Customer Reviews

Tomb Raider

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When I heard about the artists on this cd (Nine Inch Nails, Chemical Brothers, Moby, Basement Jaxx, Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada, etc.), I knew it would be a must buy. Unfortunately, only a few performers saw fit to really contribute a good song! Track by track breakdown follows:

1. Elevation, U2: A good groovy rock tune made slightly better with a remix. U2, as usual, does not disappoint (complete with good video). Getting some radio airplay.

2. Deep, Nine Inch Nails: An average song; good beat. Lacks originality; could have easily been on The Fragile album. Getting limited radio time.

3. Galaxy Bounce, Chemical Brothers: A decent track; more jazzy than their usual songs. Hope their new album sounds like this. One of the soundtrack's better songs.

4. Get Ur Freak On, Missy Elliott: I don't know if this remix gives the song anything, but a good song can't be messed up, even with Nelly Furtado. Wierd video to boot. Original is getting a lot of radio play.

5. Speedballin', Outkast: An average song. Sounds remarkably like BOB from their most recent album.

6. Ain't Never Learned, Moby: A bad song. Sounds like Moby was trying to be Fatboy Slim and gave up halfway through production. I love Moby to death, but this song is not his best effort.

7. The Revolution, BT: Gets repetitive after hearing more than once. Lyrics could have made for a great song - and the beat falls short!

8. Terra Firma, Delerium: The best song on the album. Finds a balance between ambient, world, and big beat that must be listened to. Sounds like Enigma with more substance.

9. Where's Your Head At, Basement Jaxx: If this song is representative of their upcoming summer release, they might be in trouble. The beat is average, but the catchline and lyrics are grating at best.

10. Illuminati, Fatboy Slim: I may have to hunt down Norman Cook and slap him silly for this one. He must be really busy, or lazy, because he thieved his own song. This track is nothing but a shorter version of Michael Jackson from his first album. Why Bootsy Collins has lent some new lyrics to the song I can't comprehend. A decent track, but a severe disappointment if you were expecting new music from Fatboy (like me).

11. Absurd, Fluke: Absurd, the original version, is a great track. But two things make this version bad: a watered down remix and the fact that Absurd has been on about ten soundtracks now!

12. Song of Life, Leftfield: A decent, flowing song; one of the better tracks on the album. Ranges from slow to fast with little effort.

13. Edge Hill, Groove Armada: The sound that defines Groove Armada: background, drippy ambient with a beat. A pretty good song.

14. Satellite, Bosco: A great beat and rhythm with a horribly annoying vocoder lyric. You will either love it or hate it.

15. Devil's Nightmare, Oxide & Neutrino: A classic example of a song that can't make up its mind. Am I techno? Am I rap? Am I Gregorian chants?!? As the finisher, it sums up the mixed bag nature of the soundtrack very well.

To summarize: Galaxy Bounce, Terra Firma, and Song of Life represent their makers well. Where's Your Head At, Illuminati, and Devil's Nightmare are transgressions against good music everywhere. The rest of the songs are somewhere in the middle. Listener, you have been warned...

Hey People... just LOOK at the roster of artists displayed on this Soundtrack. Where else can you find Moby, Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada AND the Chemical Brothers on a SINGLE CD. And... with ALL NEW material which meshes well as well. Although having such diverse and powerful artists on a single CD might lead you to think that the tracks would just be out of sync because of each artist's individual style, yet, all the tracks mesh in very well. Infact they flow into eachother. Songs like "Galaxy Bounce", "Ain't never learned" & "Edge Hill" just compliment eachother. Other than these techno/electronica artists, you have U2, Nelly Furtado & NiN to listen to... alongwith Delerium as well whose Terra Firma is hauntingly fammiliar yet refreshingly new. Nelly Furtado's take on Missy's "Put Your Freak On" is even better than the original. I have not even metioned the great work of Outkast and BT on this album. All in all... the songs on this soundtrack have been hand-picked to compliment the "Tomb Radier" feel! And whatta feeling it is... Shove this CD into your Player and you won't have to do touch that player again for the next 70 minutes... Enjoy! :) I certainly did!

