CD Odyssey Disc 1851: Soundtrack and Muppets!

The albums on the CD Odyssey are selected randomly. If it’s in the collection, and it hasn’t already been reviewed, it’s eligible. This can generate some unintended consequences. In this case…Christmas in August.

So strap in. Things are about to get weird…

Disc 1851 is…The Muppet Christmas Carol

Artist: Er…a bunch of Muppets?

Year of Release: 1992

What’s up with the Cover? A bunch of Muppets! Also, a glowering “Michael Caine” lurks in the background. Based on his sourpuss expression, this is “Christmas Eve” Scrooge, not “Christmas Morning” Scrooge.

How I Came To Know It: I loved the Muppet Christmas Carol movie but I would never have bought the soundtrack. As it happens, I didn’t. Sheila picked it up for a single dollar in a thrift store. To which I say, “why not?”

How It Stacks Up: I have upwards of 37 soundtracks. I may have the count wrong, as I lose track of the ones that are both soundtracks and also albums by individual artists (e.g. Eddie Vedder’s “Into the Wild,” Queen’s “Flash Gordon”).

Let’s go with 37, of which I put the Muppets Christmas Carol in at…#30.

Ratings: 2 stars

Well…here we are, doing this. If you skip this one, I won’t blame you. But if you stay, I promise to avoid excess analysis of the music. The Muppets didn’t intend for it to entertain you that way, and neither do I.

Let’s start with the movie. Is this the best version of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol”? Better than that 1935 one, which is excellent but wrecked by your parents forcing you to watch it? Better than 1988’s “Scrooged” where Carol Kane (as the Ghost of Christmas Present) hits Bill Murray’s Scrooge with a toaster?

Tough competition to be sure, but I’m going to side with the Muppets over both. Not as artsy as the thirties one, and not as edgy as the eighties (and sadly lacking any dancing showgirls), but it’s got heart to spare.

As for it being a musical, this does not usually land with me. I am not a fan of the genre, and all the musical scores/original cast recordings are – similarly – possessions of my better half. Sure there are exceptions. I love two songs from Les Mis (Disc 111): “Red and Black” and “Do You Hear the People Sing?” If those songs don’t get you going you should check your pulse. From “Chess” (Disc 156) I love “One Night in Bangkok” (yes, that’s where it’s from) and “Nobody’s Side” (listen to it and then lie to me and tell me you didn’t like it).

However, mostly when I watch musicals I’m either dreading some character bursting into song or hoping the number will end so we can get back to the story. They’re not for me.

But damn it, these Muppets. They go and make me feel the feels with their infuriating and catchy tunes about the power of love. I tried to shake it off and make fun of the situation, but despite myself this soundtrack made my heart grow three sizes. Yeah, yeah – different story. Sort of.

The song “Scrooge” has clever turns of phrase a-plenty, and I enjoyed Kermit and Tiny Tim scatting on “Christmas Scat” more than decorum should allow, but mostly, this record just made me feel good.

There is one “bummer” song, which is “When Love Is Gone” about the lost love of Scrooge’s youth. It feels like Oscar bait, and while schmaltzy enough to secure an Oscar, wasn’t even nominated. Like it would have had a snowball’s chance against either song from “Beauty and the Beast” that year. Fun related fact: “When Love Is Gone” is by a character also named Belle and was removed from later releases of the film for being too much of a bummer.

Also solid, “Marley and Marley” delivered by perennial Muppet curmudgeons Statler and Waldorf, which includes a very catchy ghostly refrain of “whooaaah” at the end of each line.

But I digress dangerously close to that ordinary musical review thing I promised you I would avoid. My apologies.

This record is best enjoyed over the holidays building a puzzle (if your cabin doesn’t have cable) or while watching the movie (if it does). If possible, select the “Belle’s bummer song” version – it is better.

Do I recommend this album in the middle of summer during your morning commute? No. Well…sort of?

Do I think it belongs on a serious music review website? Probably not, but I would remind you I review all the albums, not just the ones that make you feel cool enough to pop your collar and roll a pack of smokes into your t-shirt sleeve.

Most of all, this soundtrack will bring peace, goodwill and joy to all. If you’ve seen the movie, it does the same thing, only double. And lest you think this is me being nostalgic for my childhood, I was well into my adulthood when this came out. You’re never too old, and it’s never the wrong time to be infused with a bit of Christmas spirit.

Now run outside and invite someone to know you better, man! Wish a stranger a Merry Christmas in August! Maybe buy them a goose. Unless that feels weird, which I expect it will.

Look at that – you’ve made it to the end. Next time we return to regularly scheduled music reviews. It’s safe, I swear. I don’t even own “The Muppets Take Manhattan”. Yet.

Best tracks: Scrooge, Marley and Marley, When Love Is Gone, It Feels Like Christmas

CD Odyssey Disc 1587: Soundtrack

This week brings better news on the cat front. It turns out our poor cat is only mostly blind, and after ten days on blood pressure medication he has recovered a small portion of his vision. It is not a lot, but it’s enough for him to jump on and off stuff with a bit more confidence. Along with this newfound sight, he’s decided the veterinarian-approved food is not to his liking, and so is currently taking a stand against it. Argh…

Anyway, here is a new review.

Disc 1587 is…. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale

Artist: Various artists

Year of Release: 2003

What’s up with the Cover?  A graveyard angel. You’d think you’d want to market a Buffy the Vampire Slayer album with a picture from the show but here we get what I assume either a stock photo from the Interwebs or a prop from what Sheila and I affectionately call “the Buffy backlot”.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of two Buffy albums a former coworker gave me when she and her partner were downsizing their CD collection in 2020. Thanks, Anna!

How It Stacks Up: I have so many soundtracks that I have a hard time keeping track. I think I’m up around 36. Of those, I’ll say “Radio Sunnydale” slips just in front of my other Buffy soundtrack from 1999, landing at #28.

Back in the late nineties/early oughts both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and compact discs were all the rage, so it should not surprise you to hear that I have three different Buffy soundtracks. Of those, this one comes in at #2.

