Customer Reviews

Good Morning Vietnam: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the excellent soundtrack album to the film, "Good Morning Vietnam," interspersing classic tunes from the 60's by Martha & The Vandellas, The Beach Boys, James Brown, Them (w/ Van Morisson), Louis Armstrong and others, with comedy schtick by Robin Williams' DJ character, Adrian Cronauer, taken directly from the film, so listening to the album is like listening to "The Robin Williams 60's Flashback Radio Show," so to speak. The CD's very brisk running time of 35 minutes leaves you hungry for more, and Williams' aggressive comedy approach is more likely to just make you smile rather than double over laughing, but nonetheless, the "Good Morning Vietnam" movie soundtrack is a whole lot of fun, and especially a great disc to play during those hot summer days. :-)

The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of "Good Morning, Vietnam" is exactly what you would expect it to be, a combination of Robin William's maniacal spiels as DJ Adrian Cronauer and some great music from the Sixties. The result is something not too far removed from what it would have been like to listen to Armed Forces Radio in the 'Nam way back when. The only thing missing are the announcements for staff sergeant so-and-so to check in with his command post A.S.A.P. The songs included here are not exactly what you would classify as anti-war songs, although certainly there is something ironic about "Nowhere to Run," "Liar, Liar" and "What a Wonderful World" in the context of the Vietnam War. There is also a nice mixture of big names, such as James Brown and the Beach Boys, with lesser known artists, like The Searchers, The Rivieras and Them. This actually gives this album a nice sense of authenticity because these are not wall to wall classic hits like we had with the "Forrest Gump" soundtrack. Of course you are going to get tired of William's comedy long before you want to stop listening to the music. The only question is when, but since we can program CDs to skip what we want, this is not going to be a major consideration. However, for all you Drew Carey fans, if you do not already have it, here are The Vogues doing "Five O'Clock World."

This CD gives us the original soundtrack for the motion picture entitled Good Morning Vietnam. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork couldn't be better either.

"Nowhere To Run" by The Vandellas really kicks off the major portion of this track set with a romping number that rocks and rolls very strong. They sing and play this to perfection and the percussion and drums enhance the music all the more--great! The Beach Boys also come onboard to sing their huge hit "I Get Around;" "I Get Around" has some excellent electric guitar and these guys harmonize perfectly! The handclapping works as an innovative form of percussion; I like that very much! Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders also do their "Game Of Love;" this hit remains a staple on oldies radio stations even today. "Game Of Love" gets a passionate and fiery delivery by Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders--awesome!

Robin Williams does another snippet of his character Adrian Cronauer; and Robin Williams does this very well. You can tell Williams really threw himself into the making of this motion picture. "Sugar And Spice" by The Searchers doesn't get the recognition it deserves; this is one fine tune and "Sugar And Spice" is actually one of the highlights of this album.

The Beach Boys return for their hit "Return Of The Sun;" this certainly brings back memories of dance nights at my junior high school and The Beach Boys sure do this one up right! They harmonize and play their guitars flawlessly. Listen also for the great James Brown on "I Got You (I Feel Good);" this was easily one of Brown's greatest hits ever and it's yet another major highlight of this fine CD.

"Danger Heartbreak Straight Ahead" by The Marvelettes really sounds fresh and new as it ever did; this girl group never sounded better. The Marvelettes harmonize, sing and play their percussion without a flaw--they were all THAT good.

The Vogues do their "Five O'Clock World" to perfection; and they never miss a beat! The Vogues also deserve more recognition that they receive; but hopefully as songs like this one get more exposure this group will get their much deserved credit. "California Sun" by The Rivieras has a rockin' beat that fits in so well with that '60s beat; I love it! "California Sun" is an excellent rock tune. The CD ends strong with a most touching ballad by Louis Armstrong, "What A Wonderful World." Louis Armstrong performed this ballad near the end of his life but you'd never guess it--Louis sounds so strong and passionate that you'd think he was a young man again! The strings greatly enhance the melody of this number.

Overall, the CD soundtrack from the movie Good Morning Vietnam has a plethora of marvelous hits and tunes by the best of the best in the music industry. I highly recommend this CD for fans of movie soundtrack CDs; and people who enjoy the artists on this album are bound to want this in their collections.

Director Barry Levinson seems to have a knack for picking popular songs that truly add to his films (see RAIN MAN and DINER for more proof). This collection, chock full of great oldies like I GET AROUND, FIVE O'CLOCK WORLD, and WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD, is made even better by the often humorous dialogue (spoken by Robin Williams) interspersed throughout. This is one of Williams' better performances and this disc gives fans a funny and sometimes touching reminder of his unique talent.

A great soundtrack for the music and times of the period. A must for any veteran who served overseas and remembers Armed Forces Radio and how they made it bearable for all of us. Robin Williams does a great job as Air Force jock Adrian Cronauer. What I thought was a special treat were the song selections. It is all good music without the typical Hollywood 60's same old/same old. A different blend of tunes with such hits as "Game Of Love" by Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, "Liar, Liar" by The Castaways, "Baby Please Don't Go" by Them, and of course the timeless classic "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Satchmo Armstrong. If you listened to AFN-Vietnam, AFKN-Korea, or any of the numerous juke joints across Europe then this soundtrack is for you. Enjoy!

If you're a fan of this movie, I suggest you buy the film, don't be tempted to buy the soundtrack. To be fair, there are some good songs on the CD but most lose their listening appeal very quickly. The Robbin Williams audio clips are good, but again, if you're a fan of Robin, you should buy one of his many films or some of his standup material tapes/videos.

Terrific soundtrack - a mix of Robin Williams' performance as Vietnam-era DJ Adrian Cronauer, plus some of the better (and not as well-known) 60's songs, such as "Sugar & Spice", "Game of Love" and my personal favorite, "Five O'Clock World". Most pop-oriented soundtracks are just a collection of pop songs; this one has one terrific bonus: Robin Williams.

There is a song list on this page with 24 songs however these are NOT the songs on this CD! Look at the image of the CD case - there is a song list on the backside starting with "In the year 2525". These are the songs that are really on this CD. Some of the songs are OK but only 6 of the songs on the web page list are on the CD so it is not as good as I thought it was going to be when I ordered it.

I've been looking for that "It's Alright" song from the movie for a long time now, and have finally discovered out who did it. I don't know who (or what) Adrian Cronauer was referring to in the movie when he said "Dawn Breakers" (or was it Busters?), but the song in question is by Adam Faith, off his "On The Move/Faith Alive!" album. The title is in fact "It's Alright". Enjoy! Chris D.

I bought this because I loved the movie. I like the songs and the comedy interspersed is OK. The sound quality is quite poor though.