So I’m sitting here listening to the Do The Right Thing Soundtrack. It is the answer to the perpetually difficult question–what’s the last album you actually bought. I actually bought this on half.com a couple of weeks ago. Why? Because I couldn’t find two of my favorite songs on here–Keith John’s “Why Don’t We Try” and Take 6’s “Don’t Shoot Me”–on download.
Now, I’m getting all nostalgic and things. Is it just me, or have there been a paltry amount of good soundtracks lately? The Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Soundtrack bangs, even though I’ve only listened to it once. Beyond that, I cannot think of another soundtrack this millennium that I purchased. Not a one. I may pick up that Garden State, though.
Am I missing something? There was a time when hip hop soundtracks were that fire. The early to mid-nineties were a gold era for that stuff. The two that immediately come to mind are Menace II Society and Who’s the Man? For the lovers in the house there were classics from Boomerang and Love Jones.
Where’s the heat, movie people? What you got for us?
And am I missing something?
Here’s why this is important to me–the dope soundtrack can pull together so many good things from so many good people, making for a dynamite compilation. Or, you can have something like Menace, which was used to showcase the sound of both a label and a region (Jive and the West Coast, respectively, though the best song on that record was “Pocket Full of Stones” by UGK).
But after a banner year of records (which I definitely will say 2005 was, the first great year for albums since I got out of college), it’s time to bring the soundtrack back. Or maybe just a good movie. Or something.
Before I go, I have to report that Sneaky Pete has torn ligaments in his ankle, rendering him unable to play for a couple of weeks. Send flowers or something.
11 thoughts on “Soundtracks, Where Hath Thou Gone?”
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Seriously, the last good soundtrack for me was the “Romeo Must Die” soundtrack. It had some quality Aaliyah/Timbaland stuff on it — before that though prolly Space Jam.
So that’s what like two really good ones in 10 years?
I swore off soundtracks in the 7th grade, when all the girls I went to school with were listening to the Cocktail soundtrack 24/7.
Does “Trapped in the Closet” qualify as a soundtrack, for that matter? There is a DVD after all, and R. sure did try to act that shit out on MTV…
Cameron Crowe’s movies can always produce a good soundtrack:
Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Say Anything
Singles
Jerry Maguire
…and his best movie soundtrack, (the ONLY one Led Zeppelin allowed for one of their songs to be on)–>
Almost Famous
Haven’t really listened to Vanilla Sky, although he has some Jeff Buckley on there and the Paul McCartney title track ain’t bad.
I’m listening to Elizabethtown and the verdict is still out.
BTW, I can recommend the Garden State Soundtrack. Good music.
…and I loved the “Love Jones” soundtrack too. Dionne Farris’ “Hopeless” is awesome!
Although it didn’t make it on the soundtrack, one of the most welcome songs I heard in a movie was Teddy Pendergrass’ “Love T.K.O.” in “Alfie.” Maaaan, that brought back some memories of makin’ out!
That Do the Right Thing soundtrack is a classic. It had everything from Al Jarreau to Take 6 to P.E. Spike usually has good soundtracks for his movies.
Its almost like the movie studios/music industry have lowered the expectations of the public for good music on soundtracks.
Have you heard the soundtracks to Superfly? or Across 110th St?
Love Jones is also a strong contender.
So is Purple Rain.
The best song on Menace II Society was Pocket Full of Stones? Please, it doesn’t even come close to Streiht Up Menace. That’s gotta be your southern bias speaking.
And no, I can’t think of any recent soundtrack that’d be worth actually buying-usually there’s one or two dope tracks and tons of wackness. But the mid-90’s had their share of wack soundtracks as well. I still have the Dangerous Minds cd somewhere. There might be like 3-4 good songs on there, and that ain’t a good average.
Slow talkin’ MC Eiht…I’m good, thanks.
What about the New Jersey Drive soundtrack? The Superfly soundtrack is the shit to me…If y’all still on some Spike Lee stuff, what about School Daze?
I also like the Kill Bill 1&2 Soundtracks
What about the New Jersey Drive soundtrack? The Superfly soundtrack is the shit to me…If y’all still on some Spike Lee stuff, what about School Daze?
I also like the Kill Bill 1&2 Soundtracks
Streight up Menace better than Pocket full of Stones?
Man please…”Streight up Menace” being better than arguably the fifth- or sixth-best UGK song ever is like saying George W. Bush would either win an episode of “Jeopardy!” or show up at the 2006 HCASC…you know either of that ain’t gon’ happen.
Only thing “Streight up Menace” had going on for it was the sample. You coulda gotten the guys from “The Ringer” to come down on a flow on that beat..The only thing Mc Eiht did good in that song was the end of each verse…
Besides, that song was just a rip-off of the lil sax solo from “Boyz N The Hood”…
Heck the “Pocket Full of Stones” version on that soundtrack wasn’t even the album version..and it’s still way better than Mc Eiht’s last good record.
Last good Eiht song? That shit came out before even We Come Strapped. He hadn’t even released his two best albums yet. This type of beat complements his style perfectly-I can’t really imagine too many other people doing it justice like that. It just summed up the spirit of the movie perfectly. And I kinda like UGK, but Pocket Full of Stones was never really anything special to me. I’d rather listen to anything on Ridin’ Dirty. Most southern cats I’ve talked with hold UGK damn near sacred, like bay cats over 20 do with Too $hort… MC Eiht is the kind of rapper you just feel or you don’t, but from the early to mid 90’s he put out a lot of quality shit, I don’t care what anyone says.
Now, if you dismiss Streiht Up Menace, I can see an argument for Pocket Full of Stones being the best track on the soundtrack, cause even though it feature a few rappers I liked (Spice 1, Too Short, Ant Banks, etc.) none of them really had great records on that soundtrack-that Spice 1 song was the weakest on his second LP to me.
PS-Check out the amazon reviews for the Menace II Society OST-compare the mentions of Streiht Up Menace to those of Pocket Full of Stones. I ain’t the only to look at it as a classic cut.
On one thing we can definitely agree–“Pocket Full of Stones” compares to nothing on Ridin’ Dirty, but that is far from an insult. Ridin’ Dirty is one of the greatest albums ever. And that beat did complement Eiht’s style well, but that’s only but so good if you don’t like Eight. Actually, that’s who things we can definitely agree on.
You know whenever I get tired of hearing people talk about how the whole south is wack and how it’s ruining hip-hop and all that nonsense, I pull out Ridin’ Dirty.
…then they go on saying the same thing, but they add “except for a few cats like UGK and Scarface”. You can’t win against biases.
Back on topic-one thing that was already a problem to me with soundtracks in the ’90s was how they always had to have a bunch of below-average R&B records mixed in. Like the Murder Was The Case OST. Unless you’re allergic to mid-90’s LA rap it’s a really solid OST, but most of its R&B tracks just bring it down. I liked the Nate Dogg song though, but that’s about it.
Agreed again. Send me an e-mail from a real addy, dude. You’re bringing enough heat to obscure that whole liking Eiht thing. All love…I like a lotta shit I’m sure you despise.
Here you go.