Customer Reviews

Love Jones: The Music (1997 Film)

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is one of the very few soundtracks that from beginning to end you get nothing but quality music. Sometimes, in the making of a soundtrack, a label gets caught up in trying to get an all star cast of artists, then it takes away from the qulaity of music on the soundtrack and a lot of times the songs have nothing to do with the movie. It's just an effort to sell units, so to speak. The "Love Jones" soundtrack is a perfect example of what a soundtrack should be. Few soundtracks have been able to match the intensity of this soundtrack. It starts off with a spoken word, by Darius, (Larenz Tate) taking the actual excerpt from the movie. This is an excellent way to start a soundtrack. After that things only get better with one of the best songs on this collection, "Hopeless" by Dionne Farris. Although, this song may be depressing to some people, it's a brilliant example of what the movie "Love Jones" is about and the song actually relates to the two main characters, Darius and Nina. Things only get better after this song: One of the breakthrough songs of Lauryn Hill's solo career, "The Sweetest Thing" is also featured on this soundtrack. This song and "Killing Me Softly" on The Fugees' "The Score" CD had people anxiously awaiting a Lauryn Hill solo project. Other quality performances are given by Maxwell, "Sumthin' Sumthin' Mellosmoothe (Cut)", Groove Theory, "Never Enough", and by The Brand New Heavies with "I Like It". If you like good, quality r&b and jazz music, then this is the soundtrack for you. You'll also enjoy the spoken words taken from the movie.

This is bringing back loads of memories for me. I remember when the movie came out and I remember the first time I heard the soundtrack some 8 years ago and being blown away by it. Ah, college dayz! The movie had a sexy vibe to it and there was definitely good chemistry with Nia Long and Larenz Tate. And hey, these were the times when Bill Bellamy was popular!

The CD starts out with a Tate's poem from the movie, lyrically 'impressing' Nia Long's character. But then it's followed up with one of my favorite songs that to me captures how you feel when despite how hard you try, you fall in love - "Hopeless". The music, the words, the arrangement is great in it's simplicity. That cut's followed up with Lauryn Hill's "Sweetest Thing", which is nostalgic to me because it was before her wildly popular solo debut album would come out in 1998. Remember Xscape? Well they feature here with "In the Rain", a decent enough track but not the strongest of highlights for the album. Other than "Hopeless", that title is reserved for "Inside My Love" and "You Move Me". "Inside My Love" is redone off of the old Minnie Ripperton version from the mid seventies, and IMO Trina Broussard did a very good job with it. But still Minnie's version sends chills up and down my spine. Meanwhile Cassandra Wilson's "You Move Me" features her rich, deep voice with a soulful smooth and slow snap. The CD winds out with a poem recited by Nia Long from the movie, but that is preceeded by one of Coltrane's best "In a Sentimental Mood", which fits the full atmosphere of the film.

I definitely recommend this CD. 8 years later it's stood the test of time. It shows how beautiful music can come together if the general sense of a soundtrack and compilation fit. The vibe of the album is a bit darker, but also very sensual and romantic and it's music that you can feel. Being that a theme of the movie was expression and deepness in words, no doubt that was transferred into this very deep cd. I wouldn't put this in if you're looking to snap out of a bad mood or being down. But... it's perfect for those times when you are on the cusp of either euphoria or heart-ache.

The song playing during the Wild Hare Club scene is Charles Cameron's "I will never stop loving you." Google him to purchase.

This hands down is my favorite soundtrack. I am on my 2nd copy and I absolutely love it. Songs like 'Sweetest Thing,' 'In a Sentimental Mood,' 'Sumthin' Sumthin': Mellosmoothe,' and 'Girl' make this the best CD to chill with a glass of wine or clean the house to I love it

Hello I cannot see why anyone would give this album anything but *****. This was hands down one of the best soundtracks of the 90's to groove to. Its perfect for a cocktail party, making love or just enjoying yourself. Even thought this album is more than 7 years old it still sounds refreshing . I cannot find another soundtrack to come close. I highly recommend this album to many great songs to miss out on .

I rented this movie last month and just had to purchase the soundtrack to prolong the good memories. This CD is worth its price for Darius' Poem alone. Let me tell you, if any man ever laid a rap like that on me I would just about swoon.

Now I'm a child of hip hop and love that whole scene, but sometimes I want to chill with something mellow. Not that vulgar bump and grind drivel, but music that seduces your soul. This CD definitely provides that with a variety of neo soul, Jazz and R&B selections. This music is sexy without being explicit and conveys yearning without whining. As Erykah Badu would say "This is grown folks' music."

