VARIOUS ARTISTS: Cruel Intentions Motion Picture Soundtrack (Virgin Records)
Cruel Intentions proves to be the most refreshing, boldest soundtrack of the year. It goes where many soundtracks are afraid to go (namely Varsity Blues, Godzilla, and The Faculty), abandoning the traditional and redundant structure of big-name bands playing b-sides or outtakes that couldn’t make it on their own albums.
Instead of an awkward compilation of second-rate songs, Cruel Intentions survives as a diverse, fulfilling album that has both the brashness and integrity to create a forum for new and unknown acts breaking through. It features no big name acts with the exceptions of Marcy Playground, the Verve and Counting Crows. What it lacks in talent on some of the weaker individual songs (Craig Armstrong’s This Love and Bare Jr.’s You Blew Me Off), it compensates with its creativity that serves as more of a sampler than as a flowing album.
Cruel Intentions also deserves praise for its commitment to stick to the true intention of a motion picture soundtrack — to provide an album with songs actually used in the movie. This standard is what differentiates mediocre albums with music inspired by the movie from potent projects like 1995’s Empire Records.
The director and producers of Cruel Intentions also deserve kudos for their selection of the songs and effective placement of them in different scenes. Most notable was the use of Counting Crows’ airy, beautiful piano ballad Colorblind in the climactic “escalator scene.” Colorblind, from Adam Duritz and company’s forthcoming release tentatively titled This Desert Life, gives listeners a pleasant taste of what to expect from the band.
Another track featured from an upcoming album is Abra Moore’s Trip On Love, a catchy pop jingle reminiscent of her smash hit Four Leaf Clover. Her scratchy vocals are both seductive and enticing, blending nicely with the many varieties of vocal stylings of her female counterparts on the album. Kristen Barry’s Ordinary Life and Aimee Mann’s You Could Make A Killing, both serene, acoustic-based songs, feature deep vocals.
The soundtrack’s best female-dominated effort is that of Skunk Anansie, a band led by Skin, whose vocals resemble the Icelandic enchantment of Bjork yet are packed with the angst and range of Alanis Morissette. Their contribution, Secretly, is a complex, multilevel piece with superb accompaniment.
Other efforts should not go unnoticed. Marcy Playground’s psychedelic, guitar-driven Comin’ Up From Behind indicates that there may just be life after Sex and Candy. Fatboy Slim’s techo-based radio phenomenon Praise You and Blur’s acoustic, methodically calm Coffee & TV show that the Brit-rock quartet can do more that “woohoo.” The majority of bands found on Cruel Intentions aren’t thrown into rotation on U.S. radio stations each time they release a song. This soundtrack shows that there is a great deal of talent beyond the Top 20 charts.
