57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid soundtrack offers much hope for next album., April 26, 2000
This review is from: The Million Dollar Hotel: Music From The Motion Picture (2000 Film) (Audio CD)
When you're as big as U2 is, you really can take on any side project you want to and get away with it.
This time around, U2 front man Bono actually wrote the story for Winders' latest picture, "The Million Dollar Hotel," so he took a big hand in scoring it, asking friend and collaborator Daniel Lanois to help him, and the results make for pleasant listening.
The band also has contributed tracks to three of director Wim Winders' other films - "Until the End of the World," "Faraway So Close!" and "The End of Violence."
In between albums "Zooropa" and "Pop," U2 also got together with producer Brian Eno and made "Passengers: Original Soundtracks Vol. 1," a collection of soundtrack pieces for (mostly) fictional films.
The soundtrack kicks off with one of the two new U2 songs on the album, "The Ground Beneath Her Feet," although observant U2 fans will note the lyrics are not Bono's, but instead written by noted author Salman Rushdie.
Still, it's a building and soaring song in the style of "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" that proves what U2 fans have suspected for a while - if U2 has Brian Eno on one hand, it needs Daniel Lanois on the other.
U2's last album, "Pop," was a good album, but not a great one. It seemed like the songs never really stuck, and something was missing. Most likely, it was Lanois.
Both "Achtung Baby" and "The Joshua Tree" were co-produced by Lanois and Eno, and the two need each other to strike a balance of sorts between Eno's space-pop and Lanois' field guitar.
The only completely new, completely U2 song on the album is "Stateless," a quiet, brooding song that wouldn't have seemed out of place on "Zooropa." It gives one a great deal of hope for the next U2 album that's tentatively scheduled for release before the end of the year.
Speaking of "Zooropa," a song from that album, "The First Time," makes an appearance here. Twice in fact, the first time being the band's original and the second time covered by Lanois and the revolving collection of musicians referred to as "The Million Dollar Hotel Band."
This brings us to the major problem with the soundtrack - even though it's nearly an hour long, there are two different versions of "The First Time" and three different versions of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love," two of which star Milla Jovovich (who's in the movie) doing her best Nico impression. Sure, each of these songs is great in its own right, but it can get a bit repetitive.
Also on the album are a few fantastic collaborations between Bono and Lanois, including the soundtrack's centerpiece and most lovely song, "Falling At Your Feet."
Lanois' fingerprints are much more obvious on the soundtrack than Eno's, and the results mean the soundtrack is generally more of the atmospheric emptiness of "The Joshua Tree" than the bubbly techno-murmurs of "Zooropa," but the two U2 tracks stay dead smack in the middle.
All of this means that the soundtrack was really more of Lanois' project than Eno's, but they're both putting equal time in on the new album, which is always a good thing.
The soundtrack closes with nearly all of U2 (Bono playing guitar, Larry Mullen playing drums and Adam Clayton playing bass - only guitarist Edge is nowhere to be heard) with Tito Larriva and the MDH Band performing a Spanish cover of the Sex Pistols "Anarchy In the UK," adapted to "Anarchy In the USA." I kid you not. It's an upbeat way to end a mostly blue soundtrack.
Don't expect to see "The Million Dollar Hotel" coming to theaters near you any time soon, as the film does not yet have a U.S. distributor, despite sporting big-name stars such as Jovovich and Mel Gibson, but oh well, you can't win 'em all.
Now if U2 would just get in gear and finish its new album, as the soundtrack offers nothing but optimistic promises, leaving U2 fans wanting more.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
U2 fans rejoice... they're back!, March 14, 2000
This review is from: The Million Dollar Hotel: Music From The Motion Picture (2000 Film) (Audio CD)
I've been waiting quite a while for this disc. Ever since I first heard Bono would be co-writing a film with Wim Wenders, and that him and the boys in U2 would be supplying the tunes, I put it down in my "must buy" list. And it does not disappoint.
The new U2 tracks "The Ground Beneath her Feet" and "Stateless" are two beautifully melencholy pieces. "Stateless" resembles U2's "Miss Sarajevo quite a bit, and is just a gorgeous track. "Falling at your feet" is more of an upbeat tune. Bono and Danial Lanois' voices blend perfectly! The only disappointment was the recycling of old material like "The First Time", but the reprise is beautiful.
All in all, a perfect CD for U2 and soundtrack fans alike, and hopefully a taste of things to come from those Irish lads!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb night music, March 15, 2000
This review is from: The Million Dollar Hotel: Music From The Motion Picture (2000 Film) (Audio CD)
If you've never liked U2, don't let that (completely irrational and baseless ;-D) prejudice keep you away from this album: it's one of the most brilliant soundtracks of the last decade. Wim Wenders, say what you will about his films (I do), has the Midas touch with musical accompaniment; check out UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD, FARAWAY SO CLOSE! or BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB and you'll see what I'm talking about. This moody, jazzy album has two gaping flaws: 1. The songs are too short. 2. Milla Jovovich builds up a wonderful version of "Satellite Of Love," only to throw it all out of whack with a sudden cat-and-a-rocking-chair screaming jag at the end. You get used to it eventually. "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" is the little present U2 fans were waiting for before the next album (and don't let the trite lyrics by Salman Rushdie color your impressions of him; the novel upon which they're based is superb), and "Stateless" is the song to make non-U2 fans wonder. The MDH Band contributions are wonderful as well; other than Milla's little flirtation with disaster, this record is essentially flawless. The perfect CD to put on when you're awake at 4 AM and want to savor the night while it's there.
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