Various Artists - Soundtracks - Almost Famous
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Free Music Notes for Almost Famous
Free Music Review: Some problems I have with this soundtrack
Hit: 5 Stars
Do mind that I'm giving this CD a five star rating - because it really is fantastic. Other than Quentin Tarantino, no director is more aware of the importance of songs in his movies than Cameron Crowe, which perhaps shouldn't be surprising considering his past as a rock journalist, and Almost Famous is one of the best song-based soundtracks I've heard - it's a nostalgic trip through Crowe's youth, as much as the Singles soundtrack was a fascinating exploration of the then-current rock revival, and it has some wonderful, classic songs. There are very few chewed-up mega-hits here; the soundtrack features some excellent, long forgotten artists like Clarence Carter and Thunderclap Newman (whose song, 'Something in the Air', doesn't really appear in the movie, but it's one of my favorites on the album) and some truly grand artists who are not quite as famous as they used to be, like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band. Even from the few huge stars that are featured in the soundtrack, the songs selected by Crowe are not their biggest and most familiar hits, but brilliant and lesser known songs - Led Zeppelin's beautiful acoustic 'That's The Way'; Yes's 'I've Seen All Good People'; David Bowie's performance of the Velvet Underground's 'Waiting For The Man'; and Elton John's 'Tiny Dancer', one of the best songs he'd ever written, which predates his time as a mega-star.
And it's specifically because the music in Almost Famous is so good that this soundtrack is not quite satisfactory. The fantastic songs that appear in the film but are not on this soundtrack are almost too many to list - 'Search and Destroy' by the Stooges, 'Everybody Knows This is Nowhere' by Neil Young , 'Teacher' by Jethro Tull, 'River' by Joni Mitchell, 'Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters' by Elton John, 'Burn' by Deep Purple, 'Future Games' by Fleetwood Mac, 'Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)' by Jimi Hendrix, 'Sweet Leaf' by Black Sabbath, 'Misty Mountain Hop', 'Tangerine', 'Bron-Y-Aur' and 'The Rain Song' all by Led Zeppelin, 'My Cherie Amour' by Stevie Wonder - featured in one of the film's most beautiful moments. And there are more. It seems only natural to have released the soundtrack as a double album, or at least to release a second part with as many of these songs as possible. I also think it would have been incredible appropriate to include 'Cover of the Rolling Stone' by Dr. Hook (written by the great Shel Silverstein), which the band members sing in another one of the film's great scene.
Most of all, I'm missing the original Stillwater tracks, all written by Peter Frampton, Wayne Kirkpatrick and Gordon Kennedy. 'Fever Dog' is the only one that's in here, but the other great songs - 'You Had to Be There', 'Love Thing', 'Chance Upon You', 'Hour of Need' and 'Love Comes and Goes' - all of which run through film's many concert segments - can currently only be heard by buying the 2-Disc Director's Cut DVD, and that's a real shame. These are all fantastic rock songs, with great sound, great musicianship and great production (Frampton's mark can really be heard on them) and they should be released. I would rather see them on the soundtrack than classics that can be found on various classic albums from that time (e.g. Led Zeppelin III, Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends, Elton John's Madman Across the Water).
But hey, these are my two cents. It's still a great album. I love the idea of younger listeners who weren't previously familiar with this great music and are getting into it because of the movie. For those, and for anyone who loved the movie, this soundtrack is a great buy, but also check out some the albums I mentioned above, as well as Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, Elton John's Honky Chateau, Black Sabbath's Master of Reality, Jethro Tull's Living in the Past, and Led Zeppelin's ZOSO - all of which contain songs which are in the film. I'm entirely convinced that that's what Mr. Crowe wants you to do, too.
Free Music Review: Obsure 70's Pop Culture
Hit: 5 Stars
This soundtrack couldn't be more aptly titled. All of the tracks on this album are obscure finds lost somewhere between the cracks in 70's pop culture. Cameron Crowe, the director of Jerry McGuire and Almost Famous is known for his compliation of great songs to accompany his movies, songs that will make great moments in a movie stay in your mind and heart.He produced this album along with fellow collaberator, Danny Bramson. Highlights of this album are many so read on... "America" by Simon and Garfunkel is trully poetic. Who else but good old Paul Simon could come up with lyrics like "I've gone to look for America", "She said the man in the Galberdine suit was a spy, I said be careful his bowtie is really a camera."