Maxwell's "Sumthin, Sumthin" remix is lush, languid and sultry. That falsetto is achingly sweet. Lauryn Hill is excellent, as usual, on "The Sweetest Thing." I'm feeling her lyrics about conflicted love that you can't explain,ignore or will away. And I like variety provided by the uptempo groove of "I Like It" by the Brand New Heavies. If you enjoy good music, you can't go wrong with this selection.

There are 3 words that best describe this CD, EXCELLENT! BEAUTIFUL! OUTSTANDING! Can someone tell me why other producers and record labels can't get the point? To anyone who have not heard this CD, beleive me,YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR MISSING! Case in point, it is now four months into the year 2000, this album is now 3 years old and my review, I PROMISE YOU, will stand until the next 100 or 200 years to come. I absolutely loved this album, and the movie is just the BOMB! But it's just a shame that our own people refuse to give OUR movies the support it deserves. It should have been much bigger than what it was, and actually that also goes for the CD as well. Both deserved it's share of Grammies and Oscars and whatever else is out there. But I don't want to get political, at least from the reviews that I've read, it's nice to know that someone feels the same way as I do about the whole concept this album has to offer. From R&B to Jazz it has what all of us old school listeners (and some of you teenyboppers with a little old school in you blood) to really lay back and enjoy. As I was going to say earlier, why can't some of these record producers and record labels take a lesson from this CD, when a good quality (and I do mean QUALITY) African-American motion picture comes around, this album should always be on someones shelf or CD rack for referral. It has everything you can want in a Motion Picture Soundtrack without the cursing,rapping,bragging garbage some people call music, that MOST R&B music producers always feel that this is what we always need or want to listen to. Well, I've wrote a little more than I thought I would, without really going in to telling you how great every last cut on this album truly is, but my last words I will leave you with will be the same ones I gave for my Maxwell Urban Hang Sweet review, DO NOT, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT LET THIS CD PASS YOU BY. You can best beleive, you will be sorry.

I bought this CD what seems like a million years ago, but it's still one of my favorites. How could it not be with talent like Lauryn Hill, Cassandra Wilson, Me'shell Ndegeocello, and Maxwell? It can be hard to find a good CD to go along with the movie, but whoever put this together did an excellent job of matching the mood of the music to the mood of the movie. There are a couple of tracks that don't do it for me, in particular "Baby Girl" and "I've Got a Love Jones," but this CD is overall a great mellow listen. It has a good mix of jazz, r&b, sex, love, it's like a great night out at a lounge and never fails to make me feel good. "You Move Me," the track sung by Cassandra Wilson is probably my favorite, listen to the lyrics and the richness of her voice and you'll know why, but so many of the tracks vie for that title every time it gets a listen. If you're a lover of jazz or r&b or just great music, get this CD.

For those that are sick and tired of buying a soundtrack to a movie only to find out that 1)your JAM from the movie is missing or 2)the songs on the soundtrack don't have JACK to do with the movie, you are in for a welcome surprise with this disc. The Love Jones soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks to ever accompany a film. The music matched the movie to a T and it is all captured here for your listening pleasure. What I love the most is that the spoken word pieces from the film are included on the soundtrack as well. This is the perfect CD when you are in chill mode.

Refreshingly devoid of tired 'lick u up, stroke u down' songs, "Love Jones" paints a picture of black love in the 90's that is actually more on target than most of the garbage passing for R&B these days. Since I typically tend to be longwinded, I'll focus on my favorites: Maxwell's slooooowww remake of his 1996 hit "Sumthin, Sumthin" literally oozes from the speakers and features his best falsetto ever. Trina Broussard's treatment of Minnie Riperton's classic "Inside My Love" is a tender, beautiful tribute, (I only wish all the band personal were listed because the drumming on this track is awesome). Xscape make a tightly harmonized remake of "In The Rain" shimmer with thier close vocal interplay. The album's true crowning moment, however is Cassandra Wilson's stripped down, acoustic jazz masterwork "You Move Me". Singing deeper than ever, Ms. Wilson lets the yearning sexual desire unfold slowly over the course of this piece, while the upright bass, bongos, gently plucked guitar, piano and strings coaxe her along to this song's quiet ending. Cassandra has a real knack for getting it just right everytime and "You Move Me" is no exception. Perfect. The remainder of "Love Jones" is a joy to listen to featuring glimmering contributions from Kenny Lattimore, Meshell N'dege O'cello with Marcus Miller, Cassie, Groove Theory and Dionne Farris. Overall, I found this soundtrack a joy from start to finish,and the pieces by The Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra (a wondrous reading of Billy Eckstine's "Jelly Jelly"), and the Coltrane standard "In A Sentimental Mood" are flawless. This is perfect mood music. I dare you, try having a candlelight dinner without it!