The movie Death Proof was released in 2007. Therefore, like my previous post reviewing Chicago, this is a review of a soundtrack to a highly successful film which was commended for its music.
But that's where the similarities end. Whereas Chicago is a series of songs in a similar style which were specifically written as ingredients for scenes in the movie, Death Proof is a varied compilation of songs, which were years later selected for the film.
The Last Race's opening of the gratuitous engine sounds suits the film personally. The adventurous daredevil attitude is perfectly established, particularly by the soaring horns and strings. A perfect fit for the film, however somehow I don't find the song particularly engaging in isolation. Given this song was originally written for a film, it makes sense that it feels like only half of the story. (how embarrassing for me that my opening rant is undermined by the very first song!)
Recording quality? It goes all-in with the "retro sound", aka distortion as far as the eye can see and instruments randomly placed to the left or right. Normally I'd be whingeing about this stuff, but in this case it perfectly suits the mood of the album (and movie).
The best example of this is Baby It's You, which by any objective measure is terribly distorted and strained. But it perfectly fits the mood of this superbly anguished rhythm'n'blues song. And it hits the nail on the head, full of desperately intense emotion.
Similarly, The Love You Save and Good Love, Bad Love are brilliant soul music, which perfectly use the sparseness to amplify the emotion.
At the other end of the spectrum, Jeepster provides light-hearted Beatles-esque fun. There is quite a lot of interesting stuff going on in the background, making it more than a throwaway pop hit.
The way this version of Staggolee lopes along is fantastic. The nice relaxed groove it sets is perfect accompaniment to the wonderful storytelling.
Down in Mexico doesn't need the moving pictures to tell a story- this song paints the most vivid of pictures on its own! The lyrics and the music combine perfectly to create a world of charismatic wild men of music. The percussion and backing vocals are the icing on this nicely layered cake.
Somehow, Hold Tight sits awkwardly between bad boy rock'n'roll and saccharine Beatles style. For me, the opening is full of promise and energy, but the song soon drifts into blandness. Riot in Thunder Alley is more like it! The driving energy of the surf rock never fails to create a feelgood mood. This song feels like a crazed madman banging away on the drums, with other instruments jumping in when they have something to add. Great stuff.
Initially, I though Chick Habit was a song with a great groove and lyrics that went a bit far with the cheekiness, ending up more like insults heard at a kindergarten:
You're gonna need a heap of glue
When they all catch up with you,
And they cut you up in two.
But then I heard the original French version. As I don't speak a word of French, I am blissfully unaware if the original's lyrics are just as inane! However their delivery is somehow makes the cheekiness more stylish and is thankfully much less nasally. In the end, the added mystique and quirky French style are a great improvement (which is true in almost any situation!). While I appreciate the French version wouldn't have suited the mood of the film, it remains a better song to listen to.
We saw this together, no? :)
ReplyDeleteYep. And I got frighties!
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