Ratings: 2 stars

If you are not familiar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my condolences. This show was some amazing TV that has more than held up over the almost two decades since it’s final episode aired. At some point I’m sure I’ll be pulling the DVD collection down to watch the whole thing for a 4^th time. Maybe not for a few years yet, but it will happen.

Those who are familiar with the show will know that music features prominently. The songs are generally selected because they either do a good job of setting a mood for a scene, or just appeal to young people of the day. Often it feels to be a mix of both.

While I know some of the songs on this record, most were new to me when I first got the record in 2020. This is because like today, back in 2003 I was not listening to the radio – Sunnydale or otherwise. For example, Sheila advises me that the Dandy Warhols’ “Bohemian Like You” was a big hit and even today gets occasional airtime. Good to know and I declare the song…OK.

The opening track was very familiar mind you, being a Breeder’s cover of the Buffy Main Title Theme. The original is by Nerf Herder, but the Breeders do a fine job of it, making it a bit grimier in the process. I liked it but I did miss that glorious drum roll featured at the end of the original.

Instead my favourites tended to be from artists I already liked, and songs I sometimes already had. Most notable is Aimee Mann’s “Pavlov’s Bell” a glorious track off her 2002 masterpiece, “Lost in Space.” Aimee Mann even was featured playing live on Buffy in one season, although I had forgotten the context and had to look it up. Playing herself, she gets to deliver the line, “Man, I hate playing vampire towns.” Nice. Anyway, it is a great song and well worth your time here or anywhere else it shows up.

Also good was Sarah McLachlan’s “Prayer of Saint Francis” which was apparently released on early editions of her 1997 record “Surfacing”. I am sad to say I don’t have that version, but that’s OK because here it is, and the song reminded me how much I used to love McLachlan back in the day. I still love her work, but I overplayed it a bit and am giving that part of my collection a rest. It was nice to have something “new to me” to enjoy by her. Like the Buffy series itself, I’ll be revisiting her collection one day down the road.

There are some unfortunate tunes that are very much of their time. “Sound of the Revolution” has a lot of weird Matrix-like sound effects hiding what is otherwise a boring and overproduced assortment of noises. “Ballad for Dead Friends” is exactly the overwrought Emo stew of sound which I expect was better when overlaid on some significant sequence on the show but fails to hold its own as music alone.

The CD ends with “The Final Fight” a soaring instrumental that had me thinking of Lord of the Rings travel sequences. It also had me remembered the glory of that final fight sequence as the show wrapped up. The song is full of bombast and majesty and probably only great if you are a fan looking to get nostalgic over the amazing final episode. I am, so it worked for me.

Overall, this record is a lot like how I imagine listening to the radio feels. Some great songs if you wait for them, sprinkled in with a bunch of others that are OK, but maybe not what you’d pick for yourself if you were making a mixed CD of your own. All the same, I had a good time and I’ll be keeping this collection of memories.

Best tracks: Buffy Main Theme – The Breeders, Stop Thinking About It – Joey Ramone; Pavlov’s Bell – Aimee Mann; Prayer of St. Francis – Sarah McLachlan

CD Odyssey Disc 1564: Soundtrack

This next album extends my streak to five straight that are at least thirty years old. Given that I choose each review randomly, I can assure you this is not by design.

Disc 1564 is…. Harold & Maude Soundtrack

Artist: Various Artists, but mostly Cat Stevens

Year of Release: 1971

What’s up with the Cover? My initial thought was that this was the movie poster, but a quick search reminded me the various movie posters look nothing like this. Instead we get an artist’s rendition of our titular characters cavorting in a field of daisies.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila introduced me to the movie, “Harold & Maude,” when we were first dating. Years later it remains one of my favourite films. Cat Stevens features heavily in the soundtrack, and I recall liking one of the tunes (“If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out”) quite a bit. When I saw this was “newly released” I decided on a whim to buy it.

How It Stacks Up: I have 37 soundtracks, and “Harold & Maude” does not hold up well. I’ll rank it 33^rd and that’s being charitable.

Ratings: 2 stars

I still like “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” but after a few listens to the Harold & Maude soundtrack my appreciation for that song has been sorely tested. This is because while Harold & Maude has 19 tracks, there is a LOT of filler, and a fair bit of it is versions of that particular song. I’d like to say that the other gems on the record make up for all this bloat but, alas, they do not.

“If You Want To Sing Out” is a pleasant little hippy ditty about feeling free to express yourself, and while the lyrics are hokey as hell:

“If you want to be free, be free
‘cause there’s a million things to be
You know that there are.”

It’ll still warm your cockles if you let it. However, the song is only vaguely musically interesting. Mostly it is Cat Stevens roughly strumming his guitar while delivering his brand of Disney wisdom. And it is on here three times. One of those times is sung by the movie’s stars, Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort and let me assure you, their rendition does the song no favours.

Other filler on the record includes two snippets of classical music, Tchaikovsky’s “Concerto No. 1 in B” and Strauss’ “Blue Danube”. Great songs but they stick out like sore thumbs in their isolation against the folksy Cat Stevens tunes.

There are also six snippets of dialogue from the film that like most soundtracks are fun the first time and provide diminishing returns on repeat listens. Sure there is this exchange on the subject of Harold’s 15 faked suicides:

Psychiatrist: “And were they all done for your mother’s benefit?”
Harold: “No, I would not say benefit”

It’s pretty funny, but outside of the movie’s broader charm, it fades as fast as the sunflower Maude dreams of being in Dialogue #4.

There are a couple of beautiful Cat Stevens tunes here, notably the inspiring “Don’t Be Shy” and the mournful “Trouble”. Stevens’ vocals are gorgeous on both as he draws you into the core emotional truth with simple vocals and acoustic guitar. Even better, these songs appear on the album once which is the correct number of times for a song to appear on a record.

