American Gangster: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

Jay-Z, Anthony Hamilton | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Def Jam
• ASIN: B000WCDI5U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,746 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #55 in Music > R&B > Soul > Southern Soul

Editorial Reviews

American Gangster: the story of Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington, highlights the heroin drug trade of the 70's. Russell Crowe plays an ambitious detective who exposes the US government's plans to transport drugs.

The film also stars Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Djofor, Carla Gugino, Ted Levine, John Ortiz, Yul Vazquez, Roger Bart, Common, TI, and RZA.

The soundtrack album gives you a diverse introspect on the film featuring artist such as Hank Shocklee, The Staple Singers, Public Enemy and Bobby Womack. The focus single (Do You Feel Me) on the album features platinum recording artist Anthony Hamilton. The song is also written by Diane Warren, one of the most successful and prolific songwriters to ever work in the music industry.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anthony Hamilton Lover!, November 15, 2007

By 

Tonya T. Jordan (Aberdeen, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Gangster: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

I bought this cd on the first day of issue--I was very anxious for it to be released and couldn't wait to hear Anthony Hamilton's new song, "Do You Feel Me"--it's sooo good! For anyone who's never listened to his soulful music, go out and buy some of his old cd's--he's great. The other songs are really good too, "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" is another favorite. Also, I got it in two days, so I was very pleased with my purchase.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a decent enough soundtrack..., December 1, 2007

By 

Olukayode Balogun (Leeds, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Gangster: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

... but as anyone who's watched the movie will know (or anyone who knows anything about it would probably have already guessed) it's a soundtrack full of oldies and oldie-inspired new material. Nothing 21st century here, I'm afraid, so if you're not a friend of the oldies like I am, this one will probably not be for you.

But more relevantly, as many previous reviewers have already pointed out, there are some songs from the movie that do not appear on this CD. Most notable (for me) is the Bobby Bland song "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City" but luckily, I already had it somewhere else. (Specifically on Gold Digging- As, which I highly recommend, especially to any Jay-Z fans interested in where he got some of his samples from).

So I went ahead and bought it anyway, primarily for the Anthony Hamilton tunes. "Do You Feel Me" is a beautiful 70s groove by Hamilton, produced by the legendary Hank Shocklee and written by the great Diane Warren. I've always believed that Hamilton was from the wrong era and that if he had been born a couple of decades earlier, would've been absolutely huge. Or at least a lot bigger than he is now. Compliments too to Warren, who proves why she's the songwriter to go to. She captures the essence of 70s soul perfectly and Shocklee's production is the icing on the cake.

"Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" & "No Shoes" are two blues tracks by Lowell Fulson and John Lee Hooker respectively and surely Bobby Womack's "Across 110th Street" needs no introduction.

Hamilton's second contribution, "Stone Cold" is a funky little James Brown-inspired number. I Can't get enough of it at the moment. "Hold On I'm Coming" by Sam & Dave, "I'll Take You There" by The Staple Singers and "Can't Truss It" by Public Enemy also ought to need no introduction.

"Checking Up On My Baby", "Club Jam", "Railroad" and "Nicky Barnes" are all by Hank Shocklee and they range from folksy to funky but are all rooted in the blues and are all instrumental. The final two tracks "Hundred Percent Pure" and "Frank Lucas" are by Marc Streitenfeld and are typical moody atmospheric soundtrack pieces with lots of horns, strings and eerie sound effects. They round off the album nicely.

Sometimes I watch a movie and the music in it is so good, I just have to have the soundtrack. I'm not sure that's what happened here and would probably have bought this CD whether I'd seen the movie or not. To be honest, the movie wasn't really my kind of movie at the end of the day. This is definitely my kind of music though. How weird is that?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SOUNDTRACK, January 18, 2011

By 

KANDY - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Gangster: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

I ORDERED THIS BECAUSE I REALLY LOVED THE MUSIC IN "AMERICAN GANSTER"
ESPECIALLY THE CLUB SCENE MUSIC ESPECIALLY "DO YOU FEEL ME" BY ANTHONY HAMILTON. THAT SAID, I DIDN'T THINK THAT IT SOUNDED THE SAME AS THE MOVIE SO IT WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTING. MAYBE THEY HAD HIM PERFORM IT LIVE? I DON'T KNOW. BUT I GUESS IF I WANT THE SONG IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH. EVERYTHING SOUNDED A LITTLE MORE SUBDUED THAN WHAT I EXPECTED - BUT JUST A LITTLE, I STILL ENJOY THE CD.