Pump Up The Volume: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 1990)
• Original Release Date: August 14, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: MCA
• ASIN: B000002O8M
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,302 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Everybody Knows

2. Why Can't I Fall in Love

3. Stand!

4. Wave of Mutilation [UK Surf]

5. I've Got a Miniature Secret Camera

6. Kick Out the Jams

7. Freedom of Speech

8. Heretic

9. Titanium Exposé

10. Me and the Devil Blues

11. Tale O' the Twister

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Compilation Can Be Made Better, October 23, 2003

By 

Smilin Charlie (Winston-Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pump Up The Volume: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

First off, this soundtrack compilation is worth owning. Chagall Guevera's Tale O' The Twister, for example, is difficult to come by. The rest of the songs are excellent alternative music and represent the spirit of the film well. But as everyone has pointed out, there are some crucial omissions.

To fix the problems with it will require mixing additional tracks on your CD burner. I added "Everybody Knows" and "If It Be Your Will" by Leonard Cohen, "Love Comes In Spurts" by Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and "Hello Dad.., I'm in Jail" by Was (Not Was) and now have a five star collection. Leagal downloads should run about $4 or so. You'll be much happier afterwards, I promise.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What's wrong with Leonard Cohen?, May 30, 2001

By 

Martin (Cleveland Hts, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pump Up The Volume: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

You know the song that starts out the movie, Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows," with that awesome deep voice that's all mysterious and stuff? It's not on the soundtrack. They have a cover by Concrete Blond... which isn't a bad band, and not a bad song, but it certainly isn't anything like Cohen's version. If you're going to put a cover of the theme song, at least put both of them on the sound track... the original and the cover. That's what I want. Is that too much to ask?

44 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 2 stars for 2 GREAT SONGS, handful of good ones..., June 2, 2004

By 

Campbell Roark "tri-zeta" (from under the floorboards and through the woods...) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pump Up The Volume: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

...that can be found on other CDs. There's so much that is wrong with this whole Cd and very little that is right. NO Leonard Cohen is just utterly horrid as two of the film's key scenes are basically set to Cohen's "Everybody Knows,' and "If it be your will," perhaps the two best songs he wrote in the 80s. Hell, Everybody Knows is basically the theme song for HHH's show...

The absence of Cohen in a film where his presence is almost channelled is damn near a sin. Furthermore- the Beastie Boys tune is left out. The Ice-T tune is left out. The Descendents tune is left out. They could have packed some more cream onto this, especially as there is so much crud...

Let's get to the bad of this CD. The Peter Murphy song is perhaps the worst thing he's ever done and that's really saying something. Don't get me wrong I swear by bauhaus, but this song is anti-bauhaus music. 'I've got a miniature secret camera,' yeah and i've got a miniature bleeding migraine whenever this song forces me to skip it...

Moving on to the execrable dud "Tale o' the twister'- sample lyric: "I stole a sideways glance at her continental shelf and i knew she was the devil herself," I'd have been embarassed if I scrawled that in the margins of my history notebook in the 8th grade as teen-angsty poetry...

The soundgarden tune sounds exactly the same as every other soundgarden tune, pre-badmotorfinger: indecipherable keening (FLOAT LIKE A LOOOOGGGGGGG!!!!!!!) and churning, muddy guitars... Master Yoda says, "A handful of wails short of unlistenable, this song is."

As for the sole hip hop tune "freedom of Speech;" it's a dated and forgettable 'conscious-rap' from a dated and forgettable group. And I have yet to listen to Liquid Jesus mimic their way through a watered down version of Sly and the fam's 'Stand!' in its entirety. Admittedly it is hard to improve on genius.

OK, that leaves Concrete Blonde's beautiful cover of L. Cohen's "Everybody Knows" (sans the last two verses)." You can find this song on the 'Still in Hollywood,' compilation of B-sides. A good lil CD. And you can get the sonic youth tune, titanium expose (nigh 6 minutes of noise) on their first DGC release, "GOO." Moreover, the Pixies UK Surf version of Wave o' mutilation- it's on any number of pixies comps, and is a b-side on one one of the doolittle singles- either here comes your man or monkey gone to heaven, i believe...

The Ivan Neville tune I can't seem to find anywhere else. Unlike Aaron neville, he doesn't put out lots of albums. 'Why can't i fall in love,' is a great, sad, bluesy, meaty, funky R&B tune. It sweats. So that's one good mark. The Bad Brains/Hank Rollins cover of the MC5's 'Kick out the jams,' is an able-bodied cover of a song that many have attempted and most have failed. It works more because of bad brains frenetic pulse and Dr. Know's guitar insanity (I'm biased here- IMHO Bad brains can do no wrong... except for Rise and God of Love). I don't know if this track is on any other release- so that's the second good thing.

Finally- the Cowboy Junkies version of Robert Johnson's 'Me and the devil blues,' is perhaps their best song. EVER. This coming from A) one of the best bands of the last 20 years and B) a band that excels in covering other artists songs and making them their own. I kow you've heard their 'sweet jane' cover- *yawn*. This song... It is a gypsy-esque orgy of bluesy harmonica, wailing violins, madhatter accordion and the most sublime electric slide guitar solo I have ever heard, all while Margo's voice drifts in and out like the sexiest lost soul since brandon lee donned face paint and died young... So this Cd (used copies abound for about 2 bucks in here...well, plus the 2.50 s&H...) is worth it for the one Cowboy Junkies track alone. To my knowledge this song is not on any album by them (it's not the same slow version that you find on their first album, "Whites Off earth Now).

While I am and always will be a great fan (even despite the horrible shirts slater wears at school) of this rather dated film (saw it '92 as an impressionable 13 year old- it blew my mind and fomented my slater-esque alter ego... yikes), I have to say that the majority of this Cd marks the low-tide point in early 90's soundtracks. And it cudda bin a contenda. Sigh, oh well....