I was also reminded that my only other Cat Stevens record is a Greatest Hits package. I love Cat Stevens, but repeated efforts at his studio albums just remind me I generally only want the hits. The Harold & Maude soundtrack has a couple of songs that should be on that Greatest Hits package, but the rest of them reminded me of any one of his studio albums I’ve passed over, except further bloated by movie clips, and other clutter that ultimately add nothing to the experience.

Harold & Maude is one of my favourite movies, and I heartily recommend it. It is an offbeat love story, an art film, and a thoughtful exploration of how to confront our mortality. While you’re watching, enjoy the lovely backdrop of songs throughout, but by no means assume this means you need to buy the soundtrack.

Best tracks: Don’t Be Shy, If You Want To Sing Out Sing Out, Trouble

CD Odyssey Disc 1558: Valley Girl Soundtrack

Tonight there is a lunar eclipse but given the current cloud cover there may no viewing it. While we wait to find out let’s have another album review, shall we?

Disc 1558 is…. Valley Girl Soundtrack

Artist: Various Artists

Year of Release: 1983 (although technically this is a 1994 compilation)

What’s up with the Cover? That eighties thing where you wore short frilly socks and high heel pumps. I think this look has aged well and is due for a comeback!

How I Came To Know It: My wife Sheila introduced me to the movie last year. It is a fun film, but Sheila also loves all the New Wave style music featured. Unfortunately, that soundtrack is very hard to get. There were copyright issues back in 1983 which prevented it ever being released, and while there are a few illegal copies of the original floating around, forget about finding one.

Enter Rhino records, who in 1994 secured the rights to most of those songs and released this 15 track edition. Even this record is very hard to find, but I was determined and when I finally saw a copy I bought it as an anniversary present. It cost me $75 US but I regret nothing! I did it for love!

How It Stacks Up: I have a LOT of soundtracks. 37 in total. Valley Girl holds up well in that crowded field. I’m going to rank it at #13, just behind “Xanadu” and just ahead of “Into the Wild”

Ratings: While soundtracks are technically compilations, I rate them anyway. Valley Girl gets three stars.

Soundtracks are best when the music has a unifying sound to it. “Saturday Night Fever” introduced the mainstream world to disco; “The Harder They Come” has Caribbean soul/reggae pulling it together. Or you can just have Queen do the whole thing (“Highlander”, “Flash Gordon”).

Valley Girl’s vibe lands in the New Wave movement of the early eighties. Like other good soundtracks that cohesive approach to song choice puts you in a certain mood, rather than feeling like you’re being marketed a bunch of random hits. The minor miracle here is the film had to cut and overdub a whole bunch of songs after failing to secure the rights to them. By having to step slightly more toward obscure artists may have even improved the soundtrack. This Rhino compilation captures all the best and heavily featured tunes from the film, although devotees will no doubt recognize some are missing.

The album’s standout song is Modern English’s classic, “I Melt With You.” I don’t recall thinking much of this song when it came out, but wow has it ever held up well. This song will have you floating in a sea of love. It feels like they actually could “stop the world and melt with you.” And while this fate may sound a bit grim taken literally, I give it bonus points for using a very old poetic device of “melting” which goes all the way back to John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” where he says to his lover:

“So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move”

Because back in the day when you melted something like gold if it was sufficiently pure it was known to “make no noise” and Donne is saying his love is equally pure. It felt to me that Modern English was drawing a line back to this time-honoured expression of love, capturing purity, excellence and the loss of the individual into something greater. But I digress…

The best thing this record did was introduce me to Josie Cotton. Eighties movies about high schoolers often featured a real artist as “the band” at the graduation dance, and on Valley Girl this is Josie Cotton. Cotton is rewarded with three of the songs on the soundtrack, all of which are good. She has a pop pin-up girl/eighties punk crossover thing that works both for her music and her overall vibe. She’s been making music for years since she had that brief brush with fame, and she’s still great. I’ve bought three of her records so far, and I’m on the lookout for a fourth.

Other fun tunes include Flirts’ earworm “Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime)” and the spacy sounds of Gary Myrick’s “She Talks in Stereo.”

It isn’t all sun and roses, of course. I love the hook in the Payola’s “Eyes of a Stranger” but the saxophone solo in the middle is an abomination. Also, the Flirts’ tell you not to put another dime in the jukebox for about a minute and half longer than is necessary.

Overall this is a great record which is a fine selection of eighties pop and New Wave and will leave you with warm and melty feelings of love.

Best tracks: Johnny Are You Queer – Josie Cotton, He Could Be The One – Josie Cotton, Love My Way – Psychadelic Furs, Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime) – The Flirts, She Talks in Stereo – Gary Myrick and the Figures, I Melt With You – Modern English

CD Odyssey Disc 1375: Soundtrack

OK, let’s keep this thing going.

Disc 1375 is…. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album

Artist: Various Artists

Year of Release: 1999

What’s up with the Cover? Isn’t it all so romantic! Buffy the Vampire slayer glows in the light, as her tortured vampire boyfriend Angel broods in the shadows behind her. Get a room, already. Actually, don’t. We don’t want Angel experiencing that Moment of Perfect Happiness, losing his soul, and going on a murderous rampage through the streets of Sunnydale.

If none of that made sense to you, then you are not this album’s target audience.

How I Came To Know It: My coworker Anna and her partner were downsizing their CD collection and took a photo of what was available. I spied both this album and another Buffy soundtrack (“Radio Sunnydale”) and offered to purchase them for a cool $5. Instead, they gave them to me for free. Thanks, Anna!

How It Stacks Up: I now have 36 soundtrack albums, and I’m not about to list them all again (I just did this back at Disc 1352 if you want a recap of the first 33). Of those 36 albums, I put BVS: The Album in at #30, right between music from James Bond (Disc 103) and “One From the Heart” (Disc 935).

And now that I have three different Buffy soundtrack albums, I’ll rank it in that subset as well. I don’t have high hopes for “Radio Sunnydale” but since it has an Aimee Mann song and 12 instead of 18 tracks, I’m going to optimistically say it is better. That lands this one (“BVS: The Album”) in last place at #3. Good enough for a bronze however, which is coincidentally the name of the nightclub in the TV show where a bunch of these songs would have been played.

