Drive (Original Motion
Picture Soundtrack)
Critics were divided over the film Drive last year, some raving and others hating, but there was one opinion
that was universal: it had the coolest soundtrack in recent memory. Keeping in
tune with its ’80s visual aesthetic, the soundtrack bounces from synths to
dancehall slow-jams at full throttle. The opening track (of the film and album
alike) “Nightcall” blasts through your speakers, effortlessly transporting you
to the more sleazy side of Los Angeles nightlife that the film lives in. “Under
Your Spell” plays out as a touching yet disturbing love ballad (much like the
film itself) and pushes the dancehall rhythms merrily along. The apex of the
album is “A Real Hero,” featuring some of the most earnest lyrics ever sung on
top of a head-thumping bass. Cliff Martinez, a frequent music composer on
Steven Soderbergh films, rounds out the rest of the album with his indelible
score, mixing orchestral grandeur with electronic pulses. I don’t think I have
to drive (pun intended) the point home any further; this soundtrack is
phenomenal.
College feat. Electric Youth – A Real Hero
Take Me Home Tonight
(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
When Topher Grace made the film Take Me Home Tonight, he was trying to emulate the sweet and silly
films from the ’80s (for which John Hughes gets all the credit). Of course, to
make a film seem like it was made in that decade, you have to load its
soundtrack with pure ’80s tunes, for better or for worse. Better than any
actual ’80s album compilations, the soundtrack covers all areas of the decade
in just 12 songs. If you were in high school or college in the ’80s, you will
have no doubt heard these songs from a boom box or two back in the day. Such
hits include: “Video Killed the Radio Star,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Safety Dance,” and what
’80s nostalgia trip would be complete without: “Straight Outta Compton?”
