Monster-In-Law Soundtrack Review
by Charlotte Hannon
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Monster In Law is a romantic comedy starring Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lopez and Michael Vartan. Directed by Legally Blonde's Robert Luketic, (if you enjoyed Legally Blonde you'll probably enjoy this film too). In a nutshell the movie is about a girl (Lopez) finally finding the man of her dreams (Vartan) but the mother in law (Fonda) from hell.
The soundtrack is consistent with the light fare of the film, with the songs chosen by the music supervisor for their relevancy. As song soundtracks go this 13 song CD is no worse than a decent compilation with most of the material falling in the category of light-hearted romance. There are a couple of stand-outs, "Super Duper Love (Are you Diggin on Me)"performed by soul kitten Joss Stone, who could probably sing anything and make it stand out, and the last track "The Beauty Of The Rain", a beautiful melancholy ballad written and performed by the fabulous Dar Williams.
The first track "Love:(Koop Remix)" performed by Rosey, is a jazzy Bossa Nova type piece. Might work as regards driving a scene in a movie, but in it's own right while the musicianship is fine the vocals didn't do it for me, it was a typical soundtrack filler song. I couldn't help but compare that to the genuinely sexy vocal sound of Jem on "Just A Ride", while the tune itself is very light, a good natured up-tempo pop tune, one could imagine cruising along on a sunny breezy day. It's a song geared to putting one in a good mood despite themselves.
"Everyday Is A Holiday (With You)" performed by Esthero, is a piano driven piece with a lot of fun instrumentation utilizing horns and a very catchy la la la type refrain. "Wont U Please Be Nice", performed by the wonderful Nellie McKay, was one reminiscent of those Big Band saucy and fun ditty's. Nellie is truly a star of the witty delivery of some very tongue in cheek lyrics: "give me head or you'll be dead"/ "salute the flag or I'll call you a fag", somehow managing to pull it all off with great comedic flair.
In contrast "1963" performed by Rachael Yamagata enters the more serious pop range with a very interesting arrangement. Rachael's slightly edgy sound reminded me a little of Macy Gray, but a Macy Gray singing about something happy if you can imagine that. "L-L-Love" performed by Astaire is a fairly decent electronic pop tune with a catchy chorus. "Walking With A Ghost" written and performed by Tegan and Sara, (I've never heard of these two but I liked the tune even though there's really not much to the song lyrically), had good drive to it and an energy but like "Thinking About You" performed by Ivy, it was another one of those light pop tunes that probably fit the scene in the film better than it does listening without visuals.
"Don't Wait Too Long" performed by Madeleine Peyroux was along the lines of "Won't U Please B Nice". Like Ms McKay, Madeleine knows how to deliver a song and create a very enjoyable listening experience. Rounding out the listening experience were two pieces in the singer/songwriter genre, "When Happiness Lives" and "Love On The Rocks" (no, not that Love On The Rocks). Both were fairly solid pop tunes easy on the ears. If you're in the mood for some easy listening background music, i.e. for driving, cooking, cleaning, etc. I'd recommend this CD. With most of the material falling in the decent enough song category and those few notable stand-outs you can't do any worse here than many commercial CD's by top artists that only contain one or two good tracks. Who knows it might even turn you on to someone new as it did me.
CD Info and Links
Monster-In-Law Soundtrack Label:New Line Records
Rating:
Track Listing:
1. Love - Rosey (Koop remix)
2. Just A Ride - Jem
3. Everyday Is A Holiday (With You) - Esthero
4. Won't U Please B Nice - Nellie McKay
5. 1963 - Rachel Yamagata
6. L-L-Love - Astaire
7. Walking With A Ghost - Tegan & Sara
8. Thinking About You - Ivy
9. Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' On Me?) Pt. 1 - Joss Stone
10. Don't Wait Too Long - Madeleine Peyroux
11. Where Happiness Lives - Magnet
12. Love On The Rocks - Sara Bareilles
13. Beauty Of The Rain, The - Dar Williams
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