Customer Reviews

The Next Best Thing: Music From The Motion Picture

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

The beauty of this sound track is that beside all the big established names like Madonna & William Orbit are new outfits with fantastic music to offer. The first track by Metisse is just amazing & I'd buy the album just for their track Boom Boom Ba. It's a smooth & seductive mix of vocals & melody. There's alot of other great music on this C.D from the old and the new but these guys are something special.

As a pretty big fan of Madonna I've been looking forward to this release for a while now and I wasn't disapointed. American Pie may take a bit of getting used to but the quality of the other tracks are more than enough to keep me going. The first track by Metisse sets the mood for the whole album with a classy and unusal number that really sets the tone for the following tracks. Buy this soundtrack!

This CD is a must buy for all Madonna fans because all the songs are in Madonna's taste. All the songs have a nice, ambient, rhythmic beat. An honorable mention goes to Metisse because the song, "Boom Boom Ba" is beautiful. The two tracks by Madonna, "American Pie" and "Time Stood Still" are great as well. Other tracks include Christina Aguilera, Moby, and Olive. I definite recommend you buy this amazing soundtrack.

This is one of those cds that a lot of people will buy for one song and end up loving the rest of the album. The album seems to have a theme: sophistocated and symphnonic (but obscure) Euro-tronic music. Of course, the main track is Madonna's "American Pie", her performance of which is worthy to be compared to the original, but almost every other song is great too. "Boom Boom Ba" is addictive and catchy and excells as the album-opener. Things are enhanced when Moby enteres the scene with his soul-influenced, beautiful oddball "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" and the two tracks by Olive and Beth Orton are very entertaining, whilst the interesting "Bongo Bong" gives you something you're very likely to NOT have heard: what sounds like one of the Chipmunks "rapping" which adds humor and life to the album, as does the delightfully bouncy (and catchy) track by Christina Aguilera. The album finishes peacefully with the Gabriel Yared track. But the very best song on the album and the one worth buying the album solely for is Madonna's stunning "Time Stood Still", a rollercoaster of emotional lyrics and sweeping strings and melodious electronica. Produced by William Orbit, the song is straight out of "Ray of Light", thoug for some ridiculous reason, the song was left off the album. Starting quietly, "Time Stood Still" snares your attention and before you know it, a beautiful, soaring climax that defies genre-boundaries is flooding your ears. Definitely worth the price of the album alone.
The reason, however, that this album only received 4 stars from me is the fault of the Christina Aguilera track, which, despite being a decent and fun song, seems to corrupt the musical theme and direction of the album. The other reason is the Solar Twins track, which eerily goes nowhere throughout the song and unnecessarily takes up time space. A song like it shouldn't have been on the album period, but it's followed by the equally mellow (without the eeriness) Gabriel Yared track, and by the time both songs are finished, the upbeat moments of the album seem like just a memory.
So, in conclusion, if you buy this just for the Madonna tracks, there are very good chances you will enjoy most of, if not all of, the rest of the album. And despite the two theme inconsistencies I just mentioned, I guess the more broad listener would argue "There's something for everyone." Either way, I highly recommend the album, especailly the two Madonna tracks.

This soundtrack has become a favorite! It has a few upbeat and funky songs with different musical sound, as well as some very soothing and relaxing sounds. I play this music every night when we are sitting outside on the river eating dinner, at sunset time, and it compliments the atmosphere so well!! All of our guests ask what CD this is, and they love it also. Is has funky yet sophisticated style that can be played start to finish without stopping. A must have for every household!!

I bought this sound track simply for the Boom Boom Ba song; however, I was pleasantly surprised at the remainder of the cound track. I love this and recommend it especially for people that like to do Yoga.

I bought this for the Moby and Orbit tracks, But this Metisse tune is something special. I have never heard of them before, but I am sure that this is not the last we will hear of them. The album is worth buying just for Boom Boom Ba! achetez cet album pour Boom Boom Ba!