Customer Reviews

Music From the Motion Picture Josie And The Pussycats

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a really great soundtrack, to start. The songs are an interesting mix of pop, rock, and punk, and they are all entertaining to listen to. Now, the girls that play the Pussycats in the movie aren't the ones responsible for the music on this CD; the band Letters to Cleo is. Anyways, back to the album. The best track is probably "Three Small Words," the theme to the movie. It's a fun-filled, girly, punk-rock melody that's easy to fall in love with and hard to tire of. Other listen-worthy tracks include "Pretend to be Nice," "Spin Around," and "I Wish you Well." Anyone who likes the sounds of Blink 182, No Doubt, Veruca Salt, or Fenix TX will surely find something on this record that pleases them. The songs are ear-pleasing and fun to sing along to. It's definitely worth the money you'll pay for it. Enjoy!

This soundtrack simply features songs from the two fictious bands in the movie, most predominantly "Josie and the Pussycats". In reality, this band consists of Kay Hanley (of the Boston-based band Letters To Cleo) singing over a tight trio of guitar, bass, and drums. No orchestras, no over-production, no fancy synths: just simple yet well-written, melodic pop/punk. The writing and production notes include big names like Babyface, Matthew Sweet, and Adam Schlesinger (who I think won a Grammy for his music in "That Thing You Do"). And there's even a cover of the theme song from the original cartoon show. My only complaint is that Kay is mentioned nowhere on the outside of the CD; almost everything is credited to "Josie and the Pussycats". That's cute and all, but I don't know why they just didn't write "vocals by Kay Hanley" or similar on the front or back cover, even in tiny letters. The other musicians are credited, but there's no indication in the entire booklet of who did which tracks.

Keep in mind that this is a movie soundtrack, so there is inevitably more than one artist featured on the CD. This brings me to the second band from the movie, the ficticious heart-thob boy band "Du Jour". The two tracks of theirs sound extremely stereotypical and lame, but that's exactly the point. Anybody who's seen the movie (or knows what "Du Jour" means) will get the joke. They intentionally portray a flash-in-the-pan fluff band in the movie. And the lyrics to "Back Door Lover" include some funny X-rated puns.

So aside from these two tracks, the rest of the album is rather consistant in its style. You might find yourself humming to the really catchy hooks all day long. Needless to say, this soundtrack has become a near permanent addition to my car's CD holder.

Ok--I'm a HUGE fan of teen-oriented movies. So basically, when I saw the previews for "Josie and the Pussycats," I was overjoyed. Its really uncommon to see a heterosexual 18 year old guy who loves Pop music and teen flicks, but I'm right here in the flesh! The music on this soundtrack ROCKS!! When I heard "3 small words" on the preview, I fell in love! But the music sounded really familiar. Reason being: Kay Hanley (lead of the now extinct band Letters To Cleo) sings the voice of Josie! I don't own a Letters to Cleo album, but I have the Jawbreaker soundtrack, and its packed with their tunes. The "Josie..." soundtrack is now my favorite CD. Its awesome. Not a single complaint! Every song on this CD is just....WOW! My favorites are 3 Small Words, Spin Around, You Don't See Me, Real Wild Child, and Josie and the Pussycats. The Dujour songs are actually not bad at all. By reading other reviews, I thought that those 2 songs would really suck, but I like 'em!! To like CD, you don't have to be a fan of Josie and the Pussycats. You don't even have to enjoy the movie. All you have to do it enjoy great music.

If you loved the Josie Movie then I pretty much figure you will love this soundtrack. Although, I find myself skipping over the Dujour songs everytime I hear it, it's a great CD!
Kate does a great match up with Rachel's voice! It's unbelievable, but the echoing is annoying. I would say that this is rock CD.
Here's the break down:

1. 3 Small Words
This song is really good. It's about a girl waiting for a guy to tell him that he loves her but he's too late. Currently, I am trying the tabs on my guitar.

2. Pretend to Be Nice
The beginning is funny and good. I don't like the weird way they say 'Pretend to Be Nice' it's been sythasized some how and it's weird and annoying.

3. Spin Around
It starts out slow like the next song but then This song makes you want to get up and go. "Spin around and around..." makes you want to get up and Spin. It makes me dizzy thinking about it. The lyrics don't make much sense to me though, oh well.

4. You Don't See Me
This song is sad and makes me think of one of my friends who has the same problem. It's perfect for Josie thinking of Alan! It's sort of mopey and slow though and I sometimes skip over it. Some of the lyrics don't make sense.

5. You're a Star
I love this song! I think it should be the theme of the movie. "Slam the door and let's tear down, the walls," that line is real good. It's a very energetic and uplifting song. They should have used for the theme of the movie because it's telling you be different and that's what the movie was about!

6. Shapeshifter
I can just imagine some guy dissing on a girl as soon as she turns her back. This song is so true! "If you thinks that cool, whatever dude," is a weird line and they keep repearting it. It gets a little annoying. Especially the "whatever" at the end.