Ratings: 2 stars

How big of a Buffy, the Vampire Slayer fan would you have to be to enjoy this record? I’m going to say more than a big fan. Because I am a pretty big fan. I’ve watched the whole damned series (both series if you count Angel) three times. I’ve turned every character into Arkham Horror board game  characters – yes, even characters like Tara and (shudder) Riley. And yet, even I find my fandom insufficient to enjoy large portions of this extremely long record.

There are good songs. For starters, I’m a sucker for the visceral kick in the pants that is the show’s theme song by Nerfherder. This is one of TV’s great themes, falling just short of gems like Hawaii Five-0 and Stingray. Listen to it as you watch the Buffy Season Three intro and tell me you don’t get goosebumps at the end as the camera pans around a very dangerous Buffy Summers, ready to kick some serious ass with a war axe.

Track Two is also pretty killer. Guided by Voices’ “Teenage FBI” is easily the best song on the album, with a high-octane tune about how sometimes the people you love the most bring out the worst in you.

Another standout is Bif Naked’s “Lucky.” I remember the excitement of realizing it was Bif Naked in the background at the Bronze nightclub, belting out some Canadian rock and roll as our heroes and villains had their adventures centre stage.

And yet this album has a lot of problems.

First, it is painfully overwrought. These songs all have the depth of heartache and pain that only young and beautiful people on TV urban fantasy series seem to manage. Let’s call it CWangst, after the network that has perfected the experience. I don’t mind all the drama when I’m watching (except maybe the Buffy/Angel dynamic – that is dangerously close to a CWangst overdose) but the songs all on their own don’t have the emotional gravitas to carry the day.

Bands with painfully of-their-time names (“Hepburn”, “K’s Choice”, “Splendid”) pour their broken hearts out. Other bands (“Black Lab”, “Superfine”, “Four Star Mary”) feature bad boys that aren’t very bad at all, singing about being kinda tough, but also kinda sensitive. Frankly, there is a lot of pining.

Second, the horrible late nineties production I decried in my last Garbage review, is once again in full effect. Lots of loud, not a lot of separation. There is even a Garbage song that is off the one Garbage album I parted with long ago (“Temptation Waits” from Version 2.0).

And finally, the album is just too Goddamned long. 18 tracks and 65 minutes is a lot, and the songs I liked can’t hold up the ones I don’t over that time frame.

Fortunately, outside of this CD Odyssey I am under no obligation to listen to all 18 songs in a row with no skipping. I can just listen to the ones I like when I feel like listening to them.

Also, the physical copy comes with a lot of bonus features! Maybe one day I’ll mail in my Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fan Club Application (conveniently included in the CD booklet and mine for only $29.95 US a year) and receive all of the following:

·         4 issues of the Buffy official magazine

·         Official ID membership card

·         Exclusive cast photos

·         Exclusive Buffy poster

·         Special Buffy bumper sticker.

Like I said, I’m a fan. Which is why I asked for this album in the first place. I regret nothing.

Best tracks: Buffy Theme – Nerfherder, Teenage FBI – Guided by Voices, Lucky – Bif Naked, It Doesn’t Matter – Alison Kraus & Union Station, Wild Horses – The Sundays

CD Odyssey Disc 1352: Soundtrack

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey! There’s a chance that you’re currently stuck in your house for 14 days. Don’t despair if this is you – there isn’t anything open for you to visit anyway. Also, one of the great things you can do in your home is listen to a little inspirational music. Here’s some of that for your consideration. If it doesn’t quite get you there, then go one step further and watch the movie.

Disc 1352 is….Xanadu Soundtrack

Artist: Mostly Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra

Year of Release: 1980

What’s up with the Cover? In Xanadu, did Kublai Khan a stately art deco font decree…

When my mom remarried, we moved in with my awesome stepfather, Lawrence, who lived in a rural house right on the beach. Lawrence and my Mom quite rightly regarded the place as a paradise and named it “Xanadu” (it was the eighties, and this was not as hokey then as it sounds now…).

I agreed to make a wooden sign tracing the font from the album cover. I had grandiose plans of first carving the shape out of wood, and then painting it for installation at the front of the driveway. A combination of teenage laziness and a complete lack of talent with woodworking meant that project was never completed, but I had good intentions.

How I Came To Know It: I knew this album since the movie came out when I was a kid. Unlike a lot of boys my age, I did not love this movie solely because Olivia Newton-John was incredibly hot. I liked it for three distinct reasons: 1. I liked the music, 2. The movie was loosely based around the Greek myth of the nine muses and 3. Olivia Newton-John was incredibly hot.

Anyway, the album was pretty popular and either my mom or stepdad owned it (I forget who) and I’d put it on from time to time. I never thought to get it as an adult, but Sheila is a huge fan and so I bought it for her as a present recently. In the process, I was reminded that I like it too.

How It Stacks Up:  I have a lot of soundtracks, and every time I think I’m done I end up with a few more and have to put out a new ranking list. This is one of those times. “Xanadu” holds its own, and has some sentimental value going for it as well. I’ll rank it #12 out of 33. Here’s the exhaustive recap:

1.  The Harder They Come: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 371)
2. Saturday Night Fever: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 392)
3. Hedwig and the Angry Inch: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 225).
4. True Detective: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 942)
5. The Matrix:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 291)
6. Magnolia:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 181)
7. Crooklyn:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 75)
8. Swingers:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 12)
9. A Kind of Magic: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 749)
10. Flash Gordon: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 659)
11. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 681)
12. Xanadu: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
13. Into the Wild:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 260)
14. Pulp Fiction:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 102)
15. Elizabethtown:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 33)
16. Highway 61:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 230)
17. O Brother Where Art Thou:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 386)
18. Buffy The Vampire Slayer:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 216)
19. Reservoir Dogs:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 116)
20. Jackie Brown:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 30)
21. Transamerica:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 402)
22. Les Miserables:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 111)
23. Heavy Metal:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 1327)
24. Big Night:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 215)
25. The Warriors:  2 stars (reviewed right here)
26. James Bond:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 103)
27. One From the Heart: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 935)
28. About a Boy:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 252)
29. Chess:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 156)
30. Honeymoon in Vegas:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 17)
31. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:  1 star (reviewed at Disc 284)
32. Moulin Rouge:  1 star (reviewed at Disc 151)
33. Natural Born Killers:  0 stars (reviewed at Disc 302)

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

You can be as cheesy as you like, as long as you write good songs. On this soundtrack the songwriting talents of John Farrar and Jeff Lynne combine to prove just that. This stuff is vintage 1980 cheese, but listening to this album, you won’t care. You’ll just have a good time, which was what the movie and the music wanted you to do all along.

