1900s Club Music- with a '90s Edge
Written: Jun 09 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great songs, artists are selected well.
Cons: Lots of retread material- though I'm not sure this isn't a plus...
The Bottom Line: An excellent soundtrack that mixes disco and club sounds with rock, and does it well. Great music for anytime.
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| strykerbc's Full Review: Moulin Rouge [TBA] - Original Soundtrack Movies |
From track one (Nature Boy) to track 15 (also Nature Boy, oddly), this is an excellent album. The lyrics are well selected (though mostly taken from other songs), and fit well with a new "clubby" background. A word of warning- much of the soundtrack is difficult to make sense of unless you've seen the movie. Here it is, track by track:
Track 1- "Nature Boy", David Bowie. A nice, simple opening by Bowie. It starts the soundtrack off well, and finishes it even better later on.
Track 2- "Lady Marmalade", Christina Aguilera, Li'l Kim, Mya, and Pink. This is the one all over the radio. It's a remake of the disco classic, but with a few rap stanzas, some "choice words", and some descriptions of the goings-on in the movie added. Aguilera's amazing range works well here, though the other artists do tend to just blend in with each other and become ambiguous. Still, not a half-bad track, dare I say better than the original version of the song?
Track 3- "Because We Can", Fatboy Slim. Pure '90s dance set to a can-can-ish rhythm. This song, the epitome of Bohemianism from the film, isn't all that bad- this coming from someone who honestly cannot stand Fatboy Slim.
Track 4- "Sparkling Diamonds", Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, Caroline O'Connor, Natalie Mendoza, and Lara Mulcahy. A rollicking rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", with Nicole Kidman adding a bit of Madonna's "Material Girl". Though the song has many people involved, it basically features Kidman's fairly limited range. She plays within it well, though, and singlehandedly saves this from being the album's weakest link.
Track 5- "Rhythm of the Night", Valeria. Another rocking club dancer, this one is the album's weakest link. That said, it's not all bad. It just sounds a little out-of-place, that's all.
Track 6- "Your Song", Ewan MacGregor and Alessandro Safina. Ewan MacGregor swooning Nicole Kidman. Not bad, but nothing tremendously special either.
Track 7- "Children of the Revolution", Bono, Gavin Friday, and Maurice Seezer. A piece by U2, this is one of the better tracks. It's as hard-rock as the album gets, and it sounds very good actually. This is basically the Bohemian Anthem, and it fits the role well.
Track 8- "One Day I'll Fly Away", Nicole Kidman. Another remake. Nicole Kidman's ability to play her limited vocal range incredibly well saves this from being a boring, pedestrian track. That said, it's no Porsche either.
Track 9- "Diamond Dogs", Beck. Only a hair less hard-rock than U2's track, this has a sound definitely all its own. Not a truly great track, but it fits the album. Beck pulls this one through- if anyone else performed it, I would be far less generous in my description of it.
Track 10- "Elephant Love Medley", Ewan MacGregor, Nicole Kidman, and Jamie Allen. This is not an original track in any way. That said, it's hilarious! I consider this medley, which uses parts of everything from "All You Need Is Love" and "Heroes" straight on to "I Will Always Love You". The arrangement as MacGregor and Kidman fall in love with each other is more humorous than lover's tone. MacGregor shows off his excellent voice here, and Kidman ventures outside her range- with a fair amount of success. The best track on the album.
Track 11- "Come What May", Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman. Another remake. Kidman ventures outside her range again- with no success here. That said, MacGregor is amazing with his part, and when Kidman stays in her range, she's not bad either. A good cover, no matter how bad Kidman sounds when she tries to get those high notes.
Track 12- "El Tango de Roxanne", Ewan MacGregor, Jose Feliciano, and Jacek Koman. This bit of Spanish, which takes a good bit from other songs, doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the track. You have to see the movie for the reason it's stuck in here. It's a good song on its own merit, just seemingly out of place.
Track 13- "Complainte de la Butte", Rufus Wainwright. This is, for all practical purposes, the movie's theme song, as it is featured at important points. An excellent bit of French touch (really the only French-sounding song on the album- a shock when you consider the movie's only set in Paris), Wainwright's vocals work well with the tune.
Track 14- "Hindi Sad Diamonds", Nicole Kidman, John Leguizamo, and Alka Yagnik. Basically "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" set in a hyperactive Hindu background. A very energetic track, but in the end, nothing incredibly special. Nothing incredibly bad either, though.
Track 15- "Nature Boy", David Bowie and Massive Attack. You might remember Massive Attack from the "Mission: Impossible" album. They performed "Spying Glass." Here, they help David Bowie make the subtle "Nature Boy" into a less-subtle, almost psychotic sounding track- with good results.
So, my final opinion on the album? Very Good to Excellent. A few songs are hard to understand unless you've seen the movie, but this one's worth your money.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
strykerbc
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Member: Ben C.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 12 members
About Me:
Stop reading my profile and read the dang reviews!
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