Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Dec 8, 2006 2:22:38 GMT -5
Xpress magazine from Australia reviews PW's soundtrack album:
PAUL WESTERBERG - Open Season OST
At first glance, one of the grandfathers of the post-punk movement may not have been the most obvious choice to pen the soundtrack for an animated motion feature, but anyone who had seen solo shows over recent times where he dons outlandish hats, bright coloured baggy three-quarter length suits and footwear resembling that of a clown would not be too surprised to see Paul Westerberg commissioned for Sony Pictures’ Open Season.
Although brimming with moments of brilliance, Westerberg’s last few albums have been hastily recorded lacklustre spectacles, so it is an unexpected delight to hear his hook-laden tunes fleshed out with a big budget and a plethora of players. The reviving of an old faithful in the form of Good Day benefits greatly from the expensive studio treatment to offer extra poignancy to the emotive ballad, whilst songs such as the smartly titled Right To Arm Bears and cranking Meet Me In The Meadow show that Westerberg has lost none of his craft.
Open Season may be the soundtrack to a film aimed primarily at children, but there were some real adult dramas that accompany the soundtrack – like Sony Pictures hiring Pete Yorn to sing on the showpiece tune for the film I Belong, although both the Yorn and Westerberg versions of the tune appear in both the film and this soundtrack.
Fleshing out the release is the Cake spin-off band Deathray with I Wanna Lose Control and the Westerberg penned Wild As I Wanna Be, and the Talking Heads classic Wild Wild Life. But let there be no doubt, this is for all intents and purposes a Westerberg album – and a damn fine one at that. Hopefully the film can live up to the soundtrack’s undeniable quality.
_CHRIS HAVERCROFT
PAUL WESTERBERG - Open Season OST
At first glance, one of the grandfathers of the post-punk movement may not have been the most obvious choice to pen the soundtrack for an animated motion feature, but anyone who had seen solo shows over recent times where he dons outlandish hats, bright coloured baggy three-quarter length suits and footwear resembling that of a clown would not be too surprised to see Paul Westerberg commissioned for Sony Pictures’ Open Season.
Although brimming with moments of brilliance, Westerberg’s last few albums have been hastily recorded lacklustre spectacles, so it is an unexpected delight to hear his hook-laden tunes fleshed out with a big budget and a plethora of players. The reviving of an old faithful in the form of Good Day benefits greatly from the expensive studio treatment to offer extra poignancy to the emotive ballad, whilst songs such as the smartly titled Right To Arm Bears and cranking Meet Me In The Meadow show that Westerberg has lost none of his craft.
Open Season may be the soundtrack to a film aimed primarily at children, but there were some real adult dramas that accompany the soundtrack – like Sony Pictures hiring Pete Yorn to sing on the showpiece tune for the film I Belong, although both the Yorn and Westerberg versions of the tune appear in both the film and this soundtrack.
Fleshing out the release is the Cake spin-off band Deathray with I Wanna Lose Control and the Westerberg penned Wild As I Wanna Be, and the Talking Heads classic Wild Wild Life. But let there be no doubt, this is for all intents and purposes a Westerberg album – and a damn fine one at that. Hopefully the film can live up to the soundtrack’s undeniable quality.
_CHRIS HAVERCROFT