On the soundtrack, Farrar and Lynne basically get one side each. This would have been great on a cassette or vinyl – maybe even 8-track if you got lucky with those random places the buttons used to take you on those things. If you only liked one of the artists, you could skip the other one. Of course if you did that, you’d be an idiot; they are both oodles of fun. Just play the whole thing, flipping it over if your format requires it.

Overall, the Lynne/ ELO tracks are the stronger songs, but it helps that Farrar’s tracks get more of Olivia Newton-John’s sweet pop vocals. Newton-John has a great voice that infuses every song she sings with a natural joy.

My favourite of Side One is “Suddenly,” which is a duet between Newton-John and some British singer named Cliff Richards. This is one of those songs that is really hard to sing, but that everyone sings along with anyway because it just feels so good to belt out “suddenly…the wheels are in motion…” with Cliff and Olivia. It’s like starring in your own romantic musical.

Less good is “Dancin’” a weird mashup of big band and rock (a duet between Newton-John and the Tubes) that is stitched together like Frankenstein’s Monster. Each song is passable on its own, but really annoying and unfocused as some kind of pre-Pitch Perfect experiment.

ELO takes over for Side Two, with their signature synth-rock sound. Not everyone likes ELO’s deal, but if you’re like me and you do, “Xanadu” features some of their best stuff. The space age anthem of “I’m Alive” is as life-affirming as the similarly titled Pearl Jam hit, without all that angst weighing down the fun of it all.

“Don’t Walk Away” is a romantic anthem routine that should have long ago been featured on some contemporary dance routine on So You Think You Can Dance, but sadly, has not. C’mon, Travis Wall, throw me a bone.

Side Two’s worst offender is “All Over the World” which is still featured at ELO live shows but has never been a favourite of mine. Feels a bit too much like a Club Med Ad or something.

The album ends with the best of both worlds, with the title track; an ELO song featuring Olivia Newton-John singing lead. The synthy goodness of ELO is paired with ONJ’s pure tones, which even go into an angelic breathy head-voice right when you think it can’t get any better. “Xanadu” is also another sing-along winner, where you can haltingly follow along as Olivia belts out “Xanadu-oo-woo…” and all is right with the world. Lyrically it’s a far cry from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s masterpiece, but who gives a shit? It’s got plenty of synths, strings and anthemic pop glory to make up for it.

“Xanadu” is far from a perfect record, but it is a damn good time, and has some top-notch pop songs. It is also written specifically for a musical, and is arguably the movie’s biggest star, giving all the songs a cohesive theme. That’s more than you can say for most of the soundtracks above, including many that rank ahead of it on the list.

Best tracks: Magic, Suddenly, I’m Alive, The Fall, Don’t Walk Away, Xanadu

CD Odyssey Disc 1327: Soundtrack

The weekend is here, and Christmas is just around the corner! Let’s celebrate with a music review, shall we?

Disc 1327 is… The Heavy Metal Soundtrack

Artist: Various artists

Year of Release: 1981

What’s up with the Cover? That, my friends, is a Tarakian. No, not the giant lizard with wings, the woman. What is a Tarakian you ask? Basically, she’s part of an ancient race of warrior women who guard the universe from evil green balls of hate. Kind of a cross between Wonder Woman and Red Sonja.

How I Came to Know It: The movie “Heavy Metal” came out in 1981. It was rated R and I was only 10 or 11. More importantly back then the theatres actually enforced R ratings and you needed an adult with you to get in.

Fortunately, my brother was 18 and therefore passed for an adult. In a classic awesome big brother moment he got me in, and I watched my first R rated movie in the theatre. It was awesome.

My brother also owned the soundtrack to the movie, which I remember was a double album that folded out majestically and where the Tarakian was many times the size of the puny cover photo you see above. A Tarakian that size leaves an impression on a young boy, I can tell you.

Knowing the album as a kid, I still managed to resist it for many years as an adult. Then I finally broke down about two years ago and bought a used copy on the cheap.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 34 soundtracks, which I admit is a lot, but who doesn’t like a soundtrack? It’s a “best of” record thematically constructed around a movie plot. I expect the percentage of soundtracks in my collection is far lower than the average.

Anyway, I’ve got 34 of them and “Heavy Metal” is not one of the better ones. I’ll rank it…24^th. I’d give you an updated list, but I’ve still got one more to review.

Ratings: 2 stars

Warm and fuzzy childhood memories aside let’s get real; “Heavy Metal” is an average record at best. It is a mix of songs I already owned but am always glad to hear again, songs I simply had to have, and songs that range from boring to atrocious. It is a grab bag of cheap jewelry at a vintage fair, worth buying for the one or two pieces you really want, and as for the rest – that’s what the ‘skip’ function is for.

On the CD Odyssey there is no skip function – a full listen, monkey! With this in mind I have divided the album into the three categories alluded to above. Note that I will not be commenting on all songs, so consider the partial lists below a sort of musical synecdoche.

