It's soul but not as we know it. (The Commitments - Soundtrack)

Member Name: TheAdder

Product:	The Commitments - Soundtrack
Date:	23/10/09 (114 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Andrew Strong, a startling performance.

Disadvantages: To many mediocre ones made it onto here.

The soundtrack from the film of the 1987 Roddy Doyle book.

As the cynic inside me protests that there is some severe milking going on here, the voice of reason waggles a cautionary finger. It argues that the film was fundamentally based around music - soul music to be precise- and the actors used were chosen for their competency as musicians ahead of their Thespian leanings.

So let us snap on a rubber glove, squeeze the teat of the Commitments cow and see if the music stands alone, proud and redolent, at peace with itself as a true entity of entertainment. Or has our love for a hugely enjoyable film jaundiced our view and thrown a glittering mask over the sour stench of stale, commercialised milkage? No gags, no plot, no foxy blondes in figure hugging black outfits, just music - that Sweet Soul Music (yeah yeah).

The Commitments soundtrack features the songs - all cover versions -from the film in their entirety. As stated earlier, musicians rather than actors were used in the film and they are all credited on the album. However, as the case for the prosecution forwards itself, there is a large number of extra musicians also credited in the back of the inlay card so it does beg the question "just who the hell played on these songs?" The information inside the CD case just lists the vocalists featured on the tracks and there's no disguising them anyway. The case for the defence shrugs its emerald shoulders, cracks open a can of Guinness and replies, "Who cares ya eijet, it's all music, just enjoy it."

It is indeed a very interesting take on soul music. The more modern approach to some classic soul songs no doubt seduced plenty of new fans into the genre but consequently would have done so at the expense of many staunch soul supporters who would no doubt have been horrified at some of the versions. I say this because soul fans (Northern soul fans in particular) can be a very protective bunch.

Andrew Strong (vocalist 'Deco' in the film), surprisingly only takes the lead on 6 of the 14 tracks on here. Considering he was only in his teens when this was recorded his performance is absolutely stunning. Possessing a gravel-laced 60 a day rasp that belies his youth he delivers his appointed tracks with distinction and a natural ease that is the very epitome of soul music itself. Even the esoteric Wigan Pier fraternity would be tempted to sew on a new badge in his honour.
You feel he would be equally at home blasting out a bit of hard rock, the upbeat version of Al Green's 'Take Me To The River' leads me to this assumption. With the song's ringing snare sound and solid 4/4 strut it just dips into soft rock territory in parts but gets chased out with a broom as the backing girls and brass section restore a little more familiarity during the chorus.

You can't fault Strong on any of his performances but I do have a slight gripe with the way Otis Redding's 'Mr. Pitiful' is conveyed. Technically, from a musical perspective there's nothing at all wrong with it. It's nice and tight, bright, great cutting brass sound and generally well performed, but it is too darn fast. Now certain songs work when given a bit of turbo, but the title of this song is 'Mr. Pitiful'. Redding sounds tortured when he sings it, his soul is burning and his tears can't put out the fires. Strong sounds too happy to be there, like he's singing it from an open top bus to a throng of delighted Munchkins on his way to Oz. He's not to blame but whoever decided it should be played at this tempo must have forgotten to read the lyrics at some point.
I suppose though, in their defence, most people hear melody before they listen to lyrics.

The backing girls get to have their moment in the spotlight, with Angelina Ball (the foxy blonde) performing admirably on 'Chain Of Fools' and 'I Can't Stand The Rain'. Maria Doyle (Natalie) does likewise for the Ronnie Shannon song 'Never Loved A Man' but is then let down by the overall production of her other lead in the song 'Bye Bye Baby'. It's got that damned awful pearly white Shakin' Stevens 80's clarity about it that churns the stomach with every chord strummed and beat hit. As for its place on a soul album? Well, put it this way, King Kong would look less incongruous if he sat his big hairy arse down at a chess tournament.

Bronagh Gallagher (Bernie in the film) doesn't get a chance at a lead (the other solo spots are given to Niamh Kavanagh, who oddly has no credits anywhere) but is a valued cog in the 3 piece backing singer wheel. There is a slight element of 'Shaz, Trace and Chantelle at the Dog and Duck's karaoke night' in snippets of some songs but they come and go without really registering.

An interesting vocal contribution is made on 'Treat Her Right' and 'Slip Away' by Robert Arkins who played the part of the band's manager Jimmy Rabbitte. He was originally cast as 'Deco' until Andrew Strong came along and blew everybody out of the water.
Arkins doesn't actually sing in the film so these tracks are a little insight into what could have been. He's clearly got a decent voice with a nice soulful crackle going on somewhere within but it just seems to remain dormant throughout his 2 efforts. You want him to just burst it out. The choice of material is questionable for him. 'Treat Her Right' is a 12 bar blues blast but drops during the verses and requires a more subtle voice whereas 'Slip Away' doesn't really go anywhere except trying to sound a bit like Joe Cocker's 'With A Little Help From My Friends' in places and leaves Arkins - through no fault of his own - strangely suppressed in vocal limbo.

All the standout songs on the album are delivered by Strong and fans of the film will certainly be disappointed he doesn't get more tracks on the album which to me is a baffling decision. It is no coincidence that he is involved in all the more lauded material on here and is the figurehead and talisman for the band. He'll never sound exactly like Wilson Pickett or Otis Redding, few can, but he does an outstanding job on here with soul standards 'Mustang Sally', 'Midnight Hour' and 'Try A Little Tenderness', which is a notoriously tricky song to master in soul circles. You've got to get that one right or it can sound like your drunken uncle voicing over the Hovis 'Bike' advert from the 70's.

The production on the whole is a touch too polished for my liking although I understand modernisation of the sound was intrinsic to the success of the film and the album as it tried to appeal to a more mainstream audience. I've written on other reviews about the merits of cover versions and I'm not opposed to them and their experimentation in the slightest. After all, if a cover version sounds exactly like the original then what's the point? However, I do feel a few of these miss the point and the very essence of soul and are pretty superfluous as far as the album goes.

But music is music. Those little tadpoles that can be transposed to and from the stave will provide joy, heartbreak and difference of opinion for eternity. There are no rules as to what is good and what is bad. Personal choices are personal choices. Styles and genres equate to just descriptive names to save time on informing us on the ins and outs.

I'm not saying this is a bad album, nowhere near, it's just I feel it could have been a lot more consistent with different material - maybe the stronger songs from volume 2 of the soundtrack (yep they did a follow up album to this one too).

Glass of milk anyone? I'll be just having a sip so you can finish mine.

Summary: Nearly.