Big movie's soundtrack doesn't deliver the punch
The movie soundtrack comes out of the days when the cowbell meant everything in pop-alternative music. That was credibility incarnate. 'Sahara' the motion picture, starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz, a wild treasure hunt big flick set against a backdrop of the Saharan dessert (surprise,) is currently suffering a huge lawsuit case initiated by Clive Cussler, the author of the book the film is adapted from, disputes, disputes…
These are the songs from and inspired by the Motion Picture, though that always baffles me, how stuff like Little Feat's 'Time Loves A Hero', recorded in '73 could be inspired by a motion picture made decades later, but we must put our trust in the wizards of the industry. The compilation starts with Faces and 'Stay With Me', Rod Stewart's sickening grinding voice hadn't quite developed into the epitome of nasty scratching hell at that stage, so it's bearable. And the soundtrack continues on in the seventies vein, full to the brim with second-class titbits from a boring decade of generic nonentities.
Grand Funk's 'We're An American Band' does little more than resurrect a forgettable tune. Lynard Skynard of course get the juices flowing when 'Sweet Home Alabama' begins, a song now saturated a little on the soundtrack circuit. Steppenwolf's 'Magic Carpet' is another golden oldie that excites, though the use of the track doesn't quite match Easy Rider's 'Born To Be Wild' intro, but anywhooo…
Dr. John brings the cool with 'Right Place Wrong Time', mimicking Mick Jagger vocally has always let it down, but there's a certain style all the while, ooh yeah… Head East utilise the early synth, the power chord and yes, the cowbell on this super-sounds-of-the-seventies 'Never Been Any Reason.' The Kinks add a touch of class to the bill next and Dwight Twilley's 12 bars fill the space between the two songs either side.
On the flipside of 'I'm On Fire' is Canned Heat's undeniable opus 'On The Road Again' which truly awesome. So then roll on credits as the compilation fades out and dies with Little Feat's 'Time Loves A Hero', The Marshall Tucker Band's singalong-everyone; 'Fire On The Mountain' and film-score composer Clint Mansell's (Pi, Requiem For A Dream) Boat Montage, which is a well-written piece that certainly gives a feeling of atmosphere and pace, but at the end of the day there's no real sense of continuity or overall identity, apart from the loose zeitgeist that ties all the songs together, on the compilation. Maybe that says something about the movie too, but I'm not a film reviewer…
Rykodisc will release Clint Mansell's original score for the film at a later date.