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'I Am Sam' soundtrack gives new spin to Beatles classics . . . mostly in a good way By
Jason Robey The I Am Sam soundtrack is unique and one of the most interesting recent CD releases. Looking at the song list, one might wonder why it's not labeled, "a Beatles tribute album." The makers of the film, for reasons unclear, intended to fill the movie and its soundtrack with original Beatles songs, but later found out that Beatles recordings were far too expensive for the movie. Their solution? Find modern artists to record their renditions of some of the best Beatles songs. The results? For the most part, not too bad. Most of the tracks on the soundtrack are predominately acoustic, beginning with a very tasteful version of Two of Us, recorded by Aimee Mann and Michael Penn, whose brother, Sean, stars in the movie. Hardcore Beatles fans will probably favor Ben Folds' version of Golden Slumbers, The Black Crowes' Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, and Blackbird, redone by Sarah McLachlan. These tracks most closely resemble the original recordings. Other highlights include Ben Harper's emotionally charged translation of Strawberry Fields Forever, Sheryl Crow's remarkable rendition of Mother Nature's Son and Eddie Vedder's radio-friendly acoustic performance of You've Got to Hide Your Love Away. As with almost any collection of covers, the album does have a few liabilities. The track listed as Revolution, by Grandaddy, is, except for the words, nothing like the Beatles song of the same name. Heather Nova's whiny rendition of We Can Work It Out serves no other purpose on the album than to slow down the momentum picked up by newcomers Chocolate Genius' interesting interpretation of Julia. The soundtrack's closing song, Nick Cave's version of the classic Let It Be, will put most people to sleep, if they actually play the whole song. The album does have a few musically interesting interpretations that will likely please most Beatles fans. The lethargic sound of Brit-pop band the Stereophonics lends itself to a heartfelt performance of Don't Let Me Down that may not use the same instrumentation as the original, but sounds surprisingly appropriate. The mainstream crowd will be drawn into the soundtrack with poppy, yet tasteful versions of I'm Looking Through You, and I'm Only Sleeping, recorded by The Wallflowers and The Vines, respectively. The most amazing aspect of this album, according to the liner notes, is the "nearly impossible" feat of recording, mixing, and producing the entire 15-song soundtrack within three weeks. Overall, it's a pretty good album, with a few songs that remind us how great compact disc technology is -- with the ability to skip a track with the simple touch of a button.
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