7. I Wish You Well
This reminds me of Skater Boy from Avril Lavigne. It's a little slower than the other songs and kind of boring. "Couldn't you see through the sweat and tears? I took my bows as you confirmed all my sadest fears," is an odd line in the song. It don't really understand the point of this song, and it's definetly not one of my favorites.

8. Real Wild Child
AAAAH! No! We're going in a time machine! I hate the original 'Real Wild Child' and this one is much better, thank god! In the movie, it's the music behind a big fight scene and it fits it well. It's the original lyrics but the music is much faster.

9. Come On
This song is more mature than the others. It has the same feel to it but, "I don't wanna be a girlfriend, I'm just looking for a real good time alright, can you guarnteed me satisfaction, needs some action, gonna get it tonight," isn't something they shouldn't put in a song for this age group. The music is good though, the lyrics need to tone it down.

10. Money (That's What I Want)
Here we go back in the time machine! This is also better than the original. The music is close to the original and the lyrics are the same. The way they scream, "MONEY!" and "LOTS OF MONEY" is really interesting and different than the original that I can recall.

11. Dujour Around the World
I heard on the comentary that these were the corniest lyrics they could think of and came up with them in like 5 minutes. I could believe that. This song is really dumb when you listen to the words, "ride on your motorbike with dujour," man, these lyrics will make you laugh. Identical to a typical boy band.

12. Backdoor Lover
This is the song they played in the beginning of the movie and it always make me think of the beginning of the movie. As usual, typical boy band lyrics. Another very thought provoking song that's a little mature.

13. Josie and the Pussycats
This song is a great re-make of the original. I think it should have been in the beginning of the soundtrack though. The guitars and stuff are great in this. The lyrics are adjusted from the original with more stuff of the times now. this song is really good, i really like it. It's at the end of the movie for the credits though.

Well, that's my review for the CD. Josie and the Pussycats is my favorite movie, and if you love the movie, you will love this soundtrack. I find my self popping it into my computer off and on but not listening to it 24/7.

I am a true die-hard Josie and the Pussycats fan. I have been collecting the comics for years. The soundtrack brings the comics to life. The music from the band "From Letters to Cleo" does an amazing job of portraying these 3 lively characters from Josie and the Pussycats. The soundtrack it an excellent combination of Rock, Punk, Pop, and Girl Rock. All the songs are great whereas on many CD's only a few of the songs are good. All of the songs have a theme and the lyrics are great. The songs are great to sing along to. I have a band with one of my friends. We always begin our warmups by singing and playing the songs on this CD. There is a good mix between fast and slow songs. The best slow song in my opinion is "You Don't See Me." I find the best fast song is "Spin Around." As a huge fan of Josie and her fellow Pussycats I would recommend this CD to anyone who likes Pop, Rock, Metal, and guitar rock. I wouldn't miss out on this CD for my life. It is a knock your socks off CD and it is great for anyone at any age. Anyone who is a die hard fan like me should definitly buy the CD.

To start off, the "Josie and The Pussycats" movie was great. They didn't only work hard on the movie-but the soundtrack also. The soundtrack was edgy, cute, and awesome-just like the movie. The three girls in their band are actors Rachael Leigh Cook, and her band did a great job on the music in the movie. I didn't like the "Dejour" group, tacked on this CD, but hey, it's a soundtrack. Here's my "grades" and comments on their album (I'm not including Dejour, because I would've have gave them F's anyway):

Track #1: "3 Small Words"-A+
This was a great song to start you out with. It's more of a rock song than a pop song. Basically the main song played in the movie. Kay's voice and the guitars make it worth a listen. The lyrics are catchy, too: "3 small words/ Were way too late/Can't you see that I'm the one." It's clearly one of the best songs on the album.

Track #2: "Pretend To Be Nice"-A++
This is my favorite song on the movie and the album, in my opinion. It's got a good melody. It's about a girl who wants a boy to just "pretend to be nice" and everything in her life will be all right. At the end, they brake into 3 parts and all sing at the same time. It's very nice and blended together.

Track #3: "Spin Around"-A
This is one of the fun, summer-like songs that starts out slow and quiet and suddenly picks up the bass and the drums, and gets louder all of the sudden. I remember playing this one on my radio and my friend and I stared spinning around for the song until we were sick, lol. It's winding chorus and exciting lyrics just make you want to spin around yourself!

Track #4: "You Don't See Me"-B
This song is kind of boring compared to the other songs on this soundtrack, because it's kind of whiny and slow, and it's the only song that's like this on the soundtrack, which you often want to skip because you're pumped up from other songs such a "Spin Around." It's definitely worth a listen when you're in a bad mood, though.

Track #5: "You're a Star"-B+
Good voices, good beat, good guitars. But two main things, though: It doesn't take a genius to put "nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah yeah yeaaaaahhhhhhh" in your lyrics though. The other prob its shortness and brevity. I don't like listening to songs that seem like they're under 2 and a half minutes long.

