Customer Reviews

The Big Bounce (Score)

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This CD is all instrumental. It doesn't have any of the good songs that were in the movie!

So apparently this album dosn't have any of the goood music from the movie which is highly dissapointing. There is a cover of Steve Miller's Rock N' Me in the movie and perhaps some of you are looking for this cover. It is done by an artist Shayne Blue and the album is called Goodbye. For some reason I had a hard time trying to find the title Theodore which must be the group name. Try ... or seach amazon for Shayne Blue. The album is alright and has 3-4 good songs besides Rock N' Me.

To begin with, if you're looking for a hits summary posing as a soundtrack, The Big Bounce is definitely not the album for you. There is nothing but George S. Clinton's instrumental music for the movie on this soundtrack, so lovers of songs may as well toddle off and search for another album. The world has provided hits compilations aplenty for you, so don't despair.

Now let me provide some more directed thoughts for you soundtrack fans. I think this is something of a treat, especially if you enjoy popular Hawaiian music influences. Clinton has brought just about every stock Hawaiian instrument into the fray. Here you'll find all the popular Hawaiian sounds: the marimba, the slide guitar (in the Hawaiian style, not the country music style), the ukulele, what I assume are conch shells, male yells and all kinds of Hawaiian percussion. Thinking cheesy Brady Bunch "Hawaiian Bound" music? Don't. It's much cooler than that.

One of the most interesting facets of this album for me is how the instruments are featured. And I mean featured. The melodies are traded off between various instruments including the aforementioned and you can usually hear the featured instrument quite clearly while other instruments fade into the background or sit waiting for their chance to carry the tune. Sometimes it's the uke giving way to the violins passing off to an oboe or a flute and so on. Occasionally (this is the part I really like), we get several instruments each playing their own tune. There are at least five instruments, each playing a separate melody, in the "fun part" of the ending track Sail Away. (Note: I am counting the drums which have a melody unto themselves). The different melodies weave in and out, enter and leave and just make for a fun piece of music.

In total, there have to be at least a dozen different themes in this music. I guess this is appropriate when there are 23 different tracks. I was tempted to list them all, but the album is far too laid back in tone for regimentally listing such things (and I am far too lazy). So let me sum up with some basics and let those of you interested discover the layers and melodies for yourselves.

I basically split the music into three styles: First, there are the fun tropical themes (Big Bounce Main Title, Keiki Vista, Moonlight, Swimming, etc.) Some of these are bouncy (heh), fun tunes and some are lazy, laying at the beach sorts of tunes. Second, you have the slightly mischievous, something going on beneath the surface music (the appropriately named Better Not, The Bitches, Untitled, Up to Something, Which Bitch? (which adds a cool string response to Better Not, etc.)) Third, we're given the sneaky, underhanded themes (Glass Jaw, Chinaman's Hat, The Show, The Bounce, The Con, etc.) Both the sneaky and mischievous music often feature a bass sax as a central player. This is really noticeable and reminds me, for whatever reason, of the odd, somewhat out-of-place music for À Bout de Souffle which is used when Michel is doing underhanded sorts of things. It's probably a stretch, but it's just my impression.

Of course, these three basics are occasionally intertwined, the sneaky, the mischievous and the fun - probably because the movie essentially tries to present that image (Although not altogether that successfully IMO. Most people would probably say that this movie is mediocre at best). Fortunately I think the music is better than the movie. (Which is rare occurrence in my book.)

While this is one of those rare albums I can easily listen to beginning to end and enjoy quite well, I have several favorite tracks. These include the fun Hawaiian Keiki Vista, the sneaky/sincere Upstairs/Downstairs and the oddly touching A Kiss for Luck. Let me (try to) briefly explain why I like each to give you a taste of the music.

Keiki Vista - This is basically a more complex reworking of the Big Bounce Main Title with all the "Hawaiian" male voices, conch shell blasts and such removed. It begins with the ukulele adding the four note piano downbeats which has a very droll sound. Woodwinds bring a third theme in. This eventually gives way to a swell of strings backed by Hawaiian percussion, the slide guitar and that cool bass sax. A bit of that, then back to the original, simpler theme - back and forth a few times. This is finally broken up by the entrance of a really rapid-paced marimba/bass sax/percussive thing with strings. That just sort of winds down as the instruments separate leaving on a somewhat melancholy note.

Upstairs/Downstairs - This starts off with simple Hawaiian sounding bass marimba adding the ukulele and slide guitar. It gives way to a violin orchestration with a dominant flute representing the (er, innocent?) playfulness of the girl. This sincere flute bit is what really makes this piece work well for me. We segue into that cool baritone sax representing sneakiness. The music trades back and forth between these two basic themes, building orchestration as the heroine goes up and downstairs trying to, uh, entertain two guys without them discovering each other. This provides a really interesting musical comparison/contrast of the whole innocent/sneaky thing. It ends on a blaring finish of the sneaky stuff.

A Kiss for Luck - if there is a romantic theme, this is it (There really doesn't need to be one - this movie has almost nothing whatsoever to do with romance - it's all about people using each other to get what they want.) This is a slow, piano-focused version of the girl's theme that appears in the latter part of Swimming and The Truth. It is a very soulful rendition of the music that builds as low strings enter and swell. It moves towards an up note - which it tries to hold somewhat hopefully. Unfortunately, this is not the girl's movie and the note just fades off into the distance.

My biggest complaint is that no track on this album is longer than 2 minutes 30-some seconds. This makes the album length something like 35 minutes. Several of the tracks are very similar and could have been easily combined and fleshed out to make for a better listening experience IMO. But I don't get the impression that Clinton really operates that way. (Just as I find that, while longer, most of his Austin Powers tracks are choppy to match whatever is going on on-screen. )

It's well worth a listen if you like jazzy, sneaky Caribbean-style music (and who doesn't?). If you really want to know what this album is all about, listen to the tracks here on Amazon. You'll hear half the track in some cases and can easily see if you like it.

We really have enjoyed some of the one-liners from this beautifully filmed comic-caper movie. The scenery and music are definitely highlights of the movie. I love that Willie Nelson has a cameo role! IF you're in the mood for a slightly mysterious comedy with some twists at the end, this is the movie.