Customer Reviews

Swordfish

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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"!!!!

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.

When I first heard about this soundtrack, I didn't know it was mixed by the infamous world renouned DJ Paul Oakenfold. When I found out, I went to the nearest record store and charged the sountrack section and yanked it off of the shelves as fast as I can. This CD provided me with all the different genres that I know and love. For instance, "The Word" by the Dope Smugglaz. That track is amazing with its sweet basslines and its tingling melody. Then to follow that, "Unafraid" by Jan Johnston. This is my favorite track from the CD. The uptempo beats and the scaling knob action and who can forget the ever loving vocals from Jan. Paul also remixes "Planet Rock" a great hip hop classic. This CD gives you trance, break beat, hip hop and house. Who can ask for a better soundtrack?!

One thing I noticed in this album is sloppy editing at the end of some tracks. More than several tracks get cut off abruptly and it can be annoying for someone who was expecting this album to be a continous mix like his other albums. Oakenfold has picked quite a different array of music for this compilation. Don't expect it to be like his other albums like the GU series, Tranceport, Travelling or Another World. Swordfish is a nice compilation of progressive trance (vocal based and instrumental) and hard-rockin' break beats. The album is a bit similar to "The Saint," and "The Jackyl" sountracks. Overall,I thought it was pretty good. I feel it'll be one of those albums that'll get mixed reviews.

The movie was universally panned. That and the John Travolta intro were big turnoffs. Add in that this ISN'T another Oakie long mix and my expectations were pretty low. Turns out this CD just blows me away the more I listen to it. Let go of our Oakie/trance assumptions and let Paul take you on a journey around the entire world of electronica. You've got trance epics, hip hop, breakbeat. All mixed impeccably by the master. I think Paul's greatest skill may be in song selection, but there are plenty of his own tunes here as well. Outstanding!

How many times have you gone to a movie, and stepped out saying, "There was some great music in that flick. I think I'll go buy the soundtrack." ...

This has happened to me many times, the most recent being the lack-luster 'The Fast and the Furious' soundtrack. Fortunately, Paul Oakenfold's "Swordfish - The Album" does not fall into this pit. If the thought of buying "The Album" to a movie is making your skin crawl, don't worry. I felt the same way too, until I popped this disc in and pressed play.

Though the voice-overs thrown into the CD make absolutely no sense (they made little sense in the movie, and even less on the CD), they sound 'hip.' Fortunately, there are only two on the CD. The rest of the CD however, is a mixed bag of underground electronica. A few of the tracks are remixes dance/disco tracks, and sound rather strange when thrown up there with the new pseudo-trance/house tracks that Oakenfold worked up for this project. But fear not, because his shadowy and effective sounds shine through in this CD, with some strong songs, and several simply awesome tracks. Paul Oakenfold's remix of Jan Johnston's "Unafraid" is simply mind-blowing, and really accelerates the feel of this CD. It then jumps into Oakie's "Dark Machine", a dark and deep piece that almost feels like electronic jazz in it's movement. I would love to go into detail on all of the excellent tracks on this CD (Speed, Get Out of My Life Now, The Chase), but boring the reader to death is not my intention, so i'll quiet myself now.

Perhaps the only flaws on this CD are the strange voice-overs, the occasional song that truly breaks the flow of the CD (Lemon Jelly's song, and the equally strange "Lapdance" really should not have been included on the CD) and the lack of Oakenfold mixing. That's right...there are no transitions or breaks on this CD. His remixed titles are good, but I would have liked to have seen some real DJ work.

As it stands, "Swordfish - The Album" is arguebly better than the movie that spawned it. It certainly breaks the horrible soundtrack mold, and offers listeners some very cool and sometimes intense tracks. If you are a fan of dark and industrial house, or Oakenfold himself, you mind find a lot to like in this reasonably impressive CD.

I've listened to Oakenfold before, and believe me, this is HIS BEST. Not that the other albums are bad, but he remarkably scored an A+ on this one. It's perfectly made. Bytes and bits converted into beats and rhythm make this album a must, whether you watched the movie or not. Dark Machine, The Word and Chase are great tunes to keep you up.

"Voyage Into Trance" disappointed me. I guess I was expecting too much by thinking that I would hear Oakey's usual smooth trance remxing abilities. I was a bit hesitant to check out his work for one of the worst movies to come out of Hollywood, "Swordfish" but being a huge fan of Paul Oakenfold, I threw caution to the wind and bought it. I must say all my fears were unnecessary. Oakey's work on this soundtrack is some of his best work since 2000's "Another World". As expected, Paul used one of my favorite female vocalists on one of my favorite tracks on this cd, Jan Johnston on "Unafraid". I didn't need to look at the back of the cd to see that it was Jan Johnston who was singing lead vocals. Her angelic vocals have become very recognizable to me. Although I am not particularly keen on the original version, I thought the Paul Oakenfold Swordfish Mix" of N.E.R.D's "Lapdance" was awesome. The breakbeats added depth and made it more accessible to me. I absolutely loved "Chase" which is simply classic Paul Oakenfold. The only flaw on this cd is the inclusion of movie dialogue. That I could have easily lived without. Some people may like it but I didn't. Somehow for me the dialogue proved to be an annoying distraction on an otherwise excellent soundtrack. Nonetheless "Swordfish" is recommended for Oakey fans who didn't particularly dug "Voyage Into Trance" and were looking for those familiar smooth trance beats and melodies. While there are a lot of break beats on this cd, they don't detract anything from the song but only improves on it. Overall I am glad I got this cd when I did.

Without a doubt, this is the best soundtrack I've ever heard. If you have any doubts, dispel them. If there were 6 stars, I'd award the bonus!

Paul Oakenfold, known for his work in trance, and whatever else those genre's are called, did an *incredible* job of integrating the essence of the movie into the soundtrack, with very subtle use of soundbites and snippets. Not only did the music really add to the movie, but it's one of the few soundtracks where I feel the movie actually compliments the music - that's how good Oakenfold did at producing.

My favorite track is with Jan Johnston, who does a great job with the vocals. Anyway, if you could wear out a CD, I would have alredy done it long ago...