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Cat People Soundtrack |
The full length version opens with a long eerie buildup. Bowie's resonant voice enters, measuring each word. The verse simmers, then explodes with a roar into the chorus. You can feel the barely contained passion in every note, pounding jungle drums oozing that snarling animal instinct with every thump. The rest of this album is standard Giorgio Moroder soundtrack material.
The full six and a half minute title track is included on the 4CD reissue of the Sound+Vision box set. A slightly shorter version is available on many versions of the compilation Best Of Bowie.
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David Bowie songs on this soundtrack:
- Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
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Christiane F. Soundtrack |
Another nice touch is that, if you're a completist, this collection includes the single version of Stay, to be found on no other album, and an edited version of TVC15. The edit of TVC15 is kludgy, and the resurgence of the chorus at the end reeks of the studio pots being turned up manually. This edit is a few seconds shorter than the single edit now available on The Singles compilation. The tracks in this collection were largely selected from Bowie's Berlin period.
| Christiane F. Soundtrack | |
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V-2 Schneider TVC-15 (edited version) "Heroes" / Helden Boys Keep Swinging Sense Of Doubt |
Station To Station (live) |
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The Falcon And The Snowman Soundtrack |
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David Bowie songs on this soundtrack:
- This Is Not America
(with the Pat Metheny Group)
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Absolute Beginners Soundtrack |
Two Bowie tunes among the ten here. While the title track is two and a half minutes longer than the single version available elsewhere, the extra couple minutes alone don't merit purchase. The second Bowie track, That's Motivation, reeks of Broadway schmaltz. Perhaps it suited the context of the film (subtitled "the musical"), but removed from the world of celluloid it's one of those collectible Bowie tracks that you listen to once. Since this full-length 8:00 version of Absolute Beginners is now available as a bonus track on the Virgin reissue of Tonight, this soundtrack is more superfluous than super.
As for the other artists here, any soundtrack with Ray Davies (Quiet Life) gets an extra ten points and a Little Debbie snack cake in my book. The late Slim Gaillard, of Cement Mixer (Putti Putti) fame (don't worry kids, this was before your time, and before mine too for that matter) brightens up this jumble with his saucy Selling Out. Sade shows up to do her Sade thing, and the rest of the collection is rounded out with a batch of new wave forgettables and soundtrack instrumentals.
If you've got the European version of this soundtrack you'll get 18 tracks, including a third Bowie number. You know the old Dean Martin or Domenico Modugno ballade italiano, Volare? I can only imagine what Mr. Bowie's performance must sound like. Me, I'm holding out for Hey Brother, Pour The Wine!
Update: Most versions of the compilation Best Of Bowie include the 5:35 single edit of the song Absolute Beginners.
| Absolute Beginners Soundtrack |
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David Bowie - Absolute Beginners Sade - Killer Blow Style Council - Have You Ever Had It Blue? Ray Davies - Quiet Life Gil Evans - Va Va Voom David Bowie - That's Motivation Eighth Wonder - Having It All Working Week - Rodrigo Bay Slim Gaillard - Selling Out Jerry Dammers - Riot City |
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Labyrinth Soundtrack |
The best number here is an instrumental which draws upon As The World Falls Down; Home At Last is a delicately pretty theme crystalline in its beauty. You might expect to find it on a tape of Christmas music.
Six Bowie songs here? Welllll...Underground opens and closes the album, so it's more like five Bowie songs. But wait, Chilly Down is performed by Smurfs or whatever those fuzzy Jim Henson things are, so that makes four. The best Bowie contribution, As The World Falls Down is now a bonus track on the Virgin rerelease of Tonight, and then there were three: Underground, Magic Dance and Within You. Without this. As in, these tracks are okay, but unless you're sentimental about the film, you can sleep at night without this.
Update: Believe it or not there's a remix of Magic Dance available on the Club Bowie collection of remixes.
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David Bowie songs on this soundtrack:
- Opening Titles including Underground
- Magic Dance
- Chilly Down
(written by Bowie, performed by Muppets) - As The World Falls Down
- Within You
- Underground
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Real Cool World Soundtrack |
Update: This song is now available as the leadoff track on CD 2 of the Black Tie White Noise reissue.
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David Bowie songs on this soundtrack:
- Real Cool World
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Showgirls Soundtrack |
Update: This soundtrack version has grown on me over time. The Bowie song suffers from the company it keeps in this collection. It's a much more attractive date once you pluck it from this crowd of slouching, ill-complected friends.
I'm Afraid Of Americans was reworked for the Earthling album. The CD single has yet another half-dozen mixes by Trent Reznor.
| Showgirls Soundtrack |
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Prick - Animal David Bowie - I'm Afraid Of Americans The Young Gods - Kissing The Sun Siouxsie & The Banshees - New Skin My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Wasted Time Possum Dixon - Emergency's About To End No Doubt - You Can Do It Xavier - Purely Sexuel (sic) Killing Joke - Hollywood Babylon Freaks Of Desire - Beast Inside Scylla - Helen's Face My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Somebody New David A. Stewart - Goddess "Andrew Carver" - Walk Into The Wind |
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Basquiat Soundtrack |
The Bowie contribution, A Small Plot Of Land, has its origin in the Outside album from a couple years ago. This stripped down edit uses the same recording as Outside but drops most of the instruments in favor of a mix comprised mostly of Bowie's voice and the solemn synthesizer track. The song is also shortened to about half its original length.
As presented here, A Small Plot Of Land is Bowie's most funereal song. If you happen to hear this soundtrack version first, you'll definitely want to hear the fuller version from Outside, it's a whole 'nother ball of acrylic.
The rest of the collection veers toward the gloomy but doesn't completely take the dive into the roadhouse outhouse. It seems like every generation of adolescents needs its own go-round with the dickless beatnik fallacy of "he was so beautifully full of pain", and you'll get a sense of that on this CD, especially on the track that loops a call Basquiat makes to the suicide hotline. While the interplay reveals abrasiveness, competitiveness and humor, once it starts seeming like a manipulative ploy by Basquiat to get attention, it becomes one of those tracks you program out.
If you can live with the suicide hotline, you should be able to get past any remaining strands of self-pity in the rest of this collection. Fortunately the soundtrack bounces back quite nicely with Grandmaster Flash's White Lines as the next track.
The only weak cuts in this collection are covers. Somebody's remake of Artists Only doesn't measure up to the Talking Heads' original (Note: my boo-boo, however appropriate - the Talking Heads cover is I'm Not In Love), and the collection bottoms out with P.J. Harvey's one-color pity party of Leiber-Stoller's Is That All There Is?. Where the sophisticated Peggy Lee gave this song depth with several competing emotions to make this one of
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her all-time classics, P.J. Harvey burbles out a morose boo-hoo like a sandbox queen put on TV probation for peeing the bed. This is where ten years of whining alternativos hit bottom.
On the other hand, the Bob Dylan cover by Them is a classic and blends well with the variety of musical artists featured here. The rest of this collection includes memorable strokes from Public Image (Public Image), Tom Waits and others. |
 as Andy Warhol In Basquiat. |
Note: Apologies for spending an undue amount of time on the two or three weak cuts on this CD, this really is a good collection. Regretfully I admit that my brand new copy of the CD has been in storage where I don't have access to it for a few weeks, and the cuts that stood out most in my mind as I was writing this were the best and the worst.
| Basquiat Soundtrack |
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Van Gogh Boat Public Image Ltd. - Public Image Them - It's All Over Now, Baby Blue Nick Marion Taylor - Suicide Hotline Toadies - I'm Not In Love P.J. Harvey - Is That All There Is? GrandMaster Flash and Melle Mel - White Lines Tripping Daisy - Rise Joy Division - These Days Brian Kelly - She Is Dancing Tom Waits - Tom Traubert's Blues David Bowie - A Small Plot Of Land Pogues - Summer In Siam Gavin Friday - The Last Song I'll Ever Sing John Cale - Hallelujah |
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Lost Highway Soundtrack |
To split hairs, this isn't the version on that Bowie album. They took the song, chopped it in half, pumped up the bass so it has a delicious thunder to it, faded out the first half, put it at the beginning of the soundtrack, plunked the back end at the end of the soundtrack and started it up again with Bowie a capella. The song fades back in and after a couple of minutes, the soundtrack is over.
My favorite moments belong to the film music of Angelo Badalamenti. He mixes a savory blend of sixties era film music and cool instrumental mood music that you'd want to listen to. Are those James Bond trumpets? I have been getting really tired of hearing saxophones lately, but Mr. AB sees how to use them to a fresh, yet non-tired neo-post-retro-modernist effect. Slightly woody, with rich insinuations of nutty overtones, probably like the characters in the film. Yessir, it takes an artist to inform you that it wasn't the saxophone you were tired of.