Category 1: Good Songs I Already Had

Blue Oyster Cult’s “Veteran of the Psychic Wars”: One of my favourite songs growing up as a kid, and a favourite still. VotPW is off the classic 1981 album “Fire Of Unknown Origin” (reviewed back at Disc 751). Of course, it is the WRONG song to anthologize from an album that had a song titled “Heavy Metal: Black and Silver” and another – “Vengeance (The Pact)” – which literally tells the story of the Tarakian in the film (which admittedly would have made it only suitable for the end credits, but still). “Veteran of the Psychic Wars” is co-written by fantasy author Michael Moorcock and is about an entirely different fictional character, Elric of Melnibone. But whatever, it is a killer song.

Black Sabbath’s “The Mob Rules”: Off of the album of the same name (reviewed back at Disc 157), this song is a killer metal track from the underrated second Sabbath record with Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals.

Honourable mention: Journey’s “Open Arms” (original album reviewed at Disc 212). The circumstances of this song’s appearance in the film is one of the reasons it was rated R. I think it was a sex scene between a cabbie and a damsel in distress, but I can’t be sure because Youtube wants me to log in to confirm my age to check, and I won’t do it. I feel like my brother already vouched for me back in 1981.

Category 2: Songs I Had to Have

Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal”: Balls-out rock and roll, without necessitating a full album full of music by Sammy Hagar. Hagar has drenched this song in a laundry list of whatever he thought was cool back in 1981. The list includes “head bangers in leather”, “sparks fly in the middle of the night”, and “tight pants and lipstick”. It sounds ridiculous but take my word for it; it all comes together. Don Felder also has a song on the album called “Heavy Metal” which is pretty cool, but there is nothing that competes with the phallic fury of the Hagar offering.

Riggs’ “Radar Rider”: A killer track with a surging energy built for driving a car fast down a lonely highway. Or in the case of the film, for an astronaut to drive his 1960 corvette convertible in space. The song would be brilliant all on its own, but I won’t lie – the intergalactic corvette helped.

Grand Funk Railroad’s “Queen Bee”: The song is a classic early eighties anthem, full of majesty and vaguely creepy attempts at romance (“I’m gonna steal you from your hive/steal you away from every man alive…”. The song has a slow building bombast that seems so natural you forgive it all its excess. The film version has neither bees nor (thankfully) abductions but it does feature a naked Tarakian going for a swim that was no doubt a second reason I needed adult accompaniment to see the movie.

Honourable mention to Devo’s brilliant cover of Lee Dorsey’s “Working in a Coal Mine”. Like their cover of the Stones’ “Satisfaction” Devo takes a great song and makes it better.

Category 3 Dear God, No…:

Donald Fagan’s “True Companion”: Here Fagan is without his erstwhile companion Walter Becker (they were on a break) but just like a united Steely Dan, this song gargles balls, combining the worst that prog noodling and Holiday Inn jazz lounges has to offer. Dicken’s Fagin merely corrupts the morals of young children; Steely Dan’s Fagan makes them listen to his music. I remain scarred.

Riggs’ “Heartbeat”: That’s right, dear reader, not all Riggs’ offerings on the “Heavy Metal” soundtrack are revelations in driving ecstasy. This one is all plodding guitars and over-production with no substance. It feels like a Soulless Record Exec’s attempt to manufacture “the sounds the kids are really into these days.” Not even a joy-riding spaceman could have saved this one.

For good and for ill, this album represents the most bombastic ridiculousness that hard rock had to offer in 1981. I always put Heavy Metal on thinking it will be better than I remember it, but it never is. However, it is still fun enough in places to earn a place on the hallowed shelves of my collection.

Best tracks: Heavy Metal – Sammy Hagar, Devo – Working in a Coal Mine, Blue Oyster Cult – Veteran of the Psychic Wars, Don Felder – Heavy Metal (Takin’ A Ride), Riggs – Radar Rider, Grand Funk Railroad – Queen Bee, Black Sabbath – the Mob Rules

CD Odyssey Disc 1072: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Between my job and volunteer work it ended up being a long day, but I’m getting this review in before it is over.

Disc 1072 is…Songs and Music from the Motion Picture “She’s the One”

Artist: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Year of Release: 1996

What’s up with the Cover? A couple scenes from a movie (less on that later), on either side of a shot of Tom doing what Tom does. Also, a whole lot of yellow. That’s right, album cover, I called you yellow. Care to make somethin’ of it?

How I Came To Know It: For the longest time I skipped getting this record, thinking that because it was a soundtrack to a movie I’d never seen, it wouldn’t resonate. Finally I bought it last year. Sorry, Tom – I should’ve had more faith.

How It Stacks Up:  I have sixteen Tom Petty albums, which I think is all of them. I like them all but competition is fierce and “She’s The One” was only able to land at number 12.

Ratings: 3 stars

Usually when I buy a soundtrack it is because I heard the music while watching the film, and having never seen “She’s the One” it was a bit weird reviewing the record. I tried to just think of it as another solid Tom Petty album (which it is) but I couldn’t help but wonder how these songs fit into a movie.

I have deliberately decided not to find out. Whatever mysteries “She’s the One” the movie will reveal to me will have to wait until I see it – this one is for Tom and the Heartbreakers. I will say that I bet “She’s the One” is some kind of romance or romantic comedy, because these songs are focused on relationships, not all of them healthy.

“She’s the One” borrows from a lot of different aspects of Petty’s music. It comes immediately after Petty’s 1994 solo masterpiece “Wildflowers” and incorporates a lot of the sparse and understated indie folk sounds of that record. However, with the return of the heartbreakers the grime and dust of southern rock returns with a vengeance and Petty seems equally willing to explore a blues riff as he is a lilting melody.

Generally I love when Petty showcases his range, but even though “She’s the One” is only slightly overlong - 15 songs in 51 minutes – it feels disjointed. No doubt being a movie soundtrack it had to cover a lot of emotional ground when telling the story of…whatever the hell “She’s the One” is about. Let’s guess it is boy meets girl/boy loses girl, boy meets girl again and it may or may not work out before one of them moves to California. I mean, there is a song about going to California. But I digress…

One of the reasons I eventually bought this record was the presence of a cover of Lucinda Williams’ “Change the Locks.” The Heartbreakers do a solid version of it, but Petty’s vocal delivery is a bit too “Don’t Come Around Here No More” to make it feel as nasty and visceral as I wanted it to be.

