Various Artists-Lost Highway OST

Released on February 19, 1997 from nothing records and Interscope Records, the soundtrack to the David Lynch film Lost Highway is an audio companion piece to the film produced and assembled by Trent Reznor. Featuring two score pieces from Reznor as well as a new song from Nine Inch Nails, the album also include original score pieces by longtime Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti as well as contributions from Marilyn Manson, the Smashing Pumpkins, Barry Adamson, David Bowie, Rammstein, Lou Reed, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The result is a thrilling and eerie soundtrack from Trent Reznor and David Lynch.




The album opens and ends with David Bowie’s I’m Deranged from his 1995 album Outside as it is this ominous track with pulsating synthesizers and drums along with driving guitars and Mike Garson’s piano flourishes as Bowie sings the song’s haunting lyrics as the opening version of the track fades out in the middle while the closing track opens with a fade-in of Bowie’s vocals in its reprise version. The first of two instrumental tracks by Trent Reznor in Videodrones: Questions is a forty-four second instrumental piece of wind-like textures and loops with contributions from Peter Christopherson of the industrial group Coil. The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails is the first song by the outfit to not be written solely by Trent Reznor as it was written with then-live band members in multi-instrumentalist Danny Lohner, keyboardist/programmer Charlie Clouser, and drummer/programmer Chris Vrenna as it is this mixture of industrial rock with the drum n’ bass electronic sub-genre as it feature cryptic lyrics from Reznor with driving guitars, pulsating beats, hammering live beats with a drum solo, and flourishing synthesizers.




The first of seven score pieces by Angelo Badalamenti in Red Bats with Teeth as it is this jazz piece with as it includes a bopping rhythm with flourishing pianos, layers of saxophones including a blazing solo by Bob Sheppard as it play into the world that Bill Pullman’s character is in as his character is a jazz musician. Badalementi’s Haunting & Heartbreaking is this soothing ambient piece that is performed by Badalamenti with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra as it is a haunting track that play into the sense of horror that Fred and Patricia Arquette’s character Renee is encountering. From the Smashing Pumpkins is the song Eye as it is this somber electronic ballad with a rhythmic drum machine beat and warbling synthesizer melodies as Billy Corgan sings the song’s melancholic lyrics as it is one of the strongest cuts on the album.




The third Badalamenti score piece in Dub Driving is this bass-driven cut co-written with David Lynch that led by a melodic bass line from Peter Richards with as it features backgrounds of soothing guitars along with some percussions from Lynch and soothing keyboards from Badalamenti and Robert Muller. The first of four contributions from Barry Adamson is the first variation of a music theme for Robert Loggia’s character Mr. Eddy as it features dialogue of Mr. Eddy driving his car as it is this cool, jazz-like track with eerie horns, melodic organs, and a smooth and steady percussive track that delves into different time signatures as it builds up some momentum. The second version of the theme is a more menacing version that play into Mr. Eddy’s notorious temper as it relates to a reckless driver as it features some woodwinds to play up the atmosphere of the track. A cover of the Drifters’ song This Magic Moment from Lou Reed from a Doc Pomus tribute album is another standout cut as it has Reed singing the song with melodic guitars and driving power chords as it is a snarling yet somber cover from Reed.




The fourth Badalamenti piece in Fred and Renee Make Love is a haunting orchestral track led by soothing bass and atmospheric textures during a sex scene between Fred and Renee. The first of two cuts from the shock rock industrial group Marilyn Manson is Apple of Sodom as it is this bopping mid-tempo track with its steady drum beats, warbling guitars and keyboards, and Manson’s creepy vocals as it play into lyrics of temptation and terror as it is another of the record standout cuts. Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Insensatez is a soothing bossa-nova track led by soft percussions and a melodic piano track as it play into the tired mood of the character Pete Drayton who is played by Balthazar Getty. A shortened version of Adamson’s piece Something Wicked This Way Comes is this groove-based instrumental with samples from Massive Attack and a couple of tracks as it this mixture of jazz and trip-hop that appears in a party scene in the film where Fred meets the mysterious man that is played by Robert Blake.




A cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ I Put a Spell on You by Marilyn Manson from the group’s Smells Like Children EP is this fierce and menacing version of the song with driving guitar riffs, Manson’s screams, and heavy rhythms as it plays into the character of Alice, also played by Arquette, as she tells Pete a story about Mr. Eddy. The next two score pieces from Angelo Badalamenti in Fats Revisited which is a piano-based track that is a darkly-comical piece with string flourishes while Fred’s World is a more eerie piece with haunting synthesizer textures that play into the horror that Fred is about to encounter that would end with a laugh from the mystery man. The first of two tracks from the German industrial metal group Rammstein from their 1995 debut album Herzeleid is a shortened version of the song named after the band as it is this fierce and intense track with driving metal guitars and hard-hitting beats with vocalist from Till Lindemann.




The fourth and final score piece from Barry Adamson in Hollywood Sunset is this soothing ambient piece with some throbbing percussive beats and warbling organs to help set a mood for the dark aspects of the film. The second Rammstein contribution in a shortened version of Heirate Mich is bopping yet driving track led by rhythmic drums and metallic guitar riffs with Lindemann providing a dark mood to the song as it help play into the suspense of the film. The final Badalamenti score piece in Police as it has these sounds of police sirens created by strings as it play into some of the mystery of what is happening as it closes with dialogue from the film where a character says “Dick Laurent is dead”. The second Trent Reznor score piece in Driver Down is this instrumental piece produced with Peter Christopherson as it is this industrial-metal track with driving guitar riffs from Danny Lohner and hard-hitting drums from Chris Vrenna as it include wailing sounds of loops and synthesizers with Reznor also playing a saxophone on the track as it fades into the album closer in the reprised version of David Bowie’s I’m Deranged.




One song on the film that doesn’t appear on the soundtrack album is a cover of Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren from the 4AD label outfit This Mortal Coil that is performed by Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie of This Mortal Coil as it this devastating and haunting version due to Fraser’s vocals as it plays during a sex scene between Pete and Alice.




The soundtrack to Lost Highway is an incredible soundtrack album from Trent Reznor. Along with the score contributions from Angelo Badalamenti and Barry Adamson, the record is definitely an adventurous and eerie album that play into the dark world of David Lynch with songs from David Bowie, NIN, Lou Reed, Marilyn Manson, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Rammstein. In the end, the soundtrack to Lost Highway is a sensational album from Trent Reznor and David Lynch.

Related: Lost Highway

© thevoid99 2018

Lou Reed: A Tribute

At the Big Apple that is also known as the City that Never Sleeps, New York City just got quieter as on October 27, 2013. The city lost one of its great treasures in Lou Reed who died from liver disease at the age of 71. If Frank Sinatra was considered the King of New York back in the 1940s and 1950s. Reed would take on that mantle since the 1970s and do it with such class and danger making the city just as exciting. A young Jewish kid from Brooklyn who grew up in Long Island, Reed personified the city in its ugliness and at its most dangerous. Yet, that is one of the reasons why the city was so fun as he was their king though he acted like one of them by walking on the city and such.

There is no question that Lou Reed’s contribution to popular music is important with his work with the Velvet Underground to his amazing solo career. Brian Eno said it best that for those that had bought Velvet Underground and Nico when it first came out started a band afterwards. The four studio albums the Velvet Underground made from that debut w/ Nico as well as White Light White Heat, the third self-titled release, and Loaded are all quintessential in the world of rock n’ roll. Though they never sold a lot of records from 1967 to 1970, there wouldn’t be punk rock in the 1970s if it wasn’t for the Velvets as there also wouldn’t be post-punk, alternative rock, indie, or anything that was daring if it wasn’t for Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker, Doug Yule, and Nico being part of that entity.



All of those albums that Reed did as a member of the Velvets as well as compilations and box sets of outtakes and unreleased material showcase a wealth of music that wasn’t just ahead of its time. It was also dangerous not just in the subject matters such as drugs, sex, and things that were considered taboo and adult in the late 1960s. While Reed may have not had the kind of vocals that was considered fantastic in comparison to a lot of the mainstream music that was playing on the radio. It did appeal to those who weren’t comfortable with their vocal ranges as Reed was also someone who didn’t know many chords in playing the guitar. Yet he did said that even if you knew only one or two chords, there are a million things than can be done with so little which definitely appealed to the world of punk.



After leaving the Velvets in 1970, Reed would begin what would be an outstanding solo career that began in 1971. Though it got off to a rough start with his self-titled debut released in that year. It would a young up-and-coming artist in David Bowie who would help Lou Reed get success as a solo artist with the help of Bowie’s Spiders from Mars guitarist Mick Ronson as they produced what many consider to be his greatest solo achievement in Transformer. If there’s one solo record of his that anyone should start with, it’s this one. It’s an album from start to finish that is a joy to listen to as it features such classic tracks as the ballad Perfect Day, the love song Satellite of Love, the crunchy rocker Vicious, and of course, his only hit single in his entire career in Walk on the Wild Side.



