Customer Reviews

Steal This Movie (2000 Film)

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

 

 

This CD works for more than those of us who were teenagers when this music was first released. The Steve Earle/Sheryl Crow collaboration (Time Has Come Today) is a more contemplative treatment of this song. Bonnie Raitt shines (It's All Over Now, Baby Blue) with a bluesy, heartfelt rendering of this Dylan classic. Phil Ochs, Edwin Starr, and Country Joe & The Fish are here for authenticity, to balance the "newness" of Ani DiFranco, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Joan Osborne. I applaud the artist selection as more daring than would have been expected.

See the soundtrack for "1969" for a collection of original songs and associated artists from this era.

This is a soundtrack which updates some classic songs and brings back a few golden oldies. For me, the greatest hit is the absolute blow your socks off version of "Power to the People" which Eric Burdon and Billy Preston nail. Besides being an unlikely pairing, the two give what was a second-tier John Lennon song red carpet treatment that rivals the master musician's with Burdon's empassioned vocals and Preston's pounding keyboards! Equally as magical is Bonnie Raitt's cool bluesy reading of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." "The highway is for gamblers ... take what you have gathered from coincidence," she croons magically. I have this tune recorded by Joan Baez, the Byrds, Judy Collins, Richie Havens, Barry McGuire, the Animals and of course, the songwriter. Raitt shines! The other Dylan pairing with Jackson Browne and Joan Osborne's version of "My Back Pages" is weighted only by Steve Earle's somber organ throughout the piece. Mary Chapin Carpenter's wacky version of Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" is also making me hit for the repeat button with her little warble, "I'm just mad about 14; she's just mad about me." Steve Earle and Sheryl Crow do a great job of "Time Has Come Today"; and it's interesting to hear the female vocal on the song. The Phil Ochs track and Country Joe's "Fixing" track are thematically essential for the film and sound great. All in all, this is a soundtrack that has great focus and unity. U snooze U lose! Enjoy!

This is one of those rare soundtracks that actually has vision, direction and cohesiveness. It consists mostly of updated versions of classic songs. Steve Earle & Sheryl Crow team up for the Chambers Brothers classic "Time". Other interesting team-ups are Joan Osborne & Jackson Browne covering Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages" and Eric Clapton, Billy Preston & Ringo Starr doing John Lennon's "Power to the People". Bonnie Raitt does a beautiful cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue". Ani DiFranco covers two songs, Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" and Phil Och's "When I'm Gone". Timothy B. Schmidt rocks with CS&N's "Carry On". And last but not least, Mary Chapin Carpenter does a very bluesy and sexy version of Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" that would have been a great single at AAA formats. There are also a few originals - Phil Och's: I Ain't Marching Anymore, Country Joe and the Fish: Superbird & Fell Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag, and Edwin Starr: War.

When a film like this comes out I await the track listing for the soundtrack. I wait to see all the regular songs with all the excitment of an old spoiled child. You see, I'm sick of the typical 60's soundtracks but I love the songs. I think I have "Get Together" 5000 times, at least. This disc, however, offers a very cool blend of old songs reworked by adult contemporary stand by's such as Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crowe, & Mary Chapin Carpenter. Then at the same time works artists like Steve Earl & Ani DiFranco in, which really creats stand out versions of "Time Has Come Today" & "It's All Over Now Baby Blue". "When I'm Gone", Ani's stand out track, pulls apart what Phil Ochs ever could have thought possible for the song rewqorking it to a solid piece of beauty. It's superb. It's the rich and Robin Hood. It's the Executive & Starving Student. My only complaint is "WAR". I think I have that one 3,000 times already but to have these new re-workings is just ever so impressive. Whoever did this thank you. Please do it again soon.

This album is worth having for Bonnie Raitt's Bob Dylan cover and Ani DiFranco's Woody Guthrie cover by themselves. Every other track is a delightful bonus.

Don't get me wrong. I saw this CD and the songs included and bought iton the spot. But I'm not sure I understand why these songs and why these performers. I love Steve Earle and Sheryl Crow, but they don't have the vocal power to match the Chambers Brothers original version of "Time." An odd choice to rework this song. Nevertheless, a worthy effort and very listenable. Bonnie Raitt's version of "Baby Blue" is terrific. Now explain this: For "I Ain't marching Anymore" they go back to the original Phil Ochs version, but Ochs' "When I'm Gone" is entrusted to Ani DiFranco. Now I've got to part company with a previous reviewer here. As performed by Phil Ochs, "When I'M Gone" is one of the prettiest folk melodies I can recall. But Ani DiFranco destroys the melody to plumb some other emotional dimension of the song. I'm sorry, I think it's a disaster. I wish they had given us Ochs' original version of this tune. Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" has always struck me as a bit of a musical oddity and Mary Chapin Carpenter's version doesn't change my view. Country Joe offers two of his original tunes and Edwin Starr does "War." Why do we go back to the originals for these songs and then have revised versions of others. Especially odd is Timothy B. Schmitt's version of "Carry On." Schmitt -- one with Poco and the Eagles -- is practically a legacy member of CSN&Y. His version of this tune is so close to the original that it's hard to tell them apart. So why not use the original, it certainly hasn't been reinterpreted for some greater purpose. Like I say, I don't get what the purpose was here. If they wanted to capture the 60s, they could have just as easily used the original versions.

This is generally just an OK soundtrack - except for the 1st song "Time Has Come Today" by Sheryl Crow and Steve Earle which is just... phenomenal. Actually, IMHO, it is one of the great covers of all time and alone is worth the cost of the CD.

How typical in this day and age of soundtracks...a record company ignores the truly great artists of the era depicted in the movie and corrals younger (read: TOP-TEN HOPEFUL)artists to re-record the tracks. How can a story about1960's radical Abbie Hoffman be decorated with the likes of Mary Chapin Carpenter and Sheryl ("I'll sing anything if you pay me")Crow? Did the original artists want to actually be paid for their songs this time around? (How dare they! )Surely it would've been worth it to enhance the movie with the voices of that time? This album reeks of corporate maneuvering. ("Dylan is too expensive, but Country Joe isn't, so let's use him to give the album credibility"). Shame on you! Abbie Hoffman is turning in his grave. For the sequel why not get N'Sync to sing "We Won't Get Fooled Again" and Mandy Moore could do a mean "Ball and Chain".

I guess if you're a crusty elitist, then this CD isn't for you! I find this CD to be well-done - enjoyable music. The standout track is between a seemingly unlikely pairing: Joan Osborne and Jackson Browne. They are simply fantastic on Dylan's "My Back Pages" - Joan Osborne's voice is beautiful and conveys emotion I can't quite articulate. The pair are just spectacular - great harmonizing. The Sheryl Crow and Steve Earle duet is well produced. I don't think Sheryl was the ideal choice for this song, but she did a good job with Earle. Their song is rocking fun. Mary Chapin Carpenter is surprisingly good on "Mello Yellow" which I didn't expect to like. Bonnie Raitt is typically good. Ani Difranco is my only complaint - I just think she does a bad job. Then again, I hate her voice and her singing. Despite that, I dig this CD. I find myself playing it with friends...enjoying a good ol' time. If you're fans of the artists, get the disc already!

As I was actually in this movie.. as an extra. I am pleased to tell you & your readers.. Its a Great sound track to an excellent Movie.. watch for me in the fountain with the topless girls Im throwing a Frisbee with them. Thanks for this Oportunity, Don