44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The missing song, June 3, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Swordfish (Audio CD)
The song I was looking for is likely the one you're looking for, but they didn't include it here. It's the one when the main guy is writing the worm, staying up all night, with the sample "fifty thousand watts of funkin."
It's "High Voltage" by Frank Popp.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Trance Eclecticism, June 18, 2001
This review is from: Swordfish (Audio CD)
How can you bash Paul Oakenfold, I know I find it very difficult. This is a great production piece that he took on for an equally teriffic movie. When I heard that Oakenfold produced a movie soundtrack I had mixed emotions, but after buying and listening to the CD, my doubts have been put to rest. You can say it is the typical movie soundtrack with sound bites and breaks between songs, but Oakenfold tries to stay away from that as much as possible. I thought Dope Smugglaz's "The Word" had a genius use of a sample. They used part of the Bee Gee's "Grease is the Word" from GREASE, which I thought was very witty. Then the album moves into one of the two best songs on the album. Fresh off from the club anthem "Flesh", Jan Johnston puts out "Unafraid". The lyrics and vocals on this track are killer and the production is badass. The next stand out track comes from Muse. This is a great track, very hard hitting and a nice club track in my opinion. I could totally party to this at a rave or in a club. I called this review trance eclecticism because Oakenfold also has some off beat tracks on here like NERD's "Lapdance" and Lemon Jelly's "Kneel Before Your God". The best off beat track is the collaboration between Okie and Afrika Bambaataa, it is outstanding. I like the album the whole way through, and the movie is just as great, but i'm still waiting for something as spooky and emotionally draining as "Perfecto Presents ... ANOTHER WORLD"!!!!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Oakey turns out large score for lame film., June 5, 2001
This review is from: Swordfish (Audio CD)
Motion picture soundtracks have certainly come a long way since piano players provided mood music live in theaters during the silent era. And before sound graced celluloid, forward-thinking musicians were plugging in new and experimental electronic instruments. The two worlds would unite in the late-1940's and 1950s, when the eerie sound of the Theremin was used to punctuate the scores of countless science fiction films. Fast-forward thirty years and a new revelation in soundtracks was heralded by "Saturday Night Fever", which eschewed traditional orchestrations in favor of contemporary disco selections. It was an immensely innovative and successful concept and remains one of the best-selling movie soundtracks of all time. Unfortunately, it also sparked a now commonplace practice in the industry - use of the soundtrack as a marketing tool. Far too often, songs which don't even appear in a movie are compiled together with those that are, so as to create a sellable 'product'. This greed-motivated ploy has thoroughly tainted the prestigious art of film composing.
If you can forgive the preceding lengthy tangent, my point is to clarify that "Swordfish" is not one of those annoying 'marketing tools'. Furthermore, it capitalizes almost entirely on modern musical technology to score the film, and most effectively. The guy in charge may be a newcomer to motion picture work, but he's certainly not unknown by any means. Paul Oakenfold is the biggest DJ on the planet. He's remixed and produced some of the most prominent names in music, and his Perfecto record label has been a goldmine, both musically and financially, for over a decade.
Oakenfold composed, performed, or remixed almost every track on this album, with the assistance of studio sideman Andy Gray and composer Christopher Young, with whom Oakey shares credit for the project. Anyone familiar with Oakenfold's work will not be disappointed. Six of the album's 15 tracks were composed by Oakenfold (with Young and Gray) specifically for the film, tracks 01 and 07 feature dialog from the movie (courtesy of the bloated, overrated, and overpaid John Travolta), the remaining selections are remixes of other artists' work. Worthy of mention are Oakey's overhauls of Afrika Bambaataa's electro classic, "Planet Rock", and a new composition from singer-songwriter Jan Johnston called "Unafraid". Perpetual Oakey favourites Salt Tank and the Space Brothers are behind "On Your Mind", credited to Patient Saints. Much of the album is fast-paced, trancey stuff, but there are are some darker, down-tempo pieces as well. The selections aren't mixed together, but there are a few track overlaps and tight segues.
...the soundtrack can stand on its own and is certainly worth purchasing. Oakenfold's studio production work often yields inconsistant results, but he was obviously quite focused when he took on this challenge. Hopefully, this endeavor will pay off and pave the way for future soundtrack work.
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