CD Review1222

Vanilla Sky Soundtrack
(Reprise/ Warner)
Rating: 4 1/2

It’s a given that any Cameron Crowe film is more than worth the price of admission, and the soundtracks that accompany his movies are definitely worth four times that.

And I could actually watch Singles or Almost Famous four times, though I only wish I could say the same for Crowe’s latest contribution to the celluloid world. Others would disagree, but I think Vanilla Sky is an annoyingly random, erratically paced music video stretched to run two-and-half hours long.

Crowe’s only saving grace is Vanilla Sky’s exceptional soundtrack. Surprisingly, the sharp 180-degree turns that have made the movie visually and emotionally draining to watch is exactly what makes the soundtrack an interesting auditory experience. While past Cameron Crowe soundtracks (Singles and Almost Famous) gave us a musical crash course on the grunge and 70s rock scenes, Vanilla Sky takes us on a quick educational trip on the diversity of millennium music. Well, not that all 17 tracks in the album are new ear fare for music aficionados. You’ve got Peter Gabriel’s catchy classic "Solsbury Hill," the Monkees’ "Porpoise Song" as well as Todd Rundgren’s "Can We Still Be Friends," which, surprisingly, mix well with the album’s more modern fare.

Alternative rock tracks such as REM’s classic "Sweetness Follows" and their previously unreleased "All the Right Friends," "I Fall Apart," where Cameron Diaz does a Gwyneth and sings lead vocals as her character, Julianni Gianni, Jeff Buckley’s heartbreak anthem "Last Goodbye," and electronic mixes "Afrika Shox", Sigur Ros’ "Svefn-G-Englar" and the haunting "Where Do I Begin" by the Chemical Brothers do not stick out of the whole musical tableau; rather, the diverse genres only add more interesting, complementary colors to Vanilla Sky’s soundscape.

Crowe, who co-produced the album with Danny Bramson, does not only magically manage to put together a diverse line-up and make them sound like all of them belong together, he also has made an art form out of picking songs and putting them together, that the album becomes a story in itself, such that it makes it difficult to pick a favorite track—it’s like trying to pick out one favorite chapter from a well-written novel.

Despite my discontentment with Vanilla Sky the movie, I say let Crowe continue to churn out more of his celluloid art pieces, even if they end up as disappointing as the movie—well, if only to give us more of his exceptional sound tracks.—Clarissa Concio