Music » Movie Soundtracks

Ennio Morricone is well-known to moviegoers. His soundtracks for The Mission, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in America, Cinema Paradiso, and others are invariably warmly melodic and superbly suited to the films they grace. They not only add atmosphere; they help tell the story. For this CD Morricone has created new orchestrations for many of his scores, adding a solo cello part for the indefatigable Yo-Yo Ma, whose musical curiosity seems to be endless. Outside the films, these pieces tend to be lovely melodies, mostly pretty sentimental stuff, and, in the best way, gorgeous aural wallpaper. The most moving are the two selections from The Mission, but fans of Morricone's music will find plenty to enjoy here. Ma's playing, as always, is exquisite---warm, deeply felt (given the circumstances), and entirely idiomatic within the context. Perhaps not quite for the classical music lover, but an affectionate reworking of music by an important film composer. --Robert Levine

In light of all the hit Broadway musicals that have stumbled in their translation to the big screen, The Music Man stands out as an exception; it is one of the best-loved movie musicals of all time. A great deal of the credit goes to composer Meredith Willson, who resisted studio pressure to hire a big name for the title role (Frank Sinatra or Cary Grant) in favor of the Tony-winning stage star, Robert Preston, who turns in one of Hollywood's most magical performances as the spellbinder who hoodwinks a small town in Iowa. Shirley Jones did not perform the show on Broadway, but she had cut her teeth as a musical ingenue in the films of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! and Carousel and gives Marian the librarian a lovely voice and charming personality. Most importantly, Willson's score combines marching bands and barbershop quartets to capture perfectly the spirit of America's heartland at the turn of the century. A classic. --David Horiuchi

This modest early '80s hit film about a fictional '60s rock icon who mysteriously disappears (or does he?) took its lead from similar legends surrounding the death of Jim Morrison. Its succesful soundtrack arose from an even more surreal brew of art and commerce. Then-journeyman musician John Cafferty and his Beaver Brown Band essentially became the, er, "real" Eddie and the Cruisers, with actor Michael Pare lip-synching the vocals, and other actors miming their parts. Cafferty and crew supply what was then a fair approximation of the Springsteen Sensibility--wall-of-sound bar rock with overreaching lyrics and grab-your-throat vocals. Not half-bad--if you like that sort of thing. --Jerry McCulley

No Description AvailableNo Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: GROBAN,JOSHTitle: JOSH GROBANStreet Release Date: 11/20/2001

Like The Muppet Show or The Simpsons, Shrek is tiered with visual appeal, fantasy, and sophisticated humor that appeals to children and adults on two mutually exclusive levels. Judging by the soundtrack alone, there is some genuine emotion coming from this movie; Rufus Wainwright, the Proclaimers, and especially the Eels all pen winsome, longing tunes. Dana Glover's "It Is You (I Have Loved)" represents the soundtrack's requisite glossy ballad, but it's better than most, and John Powell's climactic, orchestral "True Love's First Kiss" makes one wish there was a full score to accompany this soundtrack. On the flip side, Smash Mouth cover the Monkees' "I'm a Believer" with a groovy treatment of crunchy hip-hop beats, and Leslie Carter (sister of Aaron and Nick) gives a perky performance on the Britney-esque "Like Wow!" The soundtrack squeezes the last drops of juice from the overplayed Smash Mouth hit "All Star," but other than that, it strikes a great balance between cute-but-not-precious pop hits, and more grown-up songs that are well within reach of young ears. --Beth Massa

More than merely a headbanger's take on A Star Is Born, Rock Star is, like all great Hollywood middlebrow fare, actually "inspired by a true story": the saga of an Ohio salesman/Judas Priest tribute band vocalist who one day found himself taking Rob Halford's place in the spotlight. But whether its music is big-hair throwback or merely ahead-of-the-curve '80s retro-hip is hardly a matter that will cause quantum theorists sleepless nights. Not surprisingly, the film's soundtrack sounds both distinctly virtual and marketing-department honed: a mix of modern rockers (Everclear's hard-pop title track, the Verve Pipe's "Colorful") and '80s vets (Bon Jovi's genre-defining "Livin' on a Prayer"). Steel Dragon, the film's fictional headliners, feature era vets Jason Bonham on drums, Zakk Wylde on guitar, and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto giving star Mark Wahlberg something to lip-synch. They re-create a frighteningly credible faux-'80s pop-metal ethos that ranges from the big-ballad Bon Jovi-isms of "We All Die Young" to the pounding, metallic Priest-cloning of "Livin' the Life" and "Blood Pollution," and the anthemic "Long Live Rock and Roll," the latter in a ham-fisted performance that begs to be subtitled "(But Please Retire Soon)." It's all enough to make long-suffering heavy metal fans cry out, "Why hast thou forsaken us, Spinal Tap?" --Jerry McCulley

Release Date: 2000-10-24, Audio CD, RCA

Release Date: 1996-09-24, Audio CD, Decca U.S.

The latest Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movie directed by Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle) about two coworkers who hate each other at work and unknowingly fall in love on the Internet features an extremely eclectic soundtrack that's less technologically advanced than its movie's premise. There's no gratuitous raving or computer-buzzing techno, just pensive singer/songwriters and oldies that tug at the heartstrings. Louie Armstrong weighs in with "Dummy Song." Jimmy Durante pops up for "You Made Me Love You." Randy Newman's song for Frank Sinatra, "Lonely at the Top" (which Sinatra turned down), fits alongside Sinead O'Connor's spirited pass at Harry Nilsson's "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City." The late Nilsson himself is represented by "The Puppy Song" and "Remember." Stevie Wonder's soul shouter "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" pumps things up, while Roy Orbison's "Dream" has his trademark sense of mystery and despair. --Rob O'Connor

Oklahoma! (1955 Film Soundtrack)