I was eager to buy this soundtrack because of who was on the soundtrack- the chemical brothers, outkast, u2, nine inch nails, missy elliot, BT, moby, and fatboy slim. I have to say- the "remix" of Elevation is great, but i cant really tell the album version and the remix apart very well. The nine inch nails song is OK- they've had better. But the Missy Elliot and Nelly Furtado remix of Get Your Freak On was one of the worst that ive heard in years. Nelly Furtado and Missy do not mix well, and the chemistry is not there. Yet the Chemical brothers song is kicking, just like all of their other songs, upbeat and heavy thumping. Moby is on just about every sountrack, and he sounds alright. I think the score will be good- i heard fatboy slim was going to compose the score. While this cd has some good electronic music for electronica fans as myself- the bands that are known dont do the best job on this soundtrack. Yet, even though some of the tracks aren't the best, this sountrack is perfect for what the movie is going to be: upbeat, lively, and awesome.

As expected, the Tomb Raider soundtrack opens with a bang with an awesome remix of U2's "Elevation". With non-stop pounding and electronic grooves, this uplifting song is just the beginning of a stunning album. The soundtrack continues with fast paced songs like Outkast's middle-eastern themed "Speedballin'" (reminiscent of their previous high-speed hit, BOB remix), "Galaxy Bounce" by the Chemical Brothers, and a cool remix for Fluke's "Absurd". There is also an interesting remix of Missy Elliot's "Get UR Freak On" with Nelly Furtado lending her raspy vocals this time around. There are also great tracks from such classic electronic artists as Moby, Fatboy Slim, BT, Basement Jaxx, Bosco, Groove Armada, and Leftfield. But the ultimate track is "Deep" by Nine Inch Nails, which is very much faithful to Trent Reznor's style; mixing hard electronic beats with esoteric lyrics. This album might be packed with electronic artists, but its also summer time, where the fun never stops. So blast the speakers and wake the neighbors, cause you're gonna have one heck of a good time!

I actually had no plans to pick up this album. I was in the record store to get my hands on physical copies of _Amnesiac_ (which, by the way, everyone should own, if only for the dirty techno-funk of "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors") and "My Red Hot Car" (Squarepusher in da hizzy!). The cover caught my eye as I walked past the soundtrack section (hmm, I wonder why...) and I thought to myself, "I wonder who's on this besides U2?"

I was, therefore, completely unprepared to find Nine Inch Nails, The Chemical Brothers, Leftfield, Outkast, Missy Elliot, Moby, BT, Fluke, Fatboy Slim, Delerium, and Basement Jaxx listed on the back. Um, wow? To the cash register I went, and boy was it worth the purchase! The phatness abounds, from the sheer insanity of the "Get Ur Freak On" remix (which does away with Missy's limpid rap and slaps on a truly DERANGED performance by Nelly Furtado) and "Speedballin'" (which shows Outkast attempting to merge hip-hop, gospel, and happy hardcore... and succeeding) to a taste of the new Basement Jaxx album ("Where's Your Head At?", a stomper of a tune which is best described as "Same Ol' Show" done as a complete song rather than a demo beat) and the absolutely euphoric "Devil's Nightmare" by Oxide and Neutrino (creepy male choristers + 2-step garage beat = INSTANT CLASSIC).

Even the weak tracks have something going for them. U2's contribution ("Elevation") comes across as empty stadium bombast, yet still will make your toes tap. The NIN track ("Deep") is _The Fragile_-lite, meaning it's ultimately disposable but contains some nice music at its core. And Fatboy Slim's "Illuminati" is nothing more than Bootsy Collins ranting over the fierce stomper "Michael Jackson" from _Better Living Through Chemistry_. I find this intensely annoying but if he HAD to wholly cannibalize one of his earlier tracks, he picked a great one.

