The double-disc soundtrack to the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever (available on a single CD) marks both the zenith and the nadir of disco. It was such a popular... read more

The double-disc soundtrack to the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever (available on a single CD) marks both the zenith and the nadir of disco. It was such a popular sensation that it catapulted the music to stratospheric levels of mainstream popularity, and the album was the bestselling movie soundtrack of all time (until The Bodyguard, and then Titanic). But "Disco Fever" became so hot, it could only flame out just as quickly (along with the careers of the Bee Gees). With this record, disco became a phenomenon and a fad. The Bee Gees' contributions are the strongest, especially the once-ubiquitous "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever," and they still hold up. Then there's Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven," a trivial piece of pop ephemera that may have set new standards for ephemeral triviality. How often will you listen to this record--and how much will you play when you do? There's no telling--but it remains a classic piece of pop history, and when you're in the mood it's a good thing to have around. --Jim Emerson (hide)

The movie is a 1970s take on 1950s musicals, providing all the kitsch anyone could hope for. It's John Travolta as Danny Zuko as Olivia Newton-John's pompadoured main... read more

The movie is a 1970s take on 1950s musicals, providing all the kitsch anyone could hope for. It's John Travolta as Danny Zuko as Olivia Newton-John's pompadoured main squeeze, and the kids go crazy. Fresh from his astronomical success with Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, Bee Gee Barry Gibb penned the title track (sung by Frankie Valli). Sha Na Na is over-represented, and actress Stockard Channing struts her, um, versatility, singing a couple of tracks. This has become a touchstone in American culture, and so isn't likely to improve our standing in the world's eyes. Maybe the point is that it's supposed to sound amateurish, but it does manage to eke out some fun, most notably on the hit "You're the One That I Want." --Scott Wilson (hide)

If film and music fans sometimes wonder why soundtracks are often little more than pastiches of past pop hits and chart flavors of the moment, it's largely due... read more

If film and music fans sometimes wonder why soundtracks are often little more than pastiches of past pop hits and chart flavors of the moment, it's largely due to the blockbuster success of releases like this collection from 1987's surprise Patrcik Swayze/Jennifer Grey romantic hit. The film's retro-romantic concerns came shrewdly wrapped in a (largely manufactured) dance craze conceit tailor-made for such pop chestnuts as the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," the Zodiacs' "Stay," and the Five Satins' "In the Still of the Night." Mickey and Sylvia once again argued that "Love Is Strange"--if not quite as strained as Swayze's own attempt at balladry, "She's Like the Wind." Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" showcased the former Raspberries leader to good effect, but the real soundtrack sweepstakes winner here was the Jennifer Warnes/Bill Medley duet "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." That performance not only won the Best Original Song Oscar the following year, but became one of the era's most performed songs and a ubiquitous radio staple. --Jerry McCulley (hide)

Lawrence Kasdan's 1983 big-budget variation on John Sayles's The Return of the Secaucus Seven finds a cluster of old college radicals--who have since gone on to sundry professions... read more

Lawrence Kasdan's 1983 big-budget variation on John Sayles's The Return of the Secaucus Seven finds a cluster of old college radicals--who have since gone on to sundry professions and various degrees of materialism--reuniting over the death of a friend. Both playful and thoughtful, the film represents Kasdan (Body Heat) at his most astute. The attractive cast meshes perfectly into a group of characters for which a former closeness is out of synch with their current lives, yet their warmth is enviable and inviting. The script may be a bit too glib, with many one-liners, but it is still a perfectly designed story with telling irony and no little passion. --Tom Keogh (hide)

My Fair Lady is--deservedly--one of the most famous musicals of all time. Its popular 1964 film version, directed by George Cukor, has ensured that for most people Audrey... read more

My Fair Lady is--deservedly--one of the most famous musicals of all time. Its popular 1964 film version, directed by George Cukor, has ensured that for most people Audrey Hepburn is Eliza Doolittle, while Broadway-heads swear by Julie Andrews's stage performance, immortalized on the 1956 cast album. Of course, for the purposes of a CD review it's more accurate to compare the performances of Andrews and Marni Nixon, who sang the songs lip-synched by Hepburn in the movie. While Andrews usually comes out on top (especially on "I Could Have Danced All Night"), Nixon is no slouch (after all, she also dubbed Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Deborah Kerr in The King & I). Rex Harrison, of course, does his own vocals, but then he doesn't so much sing his songs as talk them. While Nixon and Harrison are tops, the truth is that Lerner and Loewe's songs are so good as to endure almost anybody's interpretation: "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," "With a Little Bit of Luck," "On the Street Where You Live," "Get Me to the Church on Time," and so on--not many shows can boast as many classics. The movie version's real bonus is Andre Previn's swellegant orchestration. --Elisabeth Vincentelli (hide)

This commemorative reissue of music from 2001: A Space Odyssey combines the Also sprach Zarathustra theme, various Johann and Richard Strauss segments, and a ballet suite by Aram... read more

