Out Of Sight: Music From The Motion Picture [SOUNDTRACK]

Various Artists - Soundtracks - 1998, David Holmes

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 23, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 23, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000007QEB
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #90,348 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Early in Out of Sight, Steven Soderbergh's take on Elmore Leonard's novel, charming ex-con Jack Foley (George Clooney) lies in a car trunk with lovely federal marshal Karen Cisco (Jennifer Lopez). An organ-and-bass vamp underscores the seductive nature of the close confines, but the music stops cold to allow a police siren to pass by. When the siren fades the vamp returns, underscoring the tension--and the humor. Such punctuation typifies composer David Holmes's role: creating jazzy cues that open scenes like chapter headings. The soundtrack album contains nine of these cues and a handful of scene-setting pop tunes (Isley Brothers, Dean Martin, and others). The inclusion of movie dialogue recalls Holmes's solo album Let's Get Killed, which set snippets of New York street talk to edgy electronica. --Marc Weidenbaum

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, brilliant, frustrating, annoying, February 14, 2003

By	Nichomachus - See all my reviews

I've already seen the movie, big guy.

I always end up with mixed feelings about David Holmes' stuff. He creates wonderful music, and then screws it up by making it second fiddle to whatever droll dialogue he feels like throwing in. It was annoying on Let's Get Killed, where his collection of "New York's Most Neurotic" undermines the whole thing. The Ocean's 11 soundtrack was totally obscured by the movie's dialogue.

Critics need to stand up and call Holmes on this for the silly immaturity that it is. Soundtracks to Tarantino albums used to frustrate me because of all the chattering, but at least they were distinct tracks you could skip if you weren't in the mood. With Holmes, up to two minutes of a groove will be taken up by dialogue from a movie you've already seen. It's not clever, it doesn't enhance the music, it's distracting, and luckily the thing was on sale when I bought it, because I think it is WAY overpriced for only 45 minutes of music.

Holme's, it's cool to use movie dialogue as a punctuation mark; Rhames' "Let's go to Detroit" line is a great intro to the Isley Bros', Fight the Power (especially since they were with Motown for a while). But ENOUGH already! Your brilliance is being undermined by this George Clooney fetish. We want your music to shape OUR reality, not to help us relive a movie.

Enough complaining. Apart from that, the vamps on this album are superb. His selection of a couple of Isley Bros best tunes are perfect and the Dean's "Kick in the Head" is a great complement. Holme's simply has talent and creativity to burn, which makes me want to keep buying his stuff, despite all the frustrating stuff he does with movie dialogue. The "Tub Scene" tune is perfect - absolutely perfect.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lay back and enjoy, September 7, 2000

By	Patrick G. Varine "Dubwiser Extraordinaire" (Georgetown, Delaware) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just can't get over what a cool album this is. I know that sounds kind of corny, but that's the only way I can think of describe the sounds of this album. From the out-there Mexicali swing of "Watermelon Man" to the punchy horns of Dean Martin's "Ain't That a Kick in the Head," the album is straight cool the whole way through.

But the standouts here are the original instrumentals composed by avant-garde composer David Holmes. His marriage of hip-hop breakbeats and jazz organ are unparalleled in the realm of coolness. You can just lay back and listen, or you can get up and bob your head and dance.

This soundtrack is laid out similar to the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack: bits of dialogues intercut and join the songs. In fact, "Trunk Scene" is actually interrupted by a police siren just like in the movie, then the slinky beat creeps back in for the duration of the song. It's just nice and mellow.

Overall, this is a great album. If you liked the music from this movie, or you liked the "Get Shorty" soundtrack (composed by John Lurie, but the same type of music), pick this one up.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting.....to say the least, August 20, 1999

By A Customer

I wonder who's decision it was to put the dialogue in the tracks. Depending on the mood of the listener, the dialogue can be an added bonus but at times its simply an obstacle drowning out EXCELLENT music. Quite frankly, I bought the soundtrack for three tracks, "The Trunk Scene," "Tub Scene," and "No More Time Outs." These tracks along with the rest of the album scream the emotions and attitudes experienced in the film by the characters. David Holmes' skill is richly displayed throughout the soundtrack. It is non-static and is appropriate more many social situations as well as many others. This music is alive. The inserted dialogue is great, but really, who wants to hear the same lines 50 times?

If I wanted to hear the movie, I would have spent a few more dollars, purchased the VHS, and watched it with my eyes closed. I find it amazing that despite the somewhat distracting dialogue, Holmes music is powerful enough to still make this soundtrack an added jewel to anyone's music collection.