The Next Best Thing: Music From The Motion Picture [Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 22, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 22, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Maverick
• ASIN: B00004GOVT
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,578 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Boom Boom Ba

2. Bongo Bong

3. Don't Make Me Love You (Til I'm Ready)

4. American Pie

5. This Life

6. If Everybody Looked the Same

7. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?

8. I'm Not in Love

9. Stars All Seem to Weep

10. Time Stood Still

11. Swayambhu

12. Forever (And Always)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great selection of tracks!, February 22, 2000

By 

"riverwide" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Next Best Thing: Music From The Motion Picture (Audio CD)

When I bought this album, I was expecting to only enjoy the two new Madonna tracks. I was so wrong! This is a great selection of dance tracks and haunting ballads. On the dance side of things, we have Groove Armada's "If Everybody Looked The Same", Madonna's "American Pie" and Olive's truly brilliant cover version of the old 10-CC hit, "I'm Not In Love". On the ballad side, we have Beth Orton's mournful, "Stars All Seem To Weep", Mandalay's delicate "This Life" and best of the lot, Madonna's heartfelt "Time Stood Still". Madonna sounds as good as she's ever done on this brand new track, and of course, William Orbit's co-production is exqusite as usual. One of the album's highlights is the opening track, "Boom Boom Ba" by Metisse. It's like a cross between Enigma, Enya and Madonna, and it works! Also, "Swayambhu" by Solar Twins is so incredibly gorgeous. It can only be described as a "techno-hymn". It really is beautiful.

Overall, this is a sophisticated album which has been very well chosen with the possible exception of Christina Aguilera's "Don't Make Me Love You". It's cute, but does it really belong on this CD?

I'd say if you're a fan of Madonna's recent work, and is willing to listen to music that she finds interesting, then definitely give this album a listen.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Next Best Thing to a Madonna album, March 5, 2000

By 

T.J. Tallie - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Next Best Thing: Music From The Motion Picture (Audio CD)

While many purist music fans will bristle at the new spin Madonna has turned on "American Pie," there are many other good songs on this album.The song (and the movie, for that matter) opens with the ambient, pleasing rhythym of "Boom Boom Ba" by Metisse. Their ambient, Enya-like quality sets the tone for the album. Seguing nicely second is "Bongo Bong" by Manu Chao, a funny little danceable ditty about playing the drums. For those who haven't heard of Chao (which is virtually everyone), the song is highly comparable to one done by Eiffel65. Next comes Christina Aguilera's previously unreleased "Don't Make Love You" which is pure teen pop at its best. "American Pie" follows, it's Ray of Light-ish bleeps and clicks smoothed over by the fifth track, This Life by Mandalay. This Life is a standout song, (along with Boom Boom ba, stars all seem, why does my heart, and time stood still); it's rhythymic and pulsating style grab your attention instantly. Famous dance group Groove Armada pops in next with "If Everybody Looked the Same," a throwaway dance track that, while enjoyable, is the ony song of the album that can be dismissed as "filler."Moby's "Why Does my heart feel so bad" is a masterpiece, a soulful song interspersed with the beats of electronica. Olive's update of 10cc's "Not in Love" is a tad mechanized, but it pays off, the tune is fresh and enjoyable.After Olive, Beth Orton's "Stars all Seem to weep" mournfully bleed as the ninth track. It's a sentimental, but sweeping song, paired perfectly with the best track on the abum, "Time Stood Still," by Madonna."Time Stood Still" is perhaps Madonna's best ballad in a decade, since 1989's Oh Father. She laments ovr lost love in a mid-tempo Orbit-inspired song that resembles the Power of Goodbye.Swayanbhtu by the Solar Twins has a dark, Enya-feel, and The musical score by Gabriel Yared is likable.The standout tracks on this album are definitely numbers:1, 5, 7, 9, and 10, with additional high marks for tracks 2, 8, and 12.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, February 23, 2000

By 

J. F Malysiak "macafferty" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Next Best Thing: Music From The Motion Picture (Audio CD)

One of the few movie soundtracks I would call brilliant. The twelve tracks on this album, ranging from Madonna's zingy cover of "American Pie" to Moby's "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" to Gabriel Yared's evocative instrumental "Forever and Always", work together to provide a musically compelling and cohesive whole that works as a separate piece from the film.

"American Pie" gets better with each listen, but the album's 'masterpiece' is the other song by Madonna: "Time Stood Still". The orchestration is lush, Madonna's voice is beautiful -- fragile, nakedly unadorned, and vulnerable -- and the lyrics, combined with the plaintiveness of Madonna's vocals, contribute to one of this year's most haunting pieces. I have this track on repeat listen and it brings tears to my eyes every time.

Whether or not this film is any good has yet to be seen. But the album is tops!