Track #6: "Shapeshifter"-A
This is a good song to listen to. "You could say/ everything's no good / 'cuz you'll just say / what everyone else would," gets you in the mood to run around and stuff. The "whatever, dude" thing is cool too. It's good and catchy, but I have no clue what they're saying in the chorus!

Track #7: "I Wish You Well"-B+
"I wish you well/ I wish you well/ I wish myself / All of the above" I like the guitars, which makes it still worth a listen!

Track #8: "Real Wild Child"-A
This is a great song to just pump up and get out all of your energy. The guitars are good, but the lyrics aren't so good. Nice, edgy guitars.

Track #9: "Come On"-A
"Come On/ Tell me whatcha wanna do / So come on / I can't wait around for you / So come on / It's not a mess-up." This is a nice song that reminds me of the beach (don't ask, the middle sounds like something that was taken out of the 'Beach Boys'). The title is repeated way too much in the middle. They shouldn't overuse their lyrics!

Track #10: "Money"-B
Haha, I love this song. I WANT MONEY! "Give me money/ That's what I want/ Lots of money/ That's what I want." It's a remake. It's also too short. It's only something like a minute and a half long.

The stupid laughable Dejour songs, "Dejour" and "Backdoor Lover"
(No comment)

Track #13: "Josie and the Pussycats"-A
This is a song that brings you into the pussycats. "Josie and the Pussycats/ Long tails/ and ears for hats" I think that this should have been more toward the beginning of the CD since its introducing them somewhat.

I've been listening to "3 Small Words" over and over and I finally figured out why I like the chorus... it's the clever use of numbers in the lyrics. Here it is, taking some liberties with spelling:

SIX whole hours and
FIVE long days
FOUR all your lies to come undone and those
THREE small words were way
TWO late... you can't see that I'm the
ONE

As other reviews have indicated, the credits on this album are sketchy, most likely to both generate press within credible music circles and uphold the mythology of some actual Pussycats. Be that as it may, though, Kay Hanley is exactly the right person for the vocals, lending her always edgy/sweet voice to Matthew Sweet's guitars. As a lifelong Fountains of Wayne fan, my favorite track is "Pretend to Be Nice," Schlesinger's singular writing credit on the album. The covers fall flat, and the Du Jour songs are funny the first time ("Just because I like the back door, well that doesn't make me-- heeeey!"), but you'll soon find yourself skipping them. Not without its faults, this album does nonetheless showcase several great artists on some good songs.

Among all the over-hyped updates & remakes Hollywood is cranking out, JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS was a real surprise for me. With its absolutely-accurate casting (so rare in movies based on comic-books and cartoons) and the plot focusing on the gaping chasm between "manufactured singing groups" and "REAL bands", it wound up becoming my FAVORITE movie of 2001! The added surprise was how MUCH I liked the music itself. While "The Pussycats" are not a "real" band (something they share with their 1970 counterparts) this was clearly done by people who loved what they were doing, as both groups portrayed manage to capture their divergent styles perfectly.

My favorite on here are "3 Small Words" (it starts out going 100 MPH and picks up speed, without forgetting a real emotional side), "Come On" and the super-charged remake of "Josie And The Pussycats" (shades of the LOST IN SPACE film!), whose updated lyrics I got to like better than the originals!

I have no problem with the DuJour songs; only because thanks to modern technology, I've already made the disc redundant by creating my own on which I edited out those tracks while adding 17 tracks by the 1970 band from Rhino Handmade's STOP LOOK AND LISTEN: THE CAPITOL RECORDINGS disc. (Oh, the wonders of CD-writers...)

I guess I loved the movie and music so much because I've been finding REAL bands like Josie's for the last 6 years, ALL of whom are better than what you'd see on MTV. For anyone who'd like to hear more like this, check out ROCK CANDY by The Friggs (the band this film most reminds me of), PAPPY'S CORN SQUEEZIN' and ENJOY THE RIDE by Sit N' Spin, QUEEN OF THE GALAXY by The Barbarellas, NOT SO SWEET by The Bobbyteens, KITTY GLITTER by Catfight!, and the various-artists-comp, HOW MANY BANDS DOES IT TAKE TO SCREW UP A BLONDIE TRIBUTE?

I bought this CD the day it came out, as I already knew some of the songs before-hand {I was an extra in the movie when it was filmed in Vancouver}.... It is a fabulous CD! Kay Hanley does an amazing job on lead vocals, and it is just as awesome that the girls who played the Pussycats in the movie actually sang backup vocals!! My personal favorites are definatly "Spin Around", "Pretend To Be Nice" and "You're A Star", as well as DuJours "Backdoor Lover". I have already seen the movie twice and both times I found myself dancing along to the music! I highly recommend this CD to anyone who likes fun, rock dance music!!