Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me - Music from the Motion Picture [Soundtrack]

Various Artists - Soundtracks - 1999

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 1999)
• Original Release Date: June 1, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Maverick
• ASIN: B00000IYMI
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,426 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Austin Powers may be a remnant of the '60s, but the soundtrack for his second film spans generations. Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello light into the former's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," with trumpet and piano creating a plush aura. Quincy Jones and His Orchestra provide the perfectly campy "Soul Bossa Nova (Dim's Space-A-Nova)." Mike Myers himself gets into the fray as Dr. Evil for a humorous take on Bill Withers's "Just the Two of Us" and R.E.M. successfully updates Tommy James's "Draggin' the Line." Madonna teams up with William Orbit for "Beautiful Stranger." Green Day turns in "Espionage," an instrumental that harkens back to cheesy action movies and the Batman theme. Big Blue Missile with Scott Weiland attempts to modernize the Zombies' "Time of the Season" with extra drum beats. But it's pure imitation. The real thing can be found in the Flaming Lips track, the pure-liquid LSD psychedelic pop of "Buggin'." --Rob O'Connor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's More To This Soundtrack Than Madonna's single., May 29, 1999

By A Customer

In Japan, this CD came out on Friday, May 28th, so I've heard the entire thing, not just the Madonna single Beautiful Stranger (which isn't being played here at all....at least not yet.) And that's too bad, 'cause as much as I hate to say it--aftr all it is MADONNA!--the song kicks. No wonder it's the first single. However, singles aside, my favorite cut, without a doubt, is Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello nailing I'll Never Fall In Love Again. For some reason, this track just works so well for me, which is odd because I wasn't a big fan of that duo's recent CD. Another wonderful surprise is Lenny Kravitz's version of the Guess Who's classic American Woman. (This should be the next single for sure.) Th funniest thing on the disc is Dr. Evil re-doing Will Smith's version of Just The Two Of Us. Michael Myers must of had a blast in the studio. It's hilarious. Now I know a lot of people have been dying to hear REM's take on the early 70's classic Draggin' The Line. Well I've heard it and to be honest, I'm a little torn. Don't get me wrong it sounds perfect...which is part of the problem--it sounds just like the original. On one hand it's cool that REM could do such a perfect copy, but on the other you have to wonder what sort of spin they could have put on it had they opted to go in a new direction. (I know it's a nit-pick, but that should just tell you how much I enjoyed this release) Like all soundtracks there are one or two songs that will have you hitting the "NEXT TRACK" button--if for no other reason than to hear Green Day rocking out on Espionage, but if the jokes in the movie work as well as the songs on this disc, The Spy Who Shagged Me will be much funnier than Austin Powers. By the way, unless you have money to burn, stick with the regular release. The Limited Edition was all that was available over the weekend and from what I can tell the only difference between the two is the packaging. Save the extra bucks for a movie ticket.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's groovy but not that groovy, baby, July 1, 2003

By	Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As is often the case with movie soundtracks, this CD offers some really good tracks alongside some humdrum and rather poor ones. Madonna's Beautiful Stranger is the cream of the crop; it's one of the better songs Madonna has put out in recent years, in my opinion. The live version of The Who's My Generation fits the Austin Powers theme nicely and plays very well on the album. Lenny Kravitz' rocking remake of American Woman is another great track that many folks will be quite familiar with already from its heavy radio play. I was very happy to see Dr. Evil's Just the Two of Us make its way onto the album, as it's a crowd-pleasing, memorable party of the movie. I also rather like, in a weird sort of way, The Lucy Nation's song Alright; it has an unusual sound and style that distinguishes it from its peers on this CD. Unfortunately, the better tracks stop here.

Some of these songs are remakes of classic songs, and I have to question why these remakes were even made. R.E.M.'s cover of Draggin' the Line is OK, but it differs very little from the original recording. Melanie G (aka Scary Spice) provides a completely unnecessary remake in the form of her cover of Cameo's funky tour de force Word Up; that great song is best left in the capable hands (and voice) of Cameo's Larry Blackmon. Big Blue Missile (with Scott Weiland) does a pretty mediocre job covering another classic song, Time of the Season; apparently, it wasn't the time of the season for all the singers to actually hit the right notes. Buggin' is an interesting track from The Flamingo Lips, but I can't decide whether I actually like the song or not. Green Day fans shouldn't get overly excited at the sight of the band's contribution here, as Espionage features no singing whatsoever. I'm still trying to figure out why Burt Bacharach is such an integral part of Austin Powers as I'm not naturally drawn to his music, but his collaboration with Elvis Costello on the all-too-familiar I'll Never Fall in Love Again isn't all that bad.

The album ends on a fun note, with Quincy Jones' souped-up version of the basic Austin Powers theme music. All in all, while the album has its good points, it is by no means a must-have. Were it not for Madonna's Beautiful Stranger, I doubt I would have bought the CD. Still, it's fun to listen to the whole thing every so often.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great soundtrack for a great movie!, June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This CD is perfect for anyone who likes great music. There are great bands and artists such as Madonna, R.E.M., Green Day, and the who!

This CD opens with Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger". I never really liked Madonna, but this song was great and it opened my eyes. Madonna really ain't that bad!

"Just the two of us", by Dr. Evil and Mini Me is cute and funny. Dr. Evil sings about how he first met Scott Evil, and how Scott rejected him. It's really funny!

"Espionage", by Green Day is some of the best guitar i've heard since Jimmy Page. I'ts great!

Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello turn out to be a great duo in the performance of "I'll never fall in love again", written by Burt Bacharach in the 60's.

This CD has many upsides. But there are two downsides: "Word up" by Scary Spice, and "Buggin" by the Flaming Lips. In my opinion, these songs were terrible. Whenever I listen to this CD, I skip those two songs.

My favorite songs on this CD are:Espionage by Green Day, Beautiful Stranger by Madonna, Just the two of us by Dr. Evil, I'll never fall in love again by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, American Woman by Lenny Kravitz, and Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones and his orchestra. And also Draggin' the line by R.E.M. I think this is one of the best CD's ever made!!!!!