While Reed maybe famous to the public at large for that one song and introduce him to a wide audience, he was still a cult artist of sorts with a devoted following that would grow in the decades to come. Albums such as Berlin (my favorite), Rock N’ Roll Animal, Blue Mask, New York, Songs for Drella with John Cale, Magic & Loss, and The Raven showcase an artist who was willing to be daring, dangerous but also filled with a craftsmanship and care as a songwriter that is unique. He was also someone who made record that were quite questionable such as his last studio release in a very strange collaboration with the metal band Metallica in the album Lulu. While it wasn’t a total disaster, it was still an album that didn’t have anything great to offer though it showed that Reed could still keep up with guys who were younger than him.

Throughout Reed’s solo career that also featured stories about his notorious drug use that had him competing with the likes of Keith Richards of who was the most notorious rock drug user. Like Richards, Reed would eventually clean up his act while maintaining that air of danger as Reed also created one of the most daring artistic statements with a double album in 1975 called Metal Machine Music which was a record of feedback that is all over the place that just goes on in four different sides. It’s a record that either was loved or hated as there was no question that it would help pave the way for genres such as noise-pop, shoe gaze, industrial, and all sorts of crazy-ass avant-garde music. Lester Bangs was right in calling the album genius as he was known for having a love-hate relationship with Reed.



Reed definitely earned his title as the King of New York while maintaining his status as a regular guy who loved rock n’ roll and doo-wop as one of his great contributions in the 1990s was a blistering cover of Doc Pomus’ This Magic Moment in tribute to the man that helped learn how to write songs. It appeared in David Lynch’s 1997 film Lost Highway where it was used in an effective moment in the film proving that Reed could do wonders to a great song.



One of my favorite Lou Reed moments was in an appearance in the Nine Inch Nails touring documentary Self Destruct from their 1997 Closure home video release where Reed was backstage talking to Trent Reznor praising him for rocking very smart as they had a beer together. It’s a moment where one of the coolest guys in rock gave a thumbs up to one of my favorite artists in the world.



Lou Reed definitely was a class act as another moment that I think plays into his legendary status is a rare duet with longtime friend David Bowie at Bowie’s 50th birthday concert in 1997 at Madison Square Garden in the song Queen Bitch that was Bowie’s tribute to Reed and the Velvets.



New York City will never be the same as does the world as Reed’s influence in music was also important to the world of social and cultural changes in Czechoslovakia where Vaclav Havel cited Reed and the Velvet Underground as a profound influence for the Velvet Revolution to occur in the late 1980s during the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. It’s not just these changes that Reed inspired as he was also influential to many musicians as Cowboy Junkies created an amazing cover of the Velvets’ Sweet Jane while Duran Duran did a cover of Reed’s Perfect Day that Reed himself loved. There will never be another Lou Reed. Yet, right now. He’s probably rocking out w/ Nico, Sterling Morrison, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Mick Ronson, and Doc Pomus while going to the bar where Dimebag Darrell Abbott is the bartender. We will miss you Lou. Thank you for the music.

R.I.P. Lewis Allan “Lou” Reed (1942-2013)

© thevoid99 2013

Various Artists-Trainspotting OST

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 12/23/08.

The soundtrack to the 1996 film Trainspotting compiled by the film's director Danny Boyle is considered to be one of the best films soundtracks ever made. Released at the time Brit-pop was becoming the big thing in Britain. The soundtrack contained several Brit-pop luminaries like Blur, Pulp, Elastica, and Sleeper along with the British art-rock band Primal Scream. Electronic music is also explored with contributions from Bedrock, New Order, Leftfield, and Underworld while legends like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and Brian Eno also contribute to the film's soundtrack. The result is one of the best film soundtracks ever created.