This commemorative reissue of music from 2001: A Space Odyssey combines the Also sprach Zarathustra theme, various Johann and Richard Strauss segments, and a ballet suite by Aram Khachaturian--all of which prove how much Stanley Kubrick's film attempts to avoid the soundtrack clichés of most science-fiction movies. Instead of the expected sci-fi effects, there is a more ironic application of music that would be otherwise incongruous to the celestial settings. Here, "The Blue Danube" complements scenes involving weightlessness and descending spacecraft, while Gyorgy Ligeti's creepy "monolith" music connotes Armageddon more than interplanetary exploration. The tracks play as they had appeared on the original soundtrack release back in the '60s, but there is also previously unreleased supplemental material and a dialogue montage entitled "HAL 9000." --Joseph Lanza (hide)

Writer and director Zach Braff does a masterful job matching the charming, heartfelt tone of films like The Graduate and Rushmore in his motion picture debut, Garden State,... read more

Writer and director Zach Braff does a masterful job matching the charming, heartfelt tone of films like The Graduate and Rushmore in his motion picture debut, Garden State, so it only makes sense that the music he personally compiled for the soundtrack plays just as of big a part here as it did in those films. Simon & Garfunkel's languorous "The Only Living Boy in New York" is an obvious thread, but aside from Nick Drake's "One of These Things First," Braff is able to carry the mood without getting tripped up in the past. Frou Frou's "Let Go" and Zero 7's "In the Waiting Line" supply soft techno touches, while Iron & Wine's "Such Great Heights" and former Men at Work singer Colin Hay's "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" offer understated angst. It's the pair of emotionally racked contributions from the Shins ("Caring Is Creepy," "New Slang"), however, that really make this compilation a must-have. --Aidin Vaziri (hide)

A romantic comedy set against the background of the Seattle grunge scene of the late '80s and early '90s, Singles contains music and/or cameo appearances by the music... read more

A romantic comedy set against the background of the Seattle grunge scene of the late '80s and early '90s, Singles contains music and/or cameo appearances by the music groups who defined the movement, including Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, Mother Love Bone, and others. (For a definitive documentary treatment of the same pop-music phenomenon, see Hype!) The plot is really a series of interconnected stories about various Seattle singles--some of who are part of a couple, at least temporarily. Matt Dillon plays a longhaired rocker whose girlfriend (Bridget Fonda) is considering breast enlargement surgery. As Steve and Linda, Campbell Scott and Kyra Sedgwick are going through the awkward stages of a relationship--that point when quirky little traits that may have seemed attractive initially can evolve into major annoyances. It's a funny, sweet, enjoyable picture that captures some of the flavor of the Northwest, where writer-director Cameron Crowe relocated after marrying Seattle native Nancy Wilson of Heart. (The Wilson sisters also appear on the soundtrack as members of The Lovemongers.) Ten years before the release of Singles in 1992, Crowe was the "boy wonder" reporter for Rolling Stone magazine who went back to high school in order to research and write what became Fast Times at Ridgemont High. His other work includes Jerry Maguire (1996) and Say Anything (1989). --Jim Emerson (hide)

Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the music for this film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The scene in which Andrews crests a hill with her arms spread singing... read more

Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the music for this film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The scene in which Andrews crests a hill with her arms spread singing the title track is one of the greatest in American film. Hearing that song forever fills the listener with that image, and remains as fresh and even chilling as it was initially. Unfortunately much of this has been co-opted by television advertisements or whatever, and so could languish because of the clichéd quality of it. Fortunately, conductor Irwin Kostal delivered a wonderful score, and the vocal delivery is as vibrant as any in the storied history of film musicals. --Scott Wilson (hide)

Strummmmm! That dramatic guitar chord that kicks of A Hard Day's Night (album, song, movie) still jumps right out at you, slaps you in the face, and jump-starts... read more

Strummmmm! That dramatic guitar chord that kicks of A Hard Day's Night (album, song, movie) still jumps right out at you, slaps you in the face, and jump-starts your heart. And you know what? Both the music and the film are still as crisp and lively as they were in 1964. Of course, only the first seven songs are actually in the movie (and they are the strongest of the bunch, from the rousing rock & roll of the title track and the hit single "Can't Buy Me Love," to the beautiful ballads "If I Fell" and "And I Love Her"). But nobody's going to complain about having songs like "I'll Cry Instead" and "Things We Said Today" in the second half of the record; they sure don't feel like leftovers. Yet another high-point for John, Paul, George, and Ringo--four fab fellows who hit the highest heights imaginable. --Jim Emerson (hide)

Top Gun (1986) must be counted one of the most influential movies of the 1980s. It propelled Tom Cruise to superstar status, and jetted director Tony (True Romance,... read more