Much better are the original tracks “Walls” and “Angel Dream” both of which have multiple versions present on the record and were likely recurring themes in the film. While I didn’t need a whole bunch of versions of both songs, it helped that they were two of the best songs on the record.

 “Angel Dream (no. 4)” is a bit more up tempo, whereas “Angel Dream (no. 2)” is slower and stripped down. “Angel Dream (no.4)” is a rolling tune best suited to thinking kind thoughts about the woman you love while looking wistfully out a car window. “Angel Dream (no. 2)” is more about looking out through a rainy window wondering when that love is going to pull into the driveway. With songs like this, the movie writes itself.

A similar decision is made with “Walls” where the “circus” version is a bit more jangly and up-beat, and “Walls (No. 3)” which feels thin and drawn out, and fills the lyrics with a heartfelt resignation – like no one was at fault, but things still didn’t work out.

Incidentally, there is no sign of “Angel Dream” nos. 1 and 3 nor does either “Walls” nos. 1 or 2 make an appearance. They were either left on the cutting floor of the studio, or preserved for movie-goers only.

More than anything, “She’s the One” reminded me that even when he is constricted to writing for some limited release art film, Petty is a master storyteller that can knock out timeless melodies in his sleep. Whatever the hell the movie was about, the film makers should feel damn fortunate they managed to get Petty to do their soundtrack.

Tom Petty was taken from us too soon, and while “She’s the One” isn’t his greatest work, it was nice to hear his voice again so soon after he left us all and headed out into the great wide open.

Best tracks: Angel Dream (No. 2 and No. 4), Hope You Never, Asshole, Walls (No. 3), California

CD Odyssey Disc 998: Soundtrack

With the Boston Bruins out of the playoffs, this is a good time to note that there is still exciting sports news - it is NFL draft weekend! My beloved Miami Dolphins picked 22^nd overall tonight and took an edge rushing defensive end named Charles Harris. I kind of wanted a linebacker or a guard, but apparently Harris is the real deal and will help the team. Hope springs eternal…

Disc 998 is…Searching for Sugarman

Artist: Rodriguez

Year of Release: 2012 but featuring music primarily from 1970-71

What’s up with the Cover? A man (musician Sixto Rodriguez) strides purposefully into frame. Behind him a giant guitar stretches into the distance. How will Sixto play such a massive guitar? What if he trips over that high E string and falls on his face?

Fear not my friend – it’s just a photo.

How I Came To Know It: I had heard of the movie for this soundtrack from a few people but hadn’t been sufficiently interested to check it out. Eventually it was Sheila who bought me the album for Christmas after hearing good things herself.

How It Stacks Up:  I only have this one Rodriguez album and as it is a compilation from a couple of his studio albums, it can’t really stack up. As a soundtrack I guess it can stack up though, and out of my (now) 32 soundtracks, I put “Searching for Sugarman” in at #10 but I’m not relisting the other 31. If you want to see that, go here.

Ratings: As a compilation of Sixto Rodriguez songs, I can’t rank this album, but as a soundtrack I’m going to do so anyway. I’ll give it 3 stars, bordering on 4.

I don’t know much about the documentary that inspired this compilation, other than it is about an obscure seventies singer-songwriter. Knowing so little I came just for the music, which didn’t disappoint.

Sixto Rodriguez goes simply by “Rodriguez” which is something I don’t understand. If I had a name as cool as “Sixto” I would use it as much as I could. It sounds like the name of some legendary bandit crossed with some Beatnik poet.

The real Rodriguez is more the latter than the former, singing thoughtful songs about society and how we relate to it. He reminded me of a mix of Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt, which is high praise. Like both of them, he’s not the most gifted vocalist, but he writes songs that perfectly match his lyrical and slightly ragged vocals. When he sings there is an edge of hurt that adds gravitas.

On “Cause” he captures a down-and-out vibe that is heartbreaking, the more so because the lyrics demonstrate clear that he sees right through the core of his own condition with a clarity that makes it all the more painful. With lines like “Cause my heart’s become a crooked hotel full of rumours” capture the personal sadness, and he follows up with a more generic indictment of society generally with:

“Cause I see my people trying to drown the sun

In weekends of whiskey sours

Cause how many times can you wake up in

This comic book and plant flowers?”

The album benefits from good arrangements as well, with a nice mix of acoustic guitar, bass riffs and flourishes of a horn section and violin. The violin on “Cause” is a mix of triumph, regret and acceptance that perfectly matches the lyrics. Rodriguez makes it clear that while he is testifying, but that we shouldn’t expect him to provide answers.

The album is mostly from two records recorded in 1970 and 1971 respectively, and at times they sound very much of their time. The jazz flute in “Can’t Get Away” and bongo drums in “Street Boy” made me feel like I was hearing the soundtrack to some early seventies cop show, but I kind of liked it.

I liked the production less, that is a bit tinny in places, and also has some challenges with volume consistency - likely the result of the original master tapes, but it was noticeable, particularly when I was listening in quieter environments. Fortunately, it is minor and doesn't wreck the experience.

Rodriguez has a natural talent for phrasing, which helps give the songs their groove. He just feels cool. On “A Most Disgusting Song” he delivers what feels like very early rap, as he describes a club full of degenerates and lovelorn losers, all the while reminding us that any of us could find ourselves there on a given night. After hearing about “Jimmy ‘Bad Luck’ Butts,” “Playboy Ralph” and “the local diddy bop pimp” make their way through the smoky bar I felt like I had visited the place, only I didn’t have to have my blazer dry-cleaned afterward. I also had visions of turning the whole thing into a rap song – it wouldn’t be hard.

Rodriguez is clearly a cool dude, and there are places where he is almost too cool, sounding a bit too self-aware of just how chill he is. It is a minor quibble though, on a record that muses about individual failings and existential angst with equal thoughtfulness.