The album opener is the Iggy Pop classic Lust For Life from the 1977 album of the same name. With its hard-hitting, loud-pounding drums, shaky rhythms and melodies, and Pop's nasally yet cool baritone vocals. Filled with lyrics about substances and an upbeat lifestyle, it's a great opener to the song and film despite its dark tone. Brian Eno's ambient piece Deep Blue Day from his 1983 Apollo: Atmosphere and Soundtracks album with Daniel Lanois and Roger Eno is a dreamy, swooning track led by Brian Eno's synthesizer arrangements and Lanois' pedal-slide work that flourishes throughout the track. Played during Mark Renton's swim to retrieve suppositories, it's one of the most beautiful cuts on the album. The ten-and-a-half minute instrumental title track by Primal Scream is another amazing track with a smooth rhythm, warbling beats, swirling synthesizers, and a guitar track. Produced by Andrew Weatherhall, the track marks a return to the band's experimental sound as it plays to the hazy conversation between Renton and Sick Boy.

Next is a cover of Blondie's Atomic by Sleeper. Led by Louise Werner's smooth, low-sounding vocals, the song is definitely faithful to Blondie's original version with its famed guitar melody, swift rhythms, and hypnotic electronic arrangements. The track plays up to the moment Renton meets Diane. New Order's electro-pop song Temptation with its chugging rhythms, flourishing synthesizer, Peter Hook's melodic bass lines, and Bernard Sumner's vocals is another famed track on the album. Mostly heard in the background and later sung by Diane in a weird dream sequence, it's one of the most endearing songs on the album. Nightclubbing is another Iggy Pop song that's from his 1977 solo debut album The Idiot produced by David Bowie. With its heartbeat-like rhythm, fuzzy synthesizers, droning guitars, Bowie's piano track and Pop's eerie vocals, it's easily one of the darkest tracks on the album. Played during Renton and his gang's rising addiction towards heroin, it's a track that works in its dark tone.

Sing by Blur is an early song from the band with its droning guitars, haunting piano track, and Damon Albarn's vocals. The song refers to a tragic aftermath and famed chase scene as it plays up to the song's dramatic tone. Next is Lou Reed's ballad Perfect Day from 1972's Transformer album with Reed's somber vocals and a flourishing chorus led by Mick Ronson's string arrangements and Reed's poignant, melancholic lyrics. The song plays to Renton's overdose as he goes into a haze and near-death. Mile End by Pulp is a kooky song with smooth, swinging melodies, Jarvis Cocker's dark lyrics, and Candida Doyle's swooning keyboards. The song plays to Begbie being a nuisance to Renton's new lifestyle. For What You Dream Of by Bedrock featuring KYO is a techno number that plays up to the new, modern world of London that Renton seems to enjoy. With its shimmering synthesizers, breaking beats, and KYO's soulful vocals, it's another standout to reveal the world of electronic music in Britain.

Elastica's 2:1 from their 1995 landmark debut album is a minimalist rocker with mid-tempo, tapping beats, groove-laden guitars, and sturdy melodies with Justine Frischmann's smooth vocals. Played during Sick Boy's arrival to London and causing Renton more trouble, it's a fun, dark track that has a sense of humor. A Final Hit by Leftfield is an instrumental piece with eerie electronic arrangements and haunting bass line to play up to the drug deal meeting with Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie with a sense of foreboding. Born Slippy (NUXX) by Underworld is a wonderful nine-minute, forty-five second electronic track with flourishing pianos, eerie synthesizers, and loud, pounding break-beats. The track plays up to the drama where Renton makes a fateful decision. The album closer Closet Romantic by Blur's Damon Albarn is a smooth, electro-beat track with harmoniums and keyboards as Albarn sings and speaks about the James Bond films that starred Sean Connery that's played in the final credits.

When it was released shortly after the film came out, it became a major hit that a year later. A second soundtrack was released featuring songs that were in the film but didn't make it into the soundtrack along with music that inspired the film. Yet, the soundtrack was a major hit in the days of Brit-pop while often considered to be an essential record of that period. While the soundtrack also introduced American audiences to the burgeoning electronica music scene that would come a year later to little fanfare. Yet, the soundtrack remains one of the best of all-time as it's often put in lists for all-time great film soundtracks.

The soundtrack to Trainspotting is easily one of the best films soundtracks ever created. Thanks to its mix of Brit-pop, 70s art-rock, and electronic music, it's an album that is truly perfect from start to finish. Like many great film soundtracks before and since, it works because it put all the right songs from the film and into a record that is enjoyable to hear. In the end, the soundtrack to Trainspotting is a great companion to the film as well as for Brit-pop enthusiasts.

Related: Trainspotting - Favorite Films #10: Trainspotting

© thevoid99 2013