Customer Reviews

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think everyone knows that John C Reilly can sing, but I didn't know that he could sing this good on the "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" soundtrack. While "Walk Hard" clearly is intended to poke fun at "Walk the Line" (the excellent film biography of Johnny Cash), Reilly sounds terrifically like Roy Orbison throughout this disc -- every track clearly poking fun at elements of fictional Dewey Cox's life. While several of the songs clearly are tied to comedic elements of the film ("Royal Jelly" sounding like a Bob Dylan parody; "Dear Mr President" hinting heavily at some 1960's-esque hippie activism; "Black Sheep" an obvious send-up of Beatlesque drug use; and the various songs dedicated to short people -- aka midgets in Dewey Cox-speak), I don't think much is necessarily lost by hearing them out of the film context; arguably, they'll only mean more once the listener can attach these images to these unmistakably Coxish lyrics!

My personal favorite tracks are "Walk Hard," "A Life Without You (Is No Life At All)," and the side-splittingly funny "Let's Duet," but there probably isn't really a wasted track on the entire disk. Again, some of the tunes are clearly tied to film bits (I can only imagine how "Darlene" pops up in the midst of Dewey's denial of being in love with Darlene to his first wife), but there's little lost here. The soundtrack is great, great fun, and I'm hoping that the film can deliver as many laughs.

By the better version, I mean the Deluxe Edition available on Itunes for just one dollar more. It has twice as many songs. It is definitley worth it, but if you have an mp3 player besides the ipod, you will have to burn them to cd and convert them.

The movie is very funny, but what makes it even better is that the music is genuinely great. I walked out of the screening singing a couple of these songs for the rest of the week. Buy this CD - you won't regret it.

The biggest -- and best -- joke about the "Dewey Cox" movie is that the music written for the film is really, really good. Actor John C. Reilly reveals striking musical talent, belting out hilarious pop parodies ghost-written by folks such as Dan Bern, Mike Viola and Charlie Wadhams. Several songs will hum around in your head for days, such as the Roy Orbisonesque "A Life Without You" and the double-entendre laden Johnny Cash/June Carter homage, "Let's Duet." I only wish I'd gone to see Reilly when he did some club dates when the movie first opened -- I bet he was hilarious! (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue music reviews)

I had a bootleg copy of the movie but still went to see it in the theather after just watching a few moments. The unique thing is that I ordered the CD way prior to the movie release.

Once I heard Dan Bern was behind many of the songs that was all I needed.

The whole tone of the album and the dedication to the music of each era covered is amazing. The Dylan parody song could have been written by Bob himself.

A ton of heart and pride went into what could have been a throw away comedy song grouping. Instead it should win the Oscar for original musical score. Why? Because nothing the the movie music world has been this original in decades.

My favorite kind of films are fake musician bios. There's SPINAL TAP, The RUTLES, Grace of My Heart, Almost Famous, That'll be the Day, Stardust, The Phantom of the Paradise, Eddie and the Dreamers, and now there's Walk Hard. Ostensibly a parody of the Johnny Cash biopic (Walk the Line) this movie is so much more.

There's a Bob Dylan parody that is not just done right, it's done perfectly! (mister zimmerman, did you secretly pen this one?) There is a Beatles/Acid/Animation sequence that had me falling on the floor. There is the ultimate in double entendre songs (Let's Duet) Doctor Demento would have loved to put this on in the Funny Five.

I could go on. This lampoon is painted so lovingly that sometimes it is actually poignant and scathing in the very same breath. It's low comedy with high purpose. It's music that will hang in your mind way after you stop laughing.

It's all happening.

persevere

The Walk Hard soundtrack is one of the best I have heard. While the majority of the songs are intended to be funny, there are some tracks that really do have a worthy real meaning (Beautiful Ride). The lyrics are well done, and the music is tremendous. Also, John Reilly is a better singer than the majority of modern professional vocal performers.

I have not seen the movie yet, but this album has wet my appetite for it in an unprecidented way. I am very picky about music, and this is the first album I have listened to end to end right when I bought it.

I have to recommend this to anyone that has interest in the movie.

For fans of the movie this soundtrack is a treat. If you liked Walk Hard then buying this is a no brainer! If you haven't seen the movie it's still worth giving it a listen for the awesome song writing and performing.

If you like the Dewey Cox soundtrack (which is great, BTW), you have got to check out Dan Bern. Dan Bern wrote/co-wrote many of the songs. Dan's lyrical style is part Bob Dylan, part comedian. He's funny, he's real, he's political, he's Jewish, he's simply amazing. One of the best songwriters of this generation!

As for Walk Hard - check your scruples at the door and allow yourself to be thoroughly emersed in the hilarity of this movie. John C Reily is great, Jenna Fischer is great, the story is great, and the execution is excellent. I laughed so hard I cried from the first 30 seconds all the way until the end of the movie.

Here is the deal, the movie would be nothing without the music. And the music is really great. As a soundtrack goes im not sure if i can listen to this one everyday as i drive with the top down, but it is still hillarious and some pretty catchy tunes. I would give it a five but i just dont think some of the songs are really that good (Royal Jelly)... but it is worth it just for "Walk Hard" "Guilty as Charged" and "Let's Duet"