Reservoir Dogs - Original Soundtrack

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	A wide variety of tunes
Disadvantages:	Too short

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I’m a big fan of the film, so when I saw the Soundtrack on offer, I decided to buy it.

When the film was released in 1992 it caused a storm with its extreme violence. The soundtrack on the other hand doesn't seem to mirror any of that.

The cover shows the film cast with blood splashed in the background, yet the CD is made up of uplifting 70's songs. Some of them now famous and well known because of the film.

It's become common to include little snippets from the film between songs, and this soundtrack is no different. Some are main lines from the film and others are the monotone DJ from the film playing ‘K-Billy’s Super Sounds Of The Seventies’.

The tracks are as follows:

1. Little Green Bag – performed by George Baker Selection- Anyone who knows the film will know this song. It’s the one that’s played during the opening credits while the cast are walking down a street in slow motion. It starts with a guitar and the shaking of a tambourine in the background, and then a whisper of "yeah"! The song has nothing to do with the film, but has the right sound. An excellent track, and one of my favourites on the album.

2. Hooked On A Feeling – performed by Blue Swede - The song starts with tribal men’s voices shouting "Ooga chakka ooga, ooga, Ooga chakka ooga, ooga.” but then turns into quite an upbeat love song.

3. I Gotcha- performed by Joe Tex – Typical 70’s James Brown type funk containing good and funny lyrics. The song completely changes after about 30 seconds, so I recommend waiting before you hit the forward button on your remote control.

4. Magic Carpet Ride- performed by Bedlam – This song is a cover (I haven’t heard the original though so cant comment if this is any better). This is more 60’s hippie than 70’s and is not my kind of thing.

5. Fool For Love – performed by Sandy Rogers- This is a country and western song about lost love (aren’t they all?). This does start with quite a heavy country feel but does mellow after a while. Although I’m not keen on Country and Western, this has grown on me.

6. Stuck In The Middle With You – performed by Stealers Wheel- Like ‘Little Green Bag’ this song has become well known because of the movie (its played during the ear cutting scene), and was recently covered by Louise! A feel good song that's bound to get your feet tapping.

7. Harvest Moon – performed by Bedlam – Another cover version. A fairly mellow song with pretty mediocre lyrics also.

8. Coconut – performed by Harry Nilsson – This is played during the end credits of the film, so not many people will recognise it. A completely daft yet fun song, one that definitely sticks in your head and has you dancing round the room. It does start of slowly but picks up pace during the song. The lyrics are completely absurd, but worth listening to ‘You put the lime in the coconut, drink them both up ‘

If you were a fan of the film, then this is a CD you might seriously want to consider adding to your collection.
The only downside is that its only about 30 minutes long.
The songs on this soundtrack were excellent choices to reflect the tone of the film and the wide variety of tracks is what makes this CD a must. The excerpts from the film between some of the tracks also add to the overall appeal.