An array of new movie soundtracks

Final Fantasy: I have not seen the movie so I do not know if the Wolfgang track No Falter made it to the final cut of the cyber-adventure flick Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. But it is in the listing of selections in the soundtrack album all right. Not only that. Every copy of the CD is being sold with a free VCD of the No Falter music video by the local rock group. Think about clever ways of getting the huge market for foreign music releases to take notice of a Filipino band.

Final Fantasy is an off-shoot of a popular computer game series like Tomb Raider. The difference between the two is that instead of having live actors play the human roles, the picture is made up entirely of computer-generated images. Reviews about Final Fantasy have not all been kind. Although the animation is the closest computers have come to delineating humans on film it still looks like motion pictures have a long way to go before it can subsist on an entire cast of virtual performers.

Watch the movie to find out for yourself and then listen to Eliot Goldenthal’s well-executed music. A good composer is a good composer whether he is writing music for humans or cyberbabes off to save the world. Here is one more case of a soundtrack being able to stand on its own even if you have no idea as to what the movie is about. Also included are the wistful ballad The Dream Within performed by European pop star Lara Fabian, Spirit Dreams Inside, an English version of the Japanese tune recorded by L’Arc-en-Ciel and Wolfgang‘s No Falter.

Tomb Raider: Speaking of Tomb Raider, the soundtrack of the motion picture is now also available in the local music. No mood music in this album. That we get instead is a well-put together collection of rock and R&B by really big names in the music business. This just goes to show that when you have a big-budgeted flick that can earn big bucks, you can also count on easily recognizable names to strut their stuff in the soundtrack.

The pace is every bit as frenetic as the move with sharply-edged tunes coming one after the other. Don’t expect to breath with this one just like what Angelina Jolie does in the movie. This is the sort of album you listen to when you want to keep the atmosphere tautly wound up or maybe if you want to keep doing the impossible with the hope that you will soon get the sort of biceps, butt and boobs of Angelina. No hope of getting those lips though. You need surgery for that.

Leading the line-up is what has been dubbed the Tomb Raider Mix of U2’s Elevation. This is followed by Deep by Nine Inch Nails; Galaxy Bounce by The Chemical Brothers; Get Ur Freak On performed by Missy Elliot featuring Nelly Furtado; Speedballin’ by Outkast; Ain’t Never Learned by Moby, The Revolution by BT, Terra Firma by Delirium featuring Aude; Where‘s Your Head At performed by Basement Jaxx; Illuminati by Fatboy Slim with Bootsy Collins, Absurd by Fluke; Song of Life by Leftfield; Edge Hill by Groove Armada; Satellite by Bosco; Devil’s Nightmare by Oxide & Neutrino; and In Control by Die Toten Hosen.

Dr. Dolittle II: Rap and rock music of the lighter, more radio-friendly sort make up the soundtrack of the hit Eddie Murphy comedy Dr. Dolittle II. This is a sequel to the hugely successful movie of the same title from more than two years ago where Murphy played a doctor who discovers he can talk to animals. And the music is a bright mix that is every bit as sweet, fun and heartwarming as both movies. Come to think of it, it is also like Murphy‘s character, ideal father, loves children and animals and will go out of his way to save the environment.

Setting the pace is Product G&B’s very danceable Cluck Cluck featuring Wyclef. There‘s Do U Wanna Roll, the Dolittle theme by the trio of R.L., Snoop Doggy Dogg and Lil’ Kim, plus Absolutely Not by Deborah Cox; What It Is (Part II) by Flipmode Squad; We Fit Together by O-Town; Life is Good by LFO and M.O.P.; Children Story by Slick Rick and others.