1 |
Gonna
Fly Now (Theme From Rocky) |
2 |
Eye
Of The Tiger |
3 |
Going
The Distance |
4 |
Living
In American |
5 |
Redemption
(Theme From Rocky II) |
6 |
Fanfare
For Rocky |
| 7 |
Burning
Heart |
8 |
Conquest |
9 |
Adrian |
10 |
No
Easy Out |
11 |
Rock's
Reward |
12 |
Alone
In The Ring |
13 |
Heart's
On Fire |
14 |
Can't
Stop The Fire |
15 |
Mickey |
16 |
Overtune |
17 |
It's
A Fight |
18 |
Gonna
Fly Now (John X Remix) |
REVIEW
There is a formula to things which work. And if you change
this formula, it might just bring about failure. This soundtrack
to Sylvester Stallone’s fifth sequel to the successful
boxing genre franchise works this way- it brings together
the best of the six movies and put it in one 66-minute album.
The
sound and music on this soundtrack feels dated, and we mean
it in a good way.
For
those who grew up watching the Rocky series, you’d remember
how glorious and righteous the heavyweight champion was, and
the familiar main theme composed by Bill Conti would play
in the background. With a grand trumpet fanfare introduction,
“Gonna Fly Now” opens the album, and this should
please the nostalgic listener. The brassy melody is accompanied
by electric guitar and repetitive strings, which are backed
up by a chanting choir. It definitely brings back memories
of the phenomenal 1976 movie which won itself a Best Picture
during the Oscars that year.
The
dated resonance does not stop there, because the rest of the
album contains songs which define the 1970s and 1980s. The
famed melodies of “Eye of the Tiger” and the awesomely
old-fashioned “Burning Heart” by Survivor would
please fans of music originating from that era.
Dialogue
snippets are infused into the tracks to add a personal touch
to fans who grew up with Rocky as well.
For
the rest of us who are not fans, or have gotten used to listening
to modern pop, the recurring themes in “Redemption”
and “Fanfare For Rocky” will only prove to be
amusing at first, and then gradually becoming uninteresting.
After all, the delight in listening to big band sounds and
classic piano tinkling can only last that long.
If
you had to, do listen to Three 6 Mafia’s uniquely different
“It’s A Fight” which brings freshness to
the album, as well as John X’s energizing remix of “Gonna
Fly Now”. When the album closes with these two contemporary
tracks, you may just feel that all things should change according
with the times
SOUNDTRACK
RATING:
Review
by John Li
|