There are 15 tracks in all with nary a skit in sight. That's rare enough these days. If you have any fondness for "electronica" (oh, how I despise that word), do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this.

Many people knock the soundtrack becuase it isn't the best that some of these bands have done. They're right for the most part, but if it wasn't for this soundtrack I wouldn't know who Basement Jaxx or Leftfield or Groove Armada is right now. This is one of the greatest albums for people who just want some good music to listen for no reason. All of the tracks (save for Delerium, Leftfield and Groove Armada tracks) all have a moving beat to them and keep you interested in the music itself. The other three mentioned are just mood music to chill too... if that's what you want. A versatile album. Good all around for people who like all sorts of music... but don't necessarily go out and buy every album from that artist.

I bought the album 2 days ago, and haven't stopped listening to it. Although I'm not v. impressed with Groove Armada's 'Edge hill' and not taking long to realise why they only played the beginning of Outkast's 'Seedballin' at the beginning. I found the soundtrack highly enjoyable. The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and Fluke failed to dissapoint, and Basement Jaxx's 'where's your head at' completely suprised me with their up beat sound and non-boring approach repeating the songs lyrics. I also enjoyed Delerium's 'Terra firma', it brought a calming sound in the middle of the album, which was well needed to cool down with. All in all, this soundtracked rocked, and is well worth getting. and if you know anyone who dislikes the album, simply answer with the line "where's your head at?"

I cannot take this CD out of my player. I'm a huge house/techno fan, and this CD delivers. And it's got a little rap and rock thrown in for good measure. Some of my favorites include Outkast's "Speedballin'" C.B.'s "Galaxy Bounce," Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At," and Fatboy Slim's weird but funky "Illuminati."

And I'm sure this sounds stupid, but it also makes a great workout soundtrack. I just pop this baby into my sport-CD player and I can run for miles and miles.

To sum it up, if you like dance music with a heavy techno influence, you're sure to like this soundtrack. It's got a great sample of all the greats. It's the kind of CD that you just can't sit still to. Get up and shake your booty!

The songs on this CD were good and bad. "Elevation" by U2 is a very unique song and a nice beat. Elevation is one of the better songs on the CD. But other songs such as "Ain't Never Learned" by Moby. When I first purchased this CD, I was assuming that this song would be a good song like "South Side" (in my opinion). But it turned out Moby lacked a lot of his musical skills in this song. So as an overall review, 50% of the songs are good, 10% are OK, and 40% are bad. Thanks for reading my review!

First off, I should say I like the soundtrack more than I liked the movie. And, as my title suggests, I have to disagree with the editorial review.
As my name so obviously suggests, I'm a huge techno/electronica fan. That said, with names like Moby, BT, The Chemical Bros. and Leftfield on this cd, it should come as no surprise I rushed out and bought it as soon as it was relased. My hopes were high for this disc, and I was not dissapointed. As far as high energy,
block rockin' beat techno goes, BT's "The Revolution" and The Chemical Brothers' "Galaxy Bounce" are the tops here. Fluke's
"Absurd" (though an older song that's appeared on a soundtrack to another film- Hackers) is another stand out. The Midas Touch of Fatboy Slim still exists with his track "Illuminati". On the more low key end of things, Delerium's "Terra Firma" and Groove Armada's "Edge Hill" are just great ambient/chill out tracks.
I feel the techno end of this cd really captures the mood and attitude of Lara Croft's world. The mellow tracks, in particular, seem a perfect fit.
However, my only grievances with this disc lay with the more "name" or established acts. While U2's "Elevation" is catchy in a non-offensive kind of way, it feels a little out of place here. The same goes for Missy Elliot's "Get Ur Freak On".
It sounds exactly like the Mtv/Trl friendly song it is and not even Nelly Furtado's charming weirdness can help it.