movie soundtracks / albums

Given that this is the soundtrack that listeners have to blame for the way in which most soundtracks are now constructed, with collections of new or old hits -- in lieu of an original score -- that almost drive the movies they adorn instead of merely underscoring important scenes in them, it's odd that yet a third version of this has been released. If you bought the Deluxe Edition back in 2004, it's safe to skip this one -- the extra tracks here are simply the first four from the second disc of the deluxe version. Nothing new is added here, really. All of this music has been released before in various ways, and even as a collection of hits there have been so many Motown and classic rock and pop collections issued since the dawn of the compact disc that now, as it begins to die, all one can really do is yawn that this was ever re-released. That doesn't mean the music here isn't awesome or even timeless -- just look at the contents -- it's just that this soundtrack has the notorious historical identity of being the first big one to sell using the compilation method, and because it did, it's responsible for all the original scores that didn't come later. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide