Driven Drama
Have you ever gone digging through your CD collection and come across one that you haven't listened to in a VERY long time? Well I did just that this morning and came across the Driven Soundtrack. Thinking back to that purchase I can't help but think What in the world was I thinking? It was definitely one of those impulse buys made on a whim. I went to see Driven, the ill-fated Formula One racing flick staring Sly Stallone and Burt Reynolds the night it opened a couple of years ago. It was a late show I believe. The movie was crap. Formula One is very cool but this movie did it no justice at all. The CG racing scenes were very poorly done. That combined with pitiful attempts at acting totally ruined the movie for me. Which brings me back to why did I buy the soundtrack. I can't honestly say why. I'd have to watch the movie again to determine what cool songs I heard in it that would make me drive to the Super K-Mart across from the theater and buy this ill-conceived mess that very night. That is a torture I don't wish to endure a second time.
So back to the CD itself. It's been taking up space in my CD holder for months err, make that years. I misplaced the CD case for it a long time ago so it was relegated to my ancient Case Logic CD holder. For my fellow Kadena High School Class of '95 graduates who might be reading this, this is the same Case Logic CD holder I won at Project Graduation the night we escaped the bounds of high school forever some 8 years ago. (I still can't believe it's been that long.) Up until recently I've been using it as a home for orphaned CDs. CDs who no longer have a home (aka a jewel case). When I moved to 3rd shift at work though my music needs changed. Working overnight provides 6 to 7 hours of prime music listening time. In order to meet this increased listening demand I had to deploy all available CD carrying infrastructure for the cause. The Case Logic CD holder had fallen out of favor in my eyes over the years because it was big and bulky. I have bought other smaller Case Logic CD holding units in the last few years that better met my needs. However when duty called the Original Case Logic CD holder was forced back into everyday service. I've got it filled to the brim with CDs now. My backpack is just the right size to hold it, the other two CD holders, a magazine or two and possibly a small paperback. So now I have a sizable portion of my music collection at my fingertips at anytime of the night. When I called the Original CD holder back into service I didn't clear out the orphans to make way for the cream of the crop which brings me back to the Driven Soundtrack.
I've probably listened to that piece of junk all the way through once. I try to give all CDs the benefit of the doubt. When I buy one I immediately listen to it all the way through at least once. I listen straight through without skipping ahead. Even if I come across at track that I know right off the bat I don't like I'll endure it on that first spin. I do that so I can get a general feel for the album as a whole. Some CDs are only good for a track here and there while others are good as a whole and must be listened to that way instead of as separate tracks. Let's just say Driven got one spin and one spin only. If I had the jewel case for it I'd try to sell it but I don't so it's been in the orphanage since not too long after I originally purchased it. This morning I was flipping through the collection and came across it. I figured what the heck. Let's give it a listen. I couldn't remember why I didn't like it. I remember now. It's complete and utter crap. There are a couple of diamonds in this lump of coal though. The first track, Breakdown by Tantric is actually pretty cool. I remember liking that song when it was all over the radio a few years ago. 8 tracks of excruciating hell later is another decent track, Satellite by BT. Why BT would allow one of his track to be associated with this poor excuse of a movie and soundtrack is beyond me but he did and this is a pretty good track. If you don't know BT's work do some Google research. He does good music. The only other track worth anything is a cover of the O'Jays smash hit For The Love Of Money by Rare Blend. Don't ask me who Rare Blend is cause I couldn't tell you but they do a mean cover of this classic song. My friends and I used the baseline of that song for a talent show performance back in high school so For The Love Of Money brings back many fond memories for me. Plus it's just an awesome song period.
So that makes 3 listenable song out of the 15 tracks on the disc. Hardly worth the $13.99 I paid K-Mart for it. I'll be ripping the good tracks to MP3 when I get home and then relegating the disc back to its place in the orphanage. I may have to discard it completely due space requirements in the near future. I know you've all been riveted by this little mini drama so I'll be sure to keep you updated as events unfold.
The moral of this story is: Don't go out and buy movie soundtracks. 9 times out of 10 the cool tracks from the movie aren't going to be on there which leaves you with a useless, expensive, pile of crap. The recently released Kill Bill Volume 1 soundtrack is a glorious exception to this normally steadfast rule. Instead invest your money into finding and acquiring the film score on CD. Any film worth it's salt has a score most action movies excluded of course. I find film scores to be much more satisfying than soundtracks. A good score will stick with you. Sometimes they mesh so well with the fabric of the film that you can literally recall scenes from the movie based on the music that's playing. That's quite an accomplishment in my book.
