G-Spot: G-Spot
by George Grant
Published: June 6, 2000
The movie soundtrack. A sometimes I think, under-rated thing. Some of the world’s greatest and most widely known artists are willing to put their name down to a film eventhough they probably won’t get any serious recognition for it. There is on occasion, the odd movie that has an earsplittingly good soundtrack or a couple of good tracks somewhere on the OST. OK my music taste varies, I know, but I have always been known to buy a half-decent OST. A couple of my collection, are Varsity Blues, Cruel Intentions and as of this weekend, Blade. To compare a couple, let’s say Varsity Blues and Blade. On the Varsity Blues OST, you have the more alternative side of things, including Green Day and Foo Fighters. Whereas on Blade there is an almost trance inducing mix of Dance, Techno and Alternative music (Sorry I don’t know the specific artists).
Last week I got the Mission: Impossible 2 OST from my girlfriend (Thanks Kathryn), and was delighted to see the likes of Foo Fighters, Rob Zombie and Chris Cornell. By the way, I think the new mix of the MI2 theme by Limp Bizkit is the BOMB! However I digress.
Then you have the integration between music and the normal TV show. For example, if I remember correctly, Moby’s Bodyrock was used in a recent episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as was Blink 182’s ‘All the small things’. Dawson’s Creek is also a good series with a good OST, including Buckcherry and Garbage. Something else I notice is that when a certain actor or actress is attached to a movie, the OST always carries a certain type of music. E.G. If Sarah Michelle Gellar is in a movie or series the OST mainly seems to carry an alternative music edge. Where if Jonny Lee Millar (Star of Trainspotting & Hackers). The OST usually has a fast-paced, pounding soundtrack. A couple of who were The Prodigy and Leftfield, taken from the Hackers soundtrack.
However one of my pet peeves is when an excellent track is used in a movie, but it either isn’t on the soundtrack. Or even worse, is performed (badly) by a completely unknown band. I’m all for promoting new and upcoming music, but in my opinion, the already released material should be left to the people who made it. I don’t know about you people, but I just can’t stand bad cover versions. Like in the Varsity Blues OST. AC/DC’s Thunderstruck was used in the bit where James Van Der Beek’s team is getting a whooping. Now this is one of my favourite tracks of all time, it has a more or less a permanent place on my stereo (One way or another). But on the OST it has been covered badly by Sprung Monkey. With AC/DC you have the passion that is the crowd screaming to the top of their voice in the background. Unfortunately the Sprung Monkey version is toned down incomparitively with AC/DC.
Now I’m going to tell you about my favourite OST which happens to be Top Gun. To start with you have the adrenaline pumping sound of Kenny Loggins with Danger Zone to get you in the mood (It’s also good for working out to). After this there are numerous fast tracks including Larry Greene with Through the fire. But there is one track I don’t like which is Loverboy and Heaven in your eyes. This is a bit too soppy for me. Sorry but it is. Then to finish it all off you have the theme to the movie performed by Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens.
Now for a little bit of trivia. See if you can guess the artist and track title from the following lyrics and e-mail me at the below address. “Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk, I didn’t mean to call you that.”
As always I would love to hear from anybody reading this. You can get me at ggrant@r-and-b.co.uk with any opinion or criticism.
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