I found a Beach Boys song that actually sounds credible as a great rock ballad. It's not cheesy and it fits the mood of the movie. The synths used on this remind me of how impressive the effects on "Good Vibrations" sounded and gives me the need to dust off my dad's old Beach Boy's LP and rock out. This track is entitled "Feel Flows" and I'm greatly impressed by the Beach Boys here. They show growth and maturity as artists by getting away from their formula of being just cheesy surfers who like cars and girls named Rhonda.This song actually has substance...Wow, buy the album just to check out this song.
A young Rod Stewart is shown here on the track entitled "Every Picture Tells a Story." Rod's scratchy vocals are oddly pleasing to the ears and the hook "Every picture tells a story don't it" gets stuck in your head.
"Mr. Farmer" by The Seeds makes farming actually sound like a plesurable expierience. My favorite part in this song is where the lead singer goes " Mr. Farmer let me water your cropssss (sounds like an imiatation of a hose, very effective) farmer I wanna be just like you." It may seem weird, but it's quirky in all the right ways.
"One Way Out" by the Allman Brothers is great (It's the Allman Brothers, need I say more?) Truly blues/rock at it's best.
Skynyrd's "Simple Man" is as always poignant and beautiful and is especially effective in the movie when played during Russel Hammond's plea to William to just "make them sound cool."
Led Zeppelin's track "That's the Way"creates vivid feelings with lyrics like "And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers, but all that lives is born to die. Led may be known for being the founders of heavy metal, but their senstive ballads have always been my favorite. Their lyrics just seem so true and genuine here.
"Tiny Dancer" by the great pianist Elton John is the highlight of the soundtrack. I love when Stillwater's band and bandaids sing-a-long to this song on the bus, it just so aptly fits the life story of Penny Lane.
Everytime you hear "The Wind" by Cat Stevens, you envision Kate Hudson dancing ballet on napkins after the concert
Check it out...Cameron Crowe shows the passion he has for rock still hasn't died and lives on in this great soundtrack and his touching autobiographal account in the movie.
Free Music Review: One Of The Best Movie Sound Tracks, Evah
Hit: 5 Stars
Cameron Crowe has great taste in music. Every movie that he has ever made, also has a great soundtrack to go with it and this is no exception. Basically, the movie Almost Famous was an autobiography of a young Cameron Crowe. When he was fifteen years old, he was already writing for Rolling Stone Magazine. Geesh, when I was fifteen I was just learning to write my name...
I really like this album because there are songs on it that you just don't hear on ordinary music stations...even the so called 'classic rock' stations. To hear the Seeds singing, Mr. Farmer, threw me back to the day when my cousin had the original 45 of the group. There is also the infamous group, Stillwater, the group which the movie is focused on. Stillwater wasn't actually a real group in the 70s, but the song that they played in the movie, 'Fever Dog' sounds like something pulled out from that crazy time. I think it was actually written by Peter Frampton who was practically rock 'n roll royalty in the mid 70s with his classic two album masterpiece, Frampton Comes Alive. Here's a shocker for you if you didn't already know this, parts of Frampton Comes Alive was done in the studio and the background of clapping and cheering was put in later. Sorry to bum you out...oh, and you know the tooth fairy, she doesn't exist, either...so take the tooth out from under your pillow. For godssakes, you're 39 years old....
But this record is no fairy tale, it's a real solid entry on my favorite movie soundtracks list. The first being from the movie, Singles, which was also, coincidentally enough, also by Cameron Crowe. For the most part, I tend to lean toward jazz and soul music, but I still love great rock 'n roll, and this compilation has everything from mellow Cat Stevens to the loud and racous the Who playing a little known instrumental called, Sparks, and it is all great stuff.
So, are you gonna get it or what? I'm done blabbering. I'm just waiting for Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster and we're gonna go to lunch...
Peace and Blessings.
