Customer Reviews

American Gangster: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

... 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?

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.

This was a gift for someone...I have not taken the time to listen to it, but I have been told that its a great soundtrack from a great movie..

This was a great surprise to finally see this hit! Thank you Jay-Z for giving this to us. I'm not sure what I loved about this movie the music, the scenes or the story. I saw it on the big screen three times. For me that says a lot for a movie. I don't part with my money for movies I wait till they're on Netflix but Denzel Washington is one of my favorite actors. The movie gave me some great memories listening to some of the tunes that I listened to growing up and I knew that one No Shoes had to be the fabulous John Lee Hooker. It was killing me to figure out who that was cause you didn't see much on the music credits. I have been trying to find out who the acapella choir was that was singing when they hit the church to bust Frank Lucas. I'm not much for gospel but by golly they brought the house down. Any body out there in Amazon land know who this choir was? I wish those two songs were added to the soundtrack. When the music is great, you gotta give credit where its due no matter what the genre

I love this CD. Do You Feel Me by Anthony Hamilton was my primary reason for buying it - that song wasn't available anywhere else. After listening to the CD though I was pleasantly surprised at all the classic rock as well as some R&B mixed in. GREAT CD!

LOVE IT! Have been listening to it non-stop. From the opening "New" Song to some great "OLD" songs to the amazing instrumental songs-it is a refreshing and throughly enjoyable cd too listen too! Recommend!

I mostly bought this cd for the Anthony Hamilton joints but the throwback cuts are an added bonus. The cd met my expectation.

The movie American Gangster debuted at #1 at the box office. If you enjoyed the movie you may want to pick up the American Gangster soundtrack. The soundtrack is a compilation of the music featured in the movie. The disc opens up with the first single "Do You Feel Me," performed by Anthony Hamilton. Anthony Hamilton offers two songs on the disc. He is also featured on the song "Stone Cold."

If you've seen the movie, you know that it takes place primarily in the 1970's. Expect a soundtrack that evokes that era.

Hank Shocklee of The Bomb Squad production team (Public Enemy, Slick Rick), has three songs on the American Gangster soundtrack. The Public Enemy classic song "Can't Trust It," is also featured on the soundtrack.

The American Gangster Soundtrack features old school classics from Sam & Dave, John Lee Hooker, and the classic Staples Sisters song "I'll Take You There."

The American Gangster Soundtrack is a perfect companion to the film. The soundtrack is not to be confused with the Jay-Z album American Gangster, which isn't related to the film or the soundtrack.

This soundtrack, while missing several key songs from the film and trailer, is still a wonderful soul collection. Classics from the Staple Singers, Bobby Womack, and John Lee Hooker fit side-by-side with new tracks from Anthony Hamilton and composer Marc Streitenfeld

Two of the "missing" songs are Jay-Z's "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" from the trailer and the gospel version of "Amazing Grace." Also, don't confuse this soundtrack with the Jay-Z album of the same name!