There are bait tracks by popular young candidates for American Bandstand - Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor solo (what's the matter, did he break up with himself?), Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson. Then there's some hairy-assed growler named Rammstein who communicates full throttle Deutschland Uber Angst. No, angst isn't the word for it. Whatever it is, he needs to get the heavy sausage out of his diet and lighten up on the greasy foods. He doesn't sound very happy.
Oh yes, under the covers: you get Lou Reed doing his take on the old, who was it, the Drifters? Anyway, his name is Lou Reed and the song is This Magic Moment. Somehow I don't think that Lou would be recalling the memory of Jay and the Americans, who also covered this song. I'm afraid of things that suck. I'm afraid of Jay and the Americans.
Speaking of covers of songs by men named Jay, there's also a Marilyn Manson cover of I Put A Spell On You by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Unlike Jay and the Americans, however, Screamin' Jay Hawkins does not suck. Sounds like Marilyn is trying to outscream Screamin' Jay. Such a paradox, a fellow who is so coy and flirtatious when doing talk shows can dish out such heartfelt bile in the recording studio. Here's hoping Marilyn exacts more of this rage in person so we can see more publishers' heads spin. It's good theater, you know?
To round things out, your instrumental playlist for this film includes Insensatez by Antonio Carlos Jobim (he's also on the Ice Storm Soundtrack). He's Brazilian and I think the song title translates as "Prolong". Frank Sinatra did a vocal rendition of this back in the sixties, accompanied by Mr. ACJ himself. There are also a couple of numbers by some guy named Barry Adamson, one of which borrows from the sixties pop song Spooky. More apropos for a David Lynch film than Casper The Friendly Ghost I suppose.
| Lost Highway Soundtrack |
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David Bowie - I'm Deranged (edit) Trent Reznor - Videodrones; Questions Nine Inch Nails - The Perfect Drug Angelo Badalamenti - Red Bats With Teeth Angelo Badalamenti - Haunting & Heartbreaking The Smashing Pumpkins - Eye Angelo Badalamenti - Dub Driving Barry Adamson - Mr. Eddy's Theme 1 Lou Reed - This Magic Moment Barry Adamson - Mr. Eddy's Theme 2 Angelo Badalamenti - Fred & Renee Make Love Marilyn Manson - Apple Of Sodom Antonio Carlos Jobim - Insensatez Barry Adamson - Something Wicked This Way Comes (edit) Marilyn Manson - I Put A Spell On You Angelo Badalamenti - Fats Revisited Angelo Badalamenti - Fred's World Rammstein - Rammstein (edit) Barry Adamson - Hollywood Sunset Rammstein - Hierate Mich (edit) Angelo Badalamenti - Police Trent Reznor - Driver Down David Bowie - I'm Deranged (reprise) |
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The Ice Storm Soundtrack |
But part of the problem here is that in spite of the way the soundtrack flows, it still doesn't hang together. Sammi Smith's Help Me Make It Through The Night on the same platter as Bobby Bloom's carribbean-flavored Montego Bay, Traffic's late sixties AOR and, again, Frank Zappa....no. All good songs but, well, no, it just doesn't hang. The only serious klunker on the collection is thankfully embalmed at the end of the disk; Mr. Big by Free is the epitome of everything wrong with a whole generation, guitar jams like this are just toe jam.
As for Bowie, his version of "I Can't Read" is even more affecting than the one from Tin Machine. It's got that acoustic taste which a number of Bowie's "extra" tracks like this have had lately ("Heroes", "Dead Man Walking"). It fits very well on the soundtrack, seemingly tailored for this very collection; whether it was or not I don't know. The mood set by the two opening tracks from the original score suits the Bowie number perfectly.
Bowie's use of I Can't Read is appropriate: the person responsible for the paste up on this packaging clearly can't spell. When was the last time you picked up a professional package that had a typo on it? (O Gande Amor...what, Mahatma?) Chalk it up to another casualty of the public school system.