Free Music Review: The Best Soundtrack Ever (Even If It Is Missing Over 30 Songs)
Hit: 5 Stars
"Almost Famous" is my favorite movie, and its soundtrack plays a big part in it. It is quite simply the best soundtrack of popular music ever put on film (the only one that can truly rival it is "Goodfellas"). Cameron Crowe has a knack for choosing songs that fit perfectly with the mood he is trying to create, and the soundtrack to "Almost Famous" is ample proof of it.
There were over 50 rock classics included in the movie itself, so naturally the soundtrack cd would cut a lot of those songs out.
The "Almost Famous" contains 17 cuts that were featured in the movie. The most notable would be Elton John's "Tiny Dancer", used during the film's best scene. You also get cuts from legends such as Led Zeppelin (the lovely acoustic ballad "That's The Way"), The Who ("Sparks"), Yes ("I've Seen All Good People: Your Move"), The Beach Boys (the grossly underrated "Feel Flows"), Rod Stewart ("Every Picture Tells A Story"), The Allman Brothers Band ("One Way Out"), Lynyrd Skynyrd ("Simple Man"), David Bowie ("I'm Waiting For The Man") and Cat Stevens ("The Wind"). As you can see, rather than including these great artists biggest hits, Crowe dug deep into their vas catalogues and introduced some novice fans to some of thier best and most underrated work.
Crowe also used songs by little known artists that haven't been heard in years. Todd Rundgren (not an unknown, but more prominent as a producer than a musician) scores a spot with the beautiful "It Wouldn't have Made Any Difference". Thunderclap Newman's classic "Something In The Air" closes the cd on a high note, while The Seeds' "Mr. Farmer" is a fun rocker. Clarence Carter, who scored a big hit with "Patches" in 1970, has rhe beautiful soul ballad "Slip Away".
Overall, while it doesn't include everything, the soundtrack to "Almost Famous" still includes some excellent music and it quite siply belongs in the cd collection of anyone with good taste in music.
Free Music Review: Full List of feautured Songs in the Movie
Hit: 5 Stars
Excellent Movie, excellent Soundtrack.We can expect more to come, cause there are so many great songs featured in "Almost Famous". Here is a list : 1. America - Simon and Garfunkel 2. Sparks - The Who 3. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference - Todd Rundgren 4. I've Seen All Good People: Your Move - Yes 5. Feel Flows - The Beach Boys 6. Fever Dog - Stillwater 7. Every Picture Tells A Story - Rod Stewart 8. Mr. Farmer - The Seeds 9. One Way Out - The Allman Borthers Band 10. Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd 11. That's The Way - Led Zeppelin 12. Tiny Dancer - Elton John 13. Lucky Trumble - Nancy Wilson 14. I'm Waiting For The Man - David Bowie 15. The Wind - Cat Stevens 16. Slip Away - Clarence Carter 17. Something In The Air - Thunderclap Newman 18. Teacher - Jethro Tull 19. Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters - Elton John 20. Tangerine - Led Zeppelin 21. Search and Destroy - Iggy Pop 22. Sweet Leaf - Black Sabbath 23. Go All the Way - Eric Carmen & The Raspberries 24. Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin 25. The Chipmunk Song - The Chipmunks 26. Roundabout - Yes 27. Bron-yr-aur - Led Zeppelin 28. Small Time Blues - Pete Droge 29. Hour of Need - Stillwater 30. Paranoid - Black Sabbath 31. The Rain Song - Led Zeppelin 32. Everbody knows this is nowhere - Neil Young 33. Future Games - Fleetwood Mac 34. Albert Flasher - Guess Who 35. Love Thing - Stillwater 36. Burn - Deep Purple 37. You had to be there - Stillwater 38. Reeling in the Years - Steely Dan 39. Dear Jill - Bloodwyn Pig 40. Love comes and goes - Stillwater 41. Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix 42. Slip away - Clarance Carter 43. Wishing well - Free 44. My Cherie Amour - Stevie Wonder 45. Looking at you - MCS 46. Cortez the Killer - Neil Young 47. The Oogum Boogum Song - Brenton Wood 48. River - Joni Mitchell 49. Easy to slip - Little Feat 50. Peggy Sue 51. Cover of the Rolling Stone 52. Colour my World