There are only a handful of movies that I can watch over and over and Dazed And Confused is one of them. Why? You don't have to skip through any boring scenes [because there are none] and you get to see Ben Affleck with probably the worst haircut ever. Moreover, there are some pretty big names in the movie [before they reached superstardom of course] like Milla Jovovich, Joey Lauren Adams, Cole Hauser, Matthew McConaughey, Renee Zellweger and Parker Posey. The soundtrack is stellar but there are some artists and groups that were snubbed. Whether there were mitigating circumstances that lead to them not being added to the soundtrack or a royalty dispute, it sucked to not get some of the awesome songs you heard in the film.

In the 70's no one rocked hard, longer or louder than KISS. Well, on a mainstream level. "Rock And Roll All Night" was the 70's version of a teen anthem when pot was cheap, acid was smooth and casual sex was a given. When you come out of the fog and the haze and actually listen to it, well it's a little different. There's a hell a lot of repetitiveness to the song; "you drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy" might only be repeated four times but "I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day" gets belted out fourteen times. If you have the original you'll get two extra helpings of the "rock and roll all night" line. While that was massively cool when they were playing in concert because everyone screamed it, it leaves me wondering how wasted they were in the studio when they were recording it and what the song would have sounded like if they were stone cold sober.

I've never been a huge fan of Foghat but there are some songs that bring back some rather foggy memories. You are getting "Slow Ride" but you are not getting "I Just Wanna Make Love To You"; this is sort of a split decision because both of them are incredible tracks but I think "Slow Ride" won because it's a tad more popular. "Hurricane" was the perfect song to play for the Emporium entrance; even though I am not a Dylan fan on any level, this was the best pick for the slightly slowed down scene. If you are under 30 chances are you never heard that before you saw this movie. But that's one of the coolest things about a well rounded soundtrack from an era-specific movie. You get a taste of some of the more popular songs without getting them shoved down your throat. A good example of that is "Highway Star" from Deep Purple; it's got a southern rock appeal to it but a high crossover to the classic rock scene. Used within the film it was a nice cut scene piece but not something that dominated it. Likewise, some of the slower songs like "Love Hurts" and "Summer Breeze" [not on this soundtrack] really helped to make the scene complete. Thankfully all of the songs on this release are their original versions done by the original artists.

If the name "Fox On The Run" doesn't ring any bells, hear the synthesized intro and you'll know the track. In a lot of ways this sounds like some of the music that Ace Frehley did for his solo album. The song doesn't really do much for the soundtrack but when you hear the opening you'll know exactly what scene it was used for in the film. That's one of the biggest problems with songs used in movies; sometimes the song will play the whole way through and not make it on to the soundtrack and other times you will hear twenty seconds of it and it will et included. There are some artists like Ted Nugent that get a couple of nods in the film. "Stranglehold" and "Hey Baby" are polar opposites of his sound but only the first one made it on the soundtrack. Chances are if the name "Hey Baby" doesn't ring any bells, when you hear the first ten seconds of it you'll snicker and think "oh, yeah, ok, got it".

"Low Rider" by War has been in more than a few movies, the intro is a dead giveaway to the bounce and perk of the song. It's something that was popular in SoCal with the rich white kids with tricked out car which of course made the vatos laugh to no end. The song is repetitive but catchy; with a mix of horns and deep vocals it's something that never gets old. Sadly "Why Can't We Be Friends" [also performed by War] was not included on the soundtrack. If I had to pick between the two for the soundtrack I would have went with the latter. "Sweet Emotion", " Right Place, Wrong Time", "Livin' In The USA", "I Just Wanna Make Love To You" and "Summer Breeze" are missing. While they were clearly featured in the movie, they are void on this release. Again, if you get the expanded soundtrack you are going to get them.

There are some definite power hitters on this soundtrack; picking one that stands out as the best is impossible no matter how biased you are. I mean Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" are classics no matter what your view of the 70's scene is. The opening guitar riffs of "Paranoid" are epic on so many levels but you have to give props to "Tuesday's Gone" because of the amazing guitar work and while they are both on different levels, they really bring a lot to the soundtrack in capturing the signature sound. I'm so glad that "Freebird" wasn't used for Dazed And Confused; while it is their most popular track, it's something that is extremely overplayed on the classic rock stations.

Completely slighted on the soundtrack, Peter Frampton. "Do You Feel Like We Do" and "Show Me The Way" are not on this release; if you get some of the 'expanded' soundtracks that have all of the song featured in the movie you will get both tracks but they are not included on this one. Why? I can't say why but it really irks me. If you are a fan of Alice Cooper then you will know that two of his songs appeared in the movie, "School's Out" and "No More Nice Guy" [the perfect song of the paddle scene] but you are only getting the first one on the soundtrack. While there is no denying that it is a great song and one of his most popular, there's no reason why this couldn't have been expanded to include both songs.

This is an extremely era-specific soundtrack. If you aren't in to the 70's scene then chances are this isn't going to have any appeal to you. If you loved the movie and the whole concept of it then it is worth checking out. While it does suck that song artists were completely skipped over, what you are getting is solid.


^V^ ©Freak369 - 2012 ^V^


The Crow Soundtrack
The Crow Score

Vision Quest
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Tank Girl
Pretty In Pink

Recommended: Yes