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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's groovy but not that groovy, baby, 22 Aug 2003
As is often the case with movie soundtracks, this CD offers some really good tracks alongside some humdrum and rather poor ones. Madonna's Beautiful Stranger is the cream of the crop; it's one of the better songs Madonna has put out in recent years, in my opinion. The live version of The Who's My Generation fits the Austin Powers theme nicely and plays very well on the album. Lenny Kravitz' rocking remake of American Woman is another great track that many folks will be quite familiar with already from its heavy radio play. I was very happy to see Dr. Evil's Just the Two of Us make its way onto the album, as it's a crowd-pleasing, memorable party of the movie. I also rather like, in a weird sort of way, The Lucy Nation's song Alright; it has an unusual sound and style that distinguishes it from its peers on this CD. Unfortunately, the better tracks stop here. Some of these songs are remakes of classic songs, and I have to question why these remakes were even made. R.E.M.'s cover of Draggin' the Line is OK, but it differs very little from the original recording. Melanie G (aka Scary Spice) provides a completely unnecessary remake in the form of her cover of Cameo's funky tour de force Word Up; that great song is best left in the capable hands (and voice) of Cameo's Larry Blackmon. Big Blue Missile (with Scott Weiland) does a pretty mediocre job covering another classic song, Time of the Season; apparently, it wasn't the time of the season for all the singers to actually hit the right notes. Buggin' is an interesting track from The Flamingo Lips, but I can't decide whether I actually like the song or not. Green Day fans shouldn't get overly excited at the sight of the band's contribution here, as Espionage features no singing whatsoever. I'm still trying to figure out why Burt Bacharach is such an integral part of Austin Powers as I'm not naturally drawn to his music, but his collaboration with Elvis Costello on the all-too-familiar I'll Never Fall in Love Again isn't all that bad. The album ends on a fun note, with Quincy Jones' souped-up version of the basic Austin Powers theme music. All in all, while the album has its good points, it is by no means a must-have. Were it not for Madonna's Beautiful Stranger, I doubt I would have bought the CD. Still, it's fun to listen to the whole thing every so often.
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