It's time to look back at a soundtrack from the 90s and see how it has held up over the years. For an album largely of covers and b-sides, it has stood the test of time better than most albums from 1994, and in truth aged better than the movie. It opens with "Burn" by the Cure which Smith wrote for the film. Not only is it the album's best song, it is one of the Cure's best songs. It has the drive of "Fascination Street' but the drums bring a tribal tension to it. The slinky bass line finds Machines of Loving Grace abandoning some of the industrial stomps for a more groove-minded song that plays to their strengths as a band, making it one of their best songs as well. Thus two songs in a they have established the theme of sexy darkness, which was the mood this movie was aspiring to.
Stone Temple Pilots were heading toward peak popularity with the album "Purple" which this song would later appear on. They debuted it on this soundtrack first, I think this song is lyrically clever, and I like the more subtle blues elements they ebb back down into. Nine Inch Nails cover of "Dead Souls" works really well. Reznor does his thing rather than going for an Ian Curtis impersonation and it works. The more subtle jazzy passages of "Darkness" bring out Rage Against the Machine's more melodic side, making them seem like less of a one-trick pony. The Violent Femme's "Hallowed Ground" album is an example of their darker side which they tapped back into for "Color Me Once", an overlooked gem on this album.
Despite Henry's vocal limitations, the Rollins Band does a pretty good job of covering Suicide's 'Ghost Rider". There is more swagger than expected here. Butch Vig remixed Helmet's "Milk Toast' for the soundtrack, it's one of the band's calling cards. Pantera covers Poison Idea's "The Badge". and makes it sound like they wrote it. For Love Not Lisa proves they were better than most bands who merged as bigger one-hit wonders from the 90s like saqy Candle Box and this song is a testament to that fact. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult is one of the most reliable bands on this soundtrack so you can count on them to deliver, their whole persona is why they were actually playing at a club in the movie. Musically Jesus and Mary Chain is just as consistent, "Snakedriver" being a clear example of this.
Medicine brought Elizabeth Fraser in for their remake of "Time Baby". Speaking of the Cocteau Twins , they should been the artist to perform the last song "It Can't Rain All the Time". as the Jill Siberry track is the album's only weak moment. It drifts without focus and the Cocteau Twins could have done much better doing similar. So far this reason this album is getting a 9.5, putting it still in the upper tier of movie soundtracks along side the "Lost Boys" soundtrack,
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