Looking Back in Anger at the Crow Soundtrack

 

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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Violent Femmes : " We Can Do Anything"

The Violent Femmes at one point and time were one of my favorite non- metal bands. "New Times" is the last album I checked out by the Violent Femmes. They have lost their drummer and now on this album have the drummer from the Dresdan Dolls on this album, though he is now out of the band and one of the dudes from Horns of Dilemma are playing the drums. The opening song finds Gordan Gano and Brian Ritchie doing their thing, it's just a much less inspired version of what their thing used to be. The rambling folk side has taken over here. "I Could Do Anything" has more of a country skip to it, but it is a far cry from "Country Death Song". They lyrics about fighting dragons are rather silly. This is way to happy and lacks the cynical lash that their lyrics use to have to offset some of the strummed cheer. Not sure why everything on this album is a sing a long. My wife just asked if this was System of A Down, so clearly it doesn't sound like their classic days and the zaniness is out of hand.

"Issues" makes more of an attempt to recapture who they once were. There are hint that they once had a more punk side on "Holy Ghost".  They slowly warm back up into themselves. Gano was never the best singer, but put a ton of emotion and heart into what he sang and at least we get a fraction of that here. Things continue to improve with the more ballad like "What You Really Mean". It doesn't seem like they are trying so hard and it is just coming naturally. The folk country of "Foothills" finds the shoe almost fitting, but being forced on as they once again try to hard. The same could be said perhaps to a lesser degree on " Travel Solves Everything" . They sound like the same band, but is their heart really in it? "Big Car" comes even closer to taking you back to the late 80s, but falls short of bar they have already set for themselves.

The country jangle is a little more thoughtful on "Untrue Love", though the chorus has too many layers of vocals and arranged as neatly as they once were. The close with the upbeat "I'm Not Done" that couples Bob Dylan rambling with gospel, which Dylan himself has done before, but at least this feels a little more honest. I'll give this album a 7.5, so it's a far shot from "Hallowed Ground" or "Blind Leading the Naked".