Moulin Rouge! (2001) – Various Artists
You seem to either love or hate this movie; I love it. This soundtrack is pure joy from start to finish; you wouldn't think Ewan MacGregor and Alessandro Safina could cover Your Song right next to Beck covering Diamond Dogs, but damned if it doesn't work. The two medleys (Satine's introduction number and the Elephant Love Medley) are both smashing, fantastic, brilliant, euphoric. Fatboy Slim's Because We Can is about the highest energy song of its year and Rufus Wainwright gives one of his finest performances on La Complainte whatever. Man, I love this; music on a pure sugar high; I always just go nuts; I dance, I sing, I lip synch. This is pure escapist music in every way.
Summertime Piano (1998) - Steven C.
Found this tape while digging through some old boxes. Yes, it was a cassette tape. What is this, the Stone Age? I'm a pianist and I didn't remember it so I listened to it. Fairly serviceable lite jazz. Nothing at all special. Threw it in the Goodwill box.
A Crabb Collection (2001) - The Crabb FamilyGerald Crabb is one of the great country gospel songwriters of our time and on this packed CD, twenty of his songs get the full on country rock treatment. There are a couple of maudlin missteps, like Brothers Forever and the cringe inducing Two Little Feet (gawd, another song about a little girl who wants to be like her father!), but when they hit, they really hit. Through the Fire is pure on energy, The Lamb the Lion the King is rocking like nobody's business, Come to Take You Home is a fantastic country ballad . . . I could go all day. Let’s just say, twenty songs and only about two of them don't work. Fantastic album.
All Time Favorites (2005) - Henry Mancini
Nice enough, if incredibly short; the theme from Charlie's Angels is utterly annoying, but most of the other music is the kind of low key lite jazz Mancini did so well. Most of it's rather forgettable, but the Wait Until Dark Theme stands out as being breathtakingly beautiful.
The only thing worse than an album of lite muzak with nature sounds looped behind it is a compilation album of lite muzak with nature sounds looped behind it. If you thought the Moonlight Sonata was always beautiful, hear this album; it, surprise surprise, can be butchered if it's worked at. Try throwing a bunch of howling wolves behind it. I've got to start throwing some of these old tapes out. Who bought this stuff? My mother, probably.