Quick preamble: For those Inspector Gadgets among you who no longer care about vinyl LPs, cassettes, compact discs or even MP3’s -- opting instead to stream to your hearts' content -- this will probably seem stilted and preposterously old school (in a pointedly uncool way). Whatever. Get off my goddamn lawn.
Otherwise....
There are loads of bad, bullshit soundtracks out there, especially ones linked with “coming of age” flicks from the 80’s and 90’s. We all have our favorites.
In a recent weed-wacking in my garden of compact discs, I found myself jettisoning handfuls of such collections. Some were redeemed by the inclusion of a single track. The soundtrack to the entirely abortive 1994 Joe Pesci film “With Honors,” for ridiculous example, was saved due to the placement of the strangely rare Butch Vig mix of the Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary.” Other titles weren’t so fortunate, being so rife with crapola that I found myself wondering how I’d ever come to posses them in the first place.
Sure, there are some curious ones, like the heroically awkward OST for 1993’s "Judgement Night", featuring a clutch of largely ill-advised “rap-rock” collaborations (the best, for my money, being “Freak Mama” by Mudhoney and Sir Mix-a-Lot). Similarly, 1998’s “Small Soldiers” soundtrack gave an array of classic rock warhorses some entertaining hip hop makeovers, some of which worked better than others.
The official soundtrack disc for “Goodfellas” remains a heartbreaker, as it featured only a paltry snippet of the music that the sprawling film actually used. Notably absent from that disc is “Jump into the Fire” by Harry Nilsson, used to score the coke-fueled helicopter-pasta-drug-bust scene towards the climax of the film.
In any case, while sorting through these, I was struck by how amazing the soundtrack to 1987’s “Less Than Zero” is. While it neglected to include the Elvis Costello track of the same name (was it even in the movie?), it offered a surprising array of choice goodies you won’t find anywhere else.
Immediately overlooking the obvious crap (Aerosmith’s awful rendering of “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” and Poison’s ham-fisted cover of KISS’ “Rock & Roll All Night"), there’s Slayer’s somewhat obvious-but-enjoyably turgid trudge through Iron Butterfly’s “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida” and the Bangles’ surprisingly burly take on Simon & Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter,” which jettisoned the folky finger-picking in favor of high voltage riffing. These are both excellent.
I have zero recollection (parton the pun) about Oran “Juice” Jones’ “How to Love Again” nor the Black Flames’ “Are You My Woman?” I love Joan Jett, but I don’t remember “She’s Lost You” at all. Whatever.
The reason I first picked up this album (I originally owned it on vinyl) was because of “Bring The Noise” by Public Enemy. I’d been deejaying at my college radio station (WDUB 91.1 FM in Granville, Ohio), and my friend Seth called in demanding I play it one night. While already a fan of the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and LL Cool J, I had to confess that, at the time, I was unfamiliar with Public Enemy, so I dutifully dropped the needle at my friend’s behest. What followed was a revelation that I can’t even begin to properly encompass here.
I’d initially slept on Yo! Bum Rush the Show, but It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (which includes “Bring the Noise” and a slew of other amazing tracks) was released the following spring. But it was the “Less Than Zero” soundtrack that got me there first.
We’re not done yet — the "Less Than Zero" OST also debuted “Going Back to Cali,” which further cemented LL Cool J as a name not to be trifled with. If you can’t appreciate this, I just can’t help you.
Okay, all that stuff is great, but the really inspired shit was the Roy Orbison/Glenn Danzig collaboration, “Life Fades Away” and Danzig’s turn with the Power & Fury Orchestra, “You and Me.” Caught between his Samhain/Danzig makeover, Glenn was at his best on both of these tracks, and it’s a testament to Rick Rubin’s insight to have put them together.
“You and Me” also hinted at heights Danzig (both the man and the band) might have scaled had the vocalist not succumbed to his own iron-willed preoccupations. It’s a sweeping, swelling meisterwerk that is as powerful as it is accessible….arguably Glenn’s finest vocal turn? You decide.
As far as “Less Than Zero” the film? I’ve never actually seen it in its entirety.
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