For my money the oldie that suckered the dollars out of my wallet was the smooooth, succulent Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose hit from 1972, Too Late To Turn Back Now. Harry Nilsson's lovably demented Coconut from that same year is also a plus ("put the lime in the coconut"....), but you'd do better to get the whole album that it originally appeared on, Nilsson Schmilsson. Ditto for the Zappa tune; his most recognizable tunes are compiled on Strictly Commercial.
| The Ice Storm Soundtrack |
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Original Score - Shoplift Original Score - Finale David Bowie - I Can't Read Traffic - Light Up Or Leave Me Alone Frank Zappa - Dirty Love Jim Croce - I Got A Name Bobby Bloom - Montego Bay Antonio Carlos Jobim - O Grande Amor Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose - It's Too Late To Turn Back Now Sammi Smith - Help Me Make It Through The Night Harry Nilsson - Coconut Free - Mr. Big |
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Stigmata Soundtrack |
Just got the CD so haven't heard it enough to say much yet. Mike Garson's collaborating on a lot of the instrumental tracks made the difference in buying this CD vs. waiting to hear the one Bowie song on DB's next album.
The standout track is a Natalie Imbruglia number, Identify, that sounds like Beatlesque production on a James Bond theme type song, layer of glassy water upon layer of glassy water echoing and rippling, each indistinct sound swirling and merging with every other sound. I guess you could say that everything merges with the night, you know?
Update: If you're thinking of buying it for the one Bowie song, I'd say wait til it comes out on the new album hours..... After hearing a few songs from hours.... on Bowienet, I can't say the rest of what I heard sounds much like Tin Machine.
Up-Update: Time makes a difference. With half the CD being Mike Garson instrumentals, and the other half including sterling winners from Bowie and Natalie Imbruglia, this has turned into one of my favorite soundtracks on which Bowie appears.
| Stigmata Soundtrack |
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Chumbawamba - Mary Mary (Stigmatic Mix) Remy Zero - Gramarye Bjork - All Is Full Of Love David Bowie - The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell Afro Celt Sound System Featuring Sinead O'Connor - Release (edit) Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps Natalie Imbruglia - Identify Billy Corgan & Mike Garson - 11 soundtrack instrumentals |
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Moulin Rouge Soundtrack |
It could be a matter of personal taste. This soundtrack will most appeal to you if you have an infection for, I mean, an affection for show tunes. While Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor acquit themselves admirably, this is still glucose schlock polished to a high sheen. But if you take your cultural cues from what you see on TV go ahead and put this on your "Entertainment Tonight with Mary Hart" shopping list. At around $15 this CD is a much cheaper vacuum than, say, a Kirby, and it sucks just as well.
But then there's Bowie. The CD bookends with two versions of Bowie doing the Nat King Cole chestnut Nature Boy. The first version is reminiscent of the mournful A Small Plot Of Land, the stripped down version from the soundtrack of...what was it, that painter movie? The second version with Massive Attack is the one I prefer, with its added effects. Still oddly mournful considering the material.
Beck covers Bowie's Diamond Dogs. Doesn't sound anything like the original. That's a plus when doing a remake. At the same time it doesn't particularly charge my Die Hard. It's okay. The strength of the original came from its power, its hook, and the frenzied electric chaos it exuded. Beck takes a different approach, kind of like a streetcorner busker with a rhythm box and a pocket synthesizer. The Eno-esque touches on the bridge are appealing.
Bono and some other guys cover the T Rex classic Children Of The Revolution. Not bad. Sort of orchestral at times, in a good way. Uses the same voice he had on The Fly with a little less filtering.
All in all, for completists.
| Moulin Rouge |
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David Bowie Nature Boy Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink Lady Marmalade Fatboy Slim Because We Can Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, Caroline O'Connor, Natalie Mendoza and Lara Mulcahy Sparkling Diamonds Valeria Rhythm of the Night Ewan McGregor and Alessandro Safina Your Song Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer Children of the Revolution Nicole Kidman One Day I'll Fly Away Beck Diamond Dogs Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman and Jamie Allen Elephant Love Medley Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor Come What May Ewan McGregor, Jose Feliciano and Jacek Koman Le Tango de Roxanne Rufus Wainwright Compliante de la Butte Nicole Kidman, John Leguizamo and Alka Yagnik Hindi Sad Diamonds David Bowie and Massive Attack Nature Boy |
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Other David Bowie soundtracks:
- In Bertolt Brecht's Baal
- Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture
- Buddha Of Suburbia
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