Mission Impossible (movie soundtrack)

In 1996, everything Tom Cruise touched turned to gold. So when he "rebooted" Mission:Impossible as a movie franchise, it became a must-see movie. The soundtrack was also a big deal in its own right, since it featured various big-name artists. This was my main reason for buying the album, as a cheaper way to obtain a handful of pop songs I liked.

The theme song and instrumentals from the score aren't something you'd bother listening to years later, so I'll skip straight to the pop songs.

Spying Glass is vintage Massive Attack, starting with the backbone a gentle, yet driving beat. The effects and vocals on top create a wonderful feeling of spaciousness, making for a great song.

Somehow, a song commissioned for a film ended up being one of Pulp's greatest efforts ever. The instrumental arrangement of I Spy hits the same fantastic heights as Common People. And since I've always found Jarvis Cocker to be quite stalker-creepy, he is perfectly suited to the lyrics! Witness the following disturbed, yet poetic, brilliance: 
My favourite parks are carparks.
Grass is something you smoke,
Birds are something you shag.
So take your Year in Provence,
And shove it up your ass.

Unfortunately, Bjork is just too weird from me. I've tried to appreciate it, but I can't help thinking the songs are messages from a distant planets where the staple diet consists of LSD! The song Headphones is no exception. At the other end of the weirdness scale, Weak by Skunk Anansie is generic 90s rock. In my book, it hasn't aged well. And Alright by Cast was, and always will be, just generic britpop.

Dreams by The Cranberries may have been played to death on the radio, but I still dig it. The Irish accent of the vocals is a highlight for me, and it works a treat in the harmonies. Dreams is another song for the list of "songs with weird bridges", but somehow I like how the tortured whining breaks up the song. A nicely catchy pop effort.

You Me And World War III by Gavin Friday accompanies the movie's plot well. Unfortunately in isolation it doesn't have anything particularly captivating. The combination of rollicking drums and crisp acoustic guitar in So by Salt works very well. Reminding me of the band Pollyanna's style, I find it a moody and fascinating pop song.

Channelling Massive Attack in a big way is Nicolette with No Government. It works well, with the eastern influenced dub giving gives good variety to the soundtrack.

Favourite songs

Spying Glass, I Spy, Dreams, So

Worthwhile?

No. There are many albums I gladly own for four (or less) good songs. However, the albums for each of the four favourite songs are worth owning, so I should have saved my pennies for them...