Side A
"Wild Thing" by X
This version of the Troggs classic magically combines arena rock with punk bonafides and a helping of dark snarl. Singer Exene Cervenka's rude delivery of "c'mon shake it shake shake it" is up there among the best things you will ever hear. Lead guitars peel and shred mightily and disintegrate in lots of fun ways. There are two stretches of the tune where it appears it's fading out to close, but then it comes back with more thunder. These slight returns are excellent fun, but... the track suffers a bit from being a touch too long, and the band probably should have picked one or the other. The percussion is over-produced, an artifact of the 80s. There are numerous points in the song where it sounds like an entire stadium full of fans are singing along. Corny? Nah. This version isn't better than the original from the 60s, but it absolutely locks in with the celebratory sport movie. According to the wiki, this track was released by X as a one-off single in 1984. Did the producers of the film know they had this sick version of the song before going into production? The tune is so integral to the script and linked to a number of fun parts in the film. Crank it!
"Crying Shame" by Lyle Lovett
Blue collar blues. Nothing to get worked up about. It won't offend you. Mr. Lyle is also on Curb Records, the label the soundtrack is on.
"Walkaway" by The Snakes
Starts off promising, but then goes into cliche territory pretty quickly. Still, you've got full-throated rock vocals, chugging percussion, and the sort of bluesy swagger that feels right for a movie about a bunch of underdogs. The guitars are pretty smokin'. Too bad about the chorus, which comes close to feeling right, but not quite. Meh. This band is also on Curb Records.
"Hideaway" by The Beat Farmers
This one feels right, chugging along with a dark riff over a solid tempo. Twangy vocals are on point, feeling kind of sad, but in a rock n' roll kind of way. The chorus works pretty well. It's not re-inventing the wheel or anything, but you'll get your kicks. The only wish is that it did not have a fade out. This one is a nice surprise that this VVer could listen to a few more times. Guess what? Another Curb Records band.
"How Can the Girl Refuse" by Beckett
Awful. Imagine the soppiest, late-80s rock/pop with campy lyrics that only make it worse and you're only halfway there. This is painful. Backup whispery female vocals too. No no, make it stop, please, run for your life! A fourth Curb Records band; we have a trend here...
Side B
"U.S. Male" by Lonesome Romeos
This is just a straight-ahead, honky-tonk thumper. Is it good? Yeah, it's pretty good. The lyrics however are a little strange: "You can't stop a U.S. male" gets repeated a lot. Not sure what we're singing about here. Another band on Curb.
"Burn On" by Randy Newman
Aside from "Wild Thing," this is the other most well known song from the movie. "Burn On" manages to capture the blended whimsy of the film as well as the truth in the sadness that Cleveland and many of the characters (players, coaches, loved ones) fight to overcome in the film. A song about a once-beautiful, iconic river that impossibly goes up in flames from time to time due to pollution and neglect? It's as close to a perfect song match to a film as you're going to get.
"Oh You Angel" by Lonesome Romeos
These guys again? Ah, it's a goofy song, even more forgettable than the other song. At least that one was a little weird. Is it over yet?
"Trial and Error" and "Pennant Fever"
These two tracks are part of the instrumental score by James Newton Howard. If you love the movie, you'll enjoy these. This is an early score by Mr. Howard (Sixth Sense, Batman Begins, Hunger Games, and a ton of other well known films), with a rock-inflected vibe that is a mix of sporty, playful, and 99.9% fun. The synths and some of the percussion make it sound a little dated, but this VVer didn't mind.
"Most of All You" by Bill Medley
A sweet love song. Zzzzzzzz. Bill has a little gravel in his bass-heavy voice, which means that he really means it. This one was a little hard to get through--with so many tears and all. Weep weep weep.
One comment on the abundance of has-beens and never-were musicians on this album. Never having heard of Curb Records before, this VVer did a little looking around and it turns out the label, was the brain child of Mike Curb, who went on to become president of MGM Music in a merger in 1969. Seems when Curb Records got the nod to put together the soundtrack, they loaded on a bunch of their artists. This isn't an unheard of practice in soundtracks, but it does reflect on the lack of consistency of the music.
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