Top Gun (1986) must be counted one of the most influential movies of the 1980s. It propelled Tom Cruise to superstar status, and jetted director Tony (True Romance, 1994; Enemy of the State, 1998) Scott's career into the stratosphere. It also allowed producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer to perfect their multiplex-friendly blockbuster formula of join-the-dots plot, MTV-inspired visuals and rapid-fire action. Not least, it all but invented the modern pop soundtrack. Certainly it was the success of Simon and Garfunkel's The Graduate (1967) which inspired many song soundtracks in the pre-Star Wars (1977) decade, but since Top Gun, soundtrack pop has been gunning for the top like never before. Two singles dominate the album, Berlin's massive hit, "Take My Breath Away", and Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone", both co-written by Giorgio Moroder, who also scored Midnight Express (1978) and penned Blondie's "Call Me" from American Gigolo (1980). Most of the remainder is up-beat, energetic American AOR stadium pop-rock by bands like Cheap Trick and Loverboy, huge names at the time of the film's release. Rounding out the collection is the electro-instrumental "Top Gun Anthem" by Harold Faltermeyer, the man behind "The Heat Is On" from Simpson and Bruckheimer's previous box-office bonanza, Beverly Hills Cop (1984). All in all, a landmark soundtrack. --Gary S. Dalkin (hide)

The best soundtracks are like movies for the ears, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? joins the likes of Saturday Night Fever and The Harder They Come as... read more

The best soundtracks are like movies for the ears, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? joins the likes of Saturday Night Fever and The Harder They Come as cinematic pinnacles of song. The music from the Coen brothers' Depression-era film taps into the source from which the purest strains of country, blues, bluegrass, folk, and gospel music flow. Producer T Bone Burnett enlists the voices of Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley, and kindred spirits for performances of traditional material, in arrangements that are either a cappella or feature bare-bones accompaniment. Highlights range from the aching purity of Krauss's "Down to the River to Pray" to the plainspoken faith of the Whites' "Keep on the Sunny Side" to Stanley's chillingly plaintive "O Death." The album's spiritual centerpiece finds Krauss, Welch, and Harris harmonizing on "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," a gospel lullaby that sounds like a chorus of Appalachian angels. --Don McLeese (hide)

Denzel Washington stars as a black football coach hired over a white coach at a recently racially integrated Virginia high school in the early 1970s. Director Boaz Yakin... read more

Denzel Washington stars as a black football coach hired over a white coach at a recently racially integrated Virginia high school in the early 1970s. Director Boaz Yakin (A Price Above Rubies, Fresh) has a baby boomer's heart in mind with a stylistic array of early 1970s sounds supported by Trevor Rabin's orchestral score (one seven-minute excerpt, "Titans Spirit," finishes things off here). Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's "Express Yourself" is, perhaps, the greatest surprise, while oddball favorites such as Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky," Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," and Eric Burdon and War's "Spill the Wine" match up with country star Buck Owens's "Act Naturally." Covers include a fiery version of Sly Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher" and Leon Russell's laid-back barrelhouse-piano take on the doomsday anthem "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." Cat Stevens's "Peace Train" rolls into the station in its original version. Creedence Clearwater Revival (who appear with "Up Around the Bend") are outswamped by the Hollies' imitation of their sound with "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)." --Rob O'Connor (hide)

Director Herbert Ross (The Turning Point) pulled a winning movie out of this almost self-consciously archetypal tale of teenage rock rebellion. Kevin Bacon stars as a hip city... read more

Director Herbert Ross (The Turning Point) pulled a winning movie out of this almost self-consciously archetypal tale of teenage rock rebellion. Kevin Bacon stars as a hip city kid who ends up in a Bible-belt town after his parents divorce. An ill fit for a conservative community where rock is frowned upon and dancing is forbidden, Bacon's character rallies the kids and takes on the establishment. Between a good cast really embracing the drama of Dean Pitchford's screenplay, and Ross's imaginative, highly charged way of shooting the dance numbers, you can get lost in this all-ages confection, and you won't even mind Kenny Loggins's bubbly pop. Bonuses include one of John Lithgow's best performances (a bit reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart), and Christopher Penn (who sure doesn't look the same anymore) as a good-natured hick who learns to boogie. --Tom Keogh (hide)

Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalization of Crowe's days as a teenage reporter for Creem and Rolling Stone... read more

Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalization of Crowe's days as a teenage reporter for Creem and Rolling Stone has all the well-written characters and wonderful "movie moments" that we expect from Crowe (Jerry Maguire), but the film has an intangible something extra--an insider's touch that will turn the film into the ode to '70s rock & roll for years to come. We are introduced to Crowe's alter ego, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), at home, where his progressive mom (Frances McDormand, just superb) has outlawed rock music and sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) has slipped him LPs that will "set his mind free." Following the wisdom of Creem's disheveled editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman in an instant-classic performance), Miller gets on the inside with the up-and-coming band Stillwater (a fictionalized mixture of the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, and others). A simple visit with the band turns into a three-week, life-altering odyssey into the heyday of American rock. Of the characters he meets on the road, the two most important are groupie extraordinaire Penny Lane (Kate Hudson in a star-making performance) and Stillwater's enigmatic lead guitarist (Billy Crudup), who keeps stringing Miller along for an interview. From the handwritten credits (done by Crowe) to the bittersweet finale, Crowe's comedic valentine is an indelible, heartbreaking romance of music, women, and the privilege of youth. --Doug Thomas (hide)