Best tracks: Crucify Your Mind, Cause, Like Janis, A Most Disgusting Song, Jane S. Piddy

CD Odyssey Disc 942: Soundtrack

I meant to write this review last night but after a long and late night at the office I was knackered and opted instead for a couple TV shows and bed. Fortunately, I love this record so an extra day with it was no sacrifice.

Disc 942 is….True Detective Soundtrack

Artist: Various Artists, but a lot of Lera Lynn

Year of Release: 2015

What’s up with the Cover? It looks like the promotional poster for Season Two of True Detective. From left to right we have: a crooked cop, a mobster trying to go legit, an angry cop and a cop with PTSD. It’s not a happy show.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila and I loved the show and the music it featured was always great. By happy accident while looking for someone to see in Nashville, I discovered that Lera Lynn was the mysterious singer in the background of the bar seasons in Season Two. From there it was a simple matter of looking for the soundtrack, which (happily) features music from both seasons.

How It Stacks Up:  I have a lot of soundtracks. I had originally finished reviewing them back at Disc 479, but had forgotten there were a bunch of albums that qualify as soundtracks that I file with the artist that did them. Since I’m now up the 31 soundtracks total, it is probably time to revisit the list. Take a deep breath, because it is long. You’ll note that “True Detective” lands impressively at number four.

1.  The Harder They Come: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 371)
2. Saturday Night Fever: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 392)
3. Hedwig and the Angry Inch: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 225).
4. True Detective: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
5. The Matrix:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 291)
6. Magnolia:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 181)
7. Crooklyn:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 75)
8. Swingers:  4 stars (reviewed at Disc 12)
9. A Kind of Magic: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 749)
10. Flash Gordon: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 659)
11. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 681)
12. Into the Wild:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 260)
13. Pulp Fiction:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 102)
14. Elizabethtown:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 33)
15. Highway 61:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 230)
16. O Brother Where Art Thou:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 386)
17. Buffy The Vampire Slayer:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 216)
18. Reservoir Dogs:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 116)
19. Jackie Brown:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 30)
20. Transamerica:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 402)
21. Les Miserables:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 111)
22. Big Night:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 215)
23. The Warriors:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 479)
24. James Bond:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 103)
25. One From the Heart: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 935)
26. About a Boy:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 252)
27. Chess:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 156)
28. Honeymoon in Vegas:  2 stars (reviewed at Disc 17 and then sold)
29. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:  1 star (reviewed at Disc 284)
30. Moulin Rouge:  1 star (reviewed at Disc 151)
31. Natural Born Killers:  0 stars (reviewed at Disc 302)

Ratings: 4 stars

Sometimes a soundtrack perfectly captures the feel of the film or show it is meant to accompany. Other times, it is just a great collection of songs. The “True Detective” soundtrack manages to do both.

If you don’t know, “True Detective” is a disturbing crime serial, featuring damaged characters (mostly cops) trying to redeem themselves by stopping criminals even worse. While the first season is superior, both are worth your time and will leave you contemplating the baseness of humanity and the darker secrets of the universe; those secrets that reveal themselves only in fragments, lest they threaten your sanity when encountered whole. Yeah, it’s one of those kinds of shows.

A show like that needs music that sets just the right mood, and famed producer T. Bone Burnett delivers. This soundtrack is actually songs from the first two seasons, shuffled together imperfectly like a deck of cards at a poker table. The shuffling could have taken away from the narrative of the show, but instead the song order creates a new musical narrative that is both evocative of the show, and also casts a spell of its own.

The show manages to find two of the most brooding tracks for each season’s opening credits: the Handsome Family’s “Far From Any Road” (Season 1) and Leonard Cohen’s “Nevermind” (Season 2). The first song is some sort of drug-addled country, with a deep, mysterious vocal and echoes of mariachi bands gone wrong. I don’t know anything else by the Handsome Family, and frankly, this song makes me a bit nervous to delve any deeper. I probably will though.

Cohen’s “Nevermind” has a funky groove and Cohen is at his apocalyptic best as he speaks of all the people who get away with it, whether “it” is love or murder, or some terrible combination of the two.

For all the greatness of these two “title” tracks, the glue that holds this album together is alt-country chanteuse Lera Lynn.

“True Detective” is how I discovered Lera Lynn. Her mournful and lounge-tinged voice sounds like the voice of a ghost here, with T. Bone Burnett turning up the stark echo dial to 11 to maximize the effect of her vocal. Each of her five songs sends a shiver down your spine, leaving you cold and alone with fell thoughts of dark deeds done and the secrets that follow.

Lynn is an accomplished songwriter on her own, and here she teams up with T. Bone and Roseanne Cash. The result is a selection of restless mournful songs that wrap you in loss and regret. On “Lately”, when Lynn sings:

“Lately I'm not feeling like myself

When I look into the glass, I see someone else

I hardly recognize this face I wear

When I stare into her eyes, I see no one there

Lately I'm not feeling like myself”

You can feel the edge of madness creeping in – or is it just grief? The line blurs here as it does throughout the record. Later on “It Only Takes One Shot” she sings of a woman spurned, wrapped in imagery of guns and murder and fell conviction.

As if this record didn’t have enough creepy mood music, we are treated to two longstanding masters: Nick Cave (with Warren Ellis) and Bonnie Prince Billy. Cave and Ellis cover the Gatlin Brothers’ “All the Gold in California” and thoroughly twist it from country anthem to some kind of cultist chant. Bonnie Prince Billy’s “Intentional Injury” is a quiet internalization of the same order.

The record is so good that the Bob Dylan track (“Rocks and Gravel”) is good, but more of an afterthought.

In a way having all these artists contributing their best feels a bit like cheating, and that’s at least one reason I couldn’t give this record a perfect score. It came damn close, though.

Best tracks: All the Lera Lynn tracks (The Only Thing Worth Fighting For, Lately, My Least Favorite Life, A Church in Ruins and It Only Takes One Shot), Nevermind by Leonard Cohen, All the Gold in California by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Far From Any Road by The Handsome Family, Intentional Injury by Bonnie Prince Billy.