is included twice on this album, both in its original version at the
very front, and in a remixed version next to the end. What really stands out
about this soundtrack though is that the songs are blended together into a mega-mix
of sorts that portrays the club vibe of the movie very nicely. There're all
sorts of great dance songs here, including "Disco Inferno," "Be
My Lover," "This is Your Night," "Beautiful Life,"
"A Little Bit of Ecstasy," and many others. A couple of memorable
tracks from the movie, namely "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees and
R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts," don't make appearances here, but then
again they aren't in the same genre as the other tracks, so their inclusion
would maybe have hurt the soundtrack rather than helped it. Its very impressive
how nicely this CD flows from one track to the next. Quite a pleasure to listen
to.
Jack
Black put extra effort into making this soundtrack include some of the best
rock possible, as anyone who has seen his plea to Led Zeppelin in the movie's
DVD extras can vouch. Led Zeppelin songs are notoriously difficult to get the
rights to, but Jack's taped request to the band worked, and "Immigrant
Song" became one of many classic songs to be featured in the film. Several
other classics are included in the album as well, including The Who's "Substitute,"
Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," "Touch Me" by The Doors,
and "Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks. The band named School of
Rock, which consists of Jack along with the kids from the movie, is featured
twice on the soundtrack, opening the album with the song "School of Rock"
and closing it with a cover of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top."
The album also includes a few choice cuts of dialogue from Jack. It would've
been nice if "In the End of Time," Dewey Finn's self-indulgent song
which featured him crooning hilarious lyrics like "the legend of the rent
was way hardcore," would have been included, but that's a small complaint.
Anchorman's
soundtrack certainly features some memorable songs, including The Isley Brothers'
"That Lady," the epic "Carry on Wayward Son" by Kansas,
and of course the Channel 4 News Team's version of "Afternoon Delight."
What really makes this particular soundtrack stand out, however are the hilarious
intros by Ron Burgundy recorded for the album. The album is hosted by Burgundy,
who introduces each track, and the things he says and does are guaranteed to
make your sides split with laughter if you were a fan of the movie. Will Ferrell
should be applauded for taking the time and effort to make this soundtrack so
unique, remarkable, and hilarious. With good humor and good music, or "lyricus,"
as the Greeks called it, the soundtrack to Anchorman is definitely a classic.
Doubling
as both The D's second album and the soundtrack to their movie, The Pick
of Destiny is a gut-busting ride filled with laughs and energy that may
very well change rock history. The songs on the album are presented in the same
order as they were in the film. It starts out with the genius "Kickapoo,"
a number featuring Meatloaf and Ronnie James Dio that's reminiscent of the type
of song you might hear a rock opera. Next up is "Classico," an expansion
of an idea used in part of their song "Rock Your Socks," which has
Kyle playing classical music on his guitar while Jack spits vulgar lyrics to
the music. The album also features a version of "History," their theme
from the HBO show, which was formerly unavailable on CD. One that definitely
stands out is "Master Exploder," a heavy and hilarious metal song
that provided one of the best scenes in the movie. Other killer tracks include
"The Government Totally Sucks," which didn't make the final cut of
the movie, the hard-rocking "Break-In City," and "Beezleboss"
featuring Dave Grohl, the epic scorcher that fueled the movie's climactic scene.
Rocking hard and bringing the laughs, The Pick of Destiny is without
a doubt one of the greatest soundtracks ever to surface.
This page last modified on
Saturday, October 27, 2007.
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