Soundtracks #9 – Judgment Night
[One of the things I have been utterly fucking dreadful at recently is exploring the world of new music blogs. Blogs pop up all the time, some last and some don't. Matthew from Draped in Velvet got in touch to pop over a post about a film and music I don't know from a blogger I don't know, so I think it's fantastic that he wants to post in this series. It's also a really good piece of writing (like I'm qualified to judge) from a blog with a mere nineteen posts to its name, so go and have a look at his stuff. Here he writes about a soundtrack he loves, and a film that utterly failed to live up to it...]
Alas I am a fellow burdened with many musical and movie guilty pleasures. Should you know me then perhaps you may have heard me pontificate at length on the many hidden merits of Kevin Costner’s universally panned epic ‘WaterWorld‘ or even share my delight and passion for the post-modern classic that is ‘Last Action Hero‘- however possibly my favorite soundtrack comes from a film, no matter how many times I’ve seen it, even I can’t justify its existence. Yet because of its outstanding soundtrack I will bravely (and somewhat foolishly) endure the appauling movie every time its shown on TV.Firstly, let me assure you that I acquired this compilation on the strength of the album’s first single: ‘Another Body Murdered’ by Samoan hip hop giants BOO-YAA T.R.I.B.E and Faith No More, rather than as a direct result of watching the movie. This single had everything an middle class white boy living in a sleepy town could possibly wish for; chug-a-long metal guitars, Mike Patton’s trademark bonkers screaming and some fat guys in hats taking about street crime and gang culture.
Having annoyed my family and the surrounding neigbours with the endless repeat plays of this track, I popped into my local Our Price (at the time my local town’s only record store) and ordered myself a copy of the album on cassette after it received favourable reviews in Select Magazine. Approximately 2-3 weeks later I received a phone call informing me that said purchase had arrived.
I listened wide mouthed and in awe as I walked back home from town with the album playing on my cruddy Matusi Personal Stereo. The likes of Mudhoney & Sir Mix-A-Lot waxing lyrical on subject matters I couldn’t possible comprehend (I just liked how it sounded), Slayer & Ice T’s L.A 92 riot themed track ‘Disorder’ cleared my sinuses and scared the be-Jesus out of me; and of course Pearl Jam & Cypress Hill’s ‘Real Thing’ (which was surprisingly a million times better than the other Cypress Hill collaboration with Sonic Youth on ‘Mary Jane’) which on its first listen gave me goosebumps.
The two stand out tracks amongst these ‘masterpieces’ are Dinosaur Jr & Del The Funky Homosapien’s ‘Missing Link’ which, like the other finer collaborations featured on the album, balanced the two artists’ inputs evenly to produce this spiffing example of genre crossing music. A truly great and very much under appreciated MC accompanied by a truly great and much under appreciated guitarist (and in this instance drummer and producer). This song contains as good of a guitar lick that Mascis has ever committed to record.
As good as their collective efforts were, the other standout track, Teenage Fanclub & Del A Soul’s ‘Fallin’ is this bar none this compilation’s crowning achievement and also makes rather good use of a Tom Petty sample to boot. Perhaps it stands out so clearly as it’s the only laid back tune on the album surrounded for the most part by bands laden with loud and abrasive guitars and rock drumming.
Thumb clicks, laid back clean guitar strumming, tambourines and the understated rhythm section from The Fannies provide the backing for the equally laid back rappers. Even now some 15 years after its original release, I include this song on mix tapes for friends and family unaware of this songs existence and the results (to anyone with a soul) are very much the same as when I first heard it all those many moons ago. A serene smile will creep its way on to ones lips, followed by the warm feeling of content washing over you.
It pained me when some two years later after many thousands of listens of this compilation, I finally watched the film which featured everyone’s favorite Bill Hicks impersonator Dennis Leary, all round annoying dick Cuba Gooding Jr supporting everyones favourite Martin Sheen offspring Emilio Estevez. Aside from the poor dialogue, bad direction and for the most part poor acting, I was incredibly angered that the music was used so sparsely throughout.
As the whole Rage Against The Machine (and to a lesser degree Senser-and to an even lesser degree Collapsed Lung) had taken off with a angry explosion back in 92/93, I was surprised that there was so few rap/rock outfits emerging at the time. I thought that I’d heard the future. I thought the merging of two of my favourite music genres would create some form of utopian musical society, uniting the world and putting an end to poverty, war and disease. Naturally, this vision never came to fruition and it pained me to see the rap/rock genre was to take off several years later with disastrous effects thanks to Fred bleedin’ Durst, tainting the phrase ‘rap-rock’ for evermore. Lest we not forget just how close to perfection this brave artists got on this album.
I certainly haven’t.
Faith No More & Boo Yaa T.R.I.B.E – Another Body Murdered
Dinosaur Jr & Del The Funky Homosapien – Missing Link
Posts in this series:
- Crash Calloway from Pretending Life is Like a Song writes about The Commitments.
- Nate, who plays viola in The Young Republic explains why some terrible films have excellent scores.
- My dearest darling Mrs. Toad sings the praises of the High School Movie.
- DC, presenter of The Waiting Room, goes on a truly interminable ramble about the great Tom Waits and One From the Heart.
- Brother of Toad talks about how the context of music can interfere with its use in a movie.
- John sums up Natural Born Killers in three sentences.
- I have a go myself by writing about the art of referencing films in your song lyrics and what it lets you do.
- Tim from The Daily Growl digs away at the sensual texture of In the Mood For Love.
- Matt from Draped in Velvet might never forgive the false start of the world of rap-rock.
- Ian from Broken Records delivers the rant that started this all off: why soundtracks just don’t work!
