No Chicken Dinner for You

“21” soundtrack lacks oomph of film

By Amanda Throm

While bringing back memories of the two times I saw the movie, the “21” soundtrack doesn’t quite live up to the standards the movie held.

Starting the 15-song CD with The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is a different version that what we actually hear at the beginning of the film. It’s also not the first song of the film, regardless of the version. This song has got to be one of the most re-mixed and re-edited songs I’ve ever heard. This version from Soulwax is actually pretty good, but it would have been nice had we had the song in the proper place.

“Time to Pretend” from MGMT quickly became my favorite song of the film. We’re talking perfection here. It was very synthesizer-y but it was just the right touch to the beginning of the film.

Let’s get one thing straight: clapping in a song is never cool. “Big Idea” from LCD Soundsystem came in next and I was less than enthused by the song. It was very repetitive, almost like the CD was skipping.

“Giant” by D. Sardy feat. Liela Moss was boring at best. Her voice is evocative of Bjork, which I don’t really think can ever be a good thing. The song was very bass-ey, but not so bass-tastic that it drowned out her voice.

I couldn’t remember where in the movie “Always” by Amon Tobin came. Either way I was intrigue and fascination of the Radiohead/Cloud Cult sound the song had. This song had no lyrics, which I wasn’t surprised over because it’s a movie soundtrack, but I was bored either way after a couple minutes.

“Young Folks” by Peter, Bjorn & John came next. Ahh... the whistling, is all I have to say.

Yet another annoying voice came during “Mad Pursuit” by Junkie XL feat. Electrocute. It was, again, very repetitive and I recommend that you press the forward button on this song. It was just… bad. Any other words would be giving it a compliment.

“Sister Self Doubt” by Get Shakes sounds like it would be a good song past the 30 second mark but… no. That pre-fabricated bass is ridiculously unneeded regardless of the sound they were trying to achieve.

“I am the Unknown” by The Aliens was the first song in a while that I didn’t have the uncontrollable urge to skip ahead. This song brings me back to Ben (Jim Sturgess)’s first time in Vegas. It’s very melodic and has a lot of interesting chords. The only problem with the song is the last minute or so where all that’s said is “We are The Aliens” over and over and over. Needless to say, I skipped over it.

“Shut Up and Drive” by Rhianna was perfect for the point of the movie which it appeared. I’m not a huge Rhianna fan but the song worked so perfectly with the film that it didn’t matter.

Another repetitive song came with “Alright” by Knivez Out and I skipped ahead to “Tropical Moonlight” by Domino and quickly skipped again again to “Hold My Hand” by UNKLE. To say the least, “Hold My Hand” was a lot better than the previous two songs. For some reason, this song reminded me of an early 90s song; I felt like I should have been punching the air while listening to this song.

L.S.F (Lost Souls Forever) by Mark Ronson feat. Kasabian evoked a very 90s feel again but the lyrics didn’t make a whole lot of sense. They never say the title words and the lyrics have no meaning. It’s like incoherent babbling.

The final song was “Tender Buttons” by Broadcast and while fascinating in its computerized sound, I don’t remember hearing actual lyrics to this song so much as three or four words repeated. It probably would have been better to end with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” since that was how the movie started… sort of.

If you’re thinking of buying the “21” soundtrack, don’t. Buy the movie when it comes out in a couple months. You’ll be saving a lot of money and you get to see a little more Jim Sturgess that way.