Digital Roundup: 5/28/14
New this week in the Rhino Room at iTunes:
Linda Ronstadt, The ‘90s Collection: When Ms. Ronstadt released her Duets compilation last month, the content was decidedly heavy on her ‘70s and ‘80s material, with a bit of a spotlight on Adieu False Heart, her 2006 collaboration with Ann Savoy, but it didn’t do much to remind listeners of the strong work she was continuing to deliver during the ‘90s. Thankfully, this new set does wonders to alleviate that problem by offering up more or less everything she delivered during the ‘90s…or at least the six studio albums she released during the decade, anyway: Mas Canciones (1991), Frenesí (1992), Winter Light (1993), Feels Like Home (1995), Dedicated to the One I Love(1996), and We Ran(1998). Although Ronstadt’s sales figures might not have been through the roof at the time, she continued to receive acclaim for her work, with Frenesí winning the Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album (which really is a thing, honest) and Dedicated to the One I Love winning for Best Musical Album for Children, while both Winter Light and Feels Like Home featured singles which scored some decent success on adult-contemporary radio, including “Oh, No, Not My Baby” and “The Blue Train.” Several of these albums have slipped out of print over the years, too, so it’s nice to know that the whole bunch is available again, but if there’s an underrated gem worth investigating, it’s probably We Ran, which features Ronstadt interpreting tracks by Bruce Springsteen (“If I Should Fall Behind”), Bob Dylan (“Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”), and John Hiatt (“Icy Blue Heart” and the title track).
Mary Wells, Servin’ Up Some Soul: This 1968 album featured the song that would prove to be Wells’ final entry on the pop charts: “The Doctor,” the first collaboration between Wells and her then-husband, Cecil Womack, which topped out at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album’s other two singles, “Can’t Get Away From Your Love” and “Don’t Look Back,” were also Wells/Womack co-writes, but neither charted. For those who are fans of Wells’ way with interpreting other artists’ songs, you’ll also find her takes on “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” (Jay & the Techniques), “Stagger Lee” (Lloyd Price), and “500 Miles” (Peter, Paul & Mary), among others.
Various Artists, The Family Man OST: Soundtracks are somewhat notorious for being a little all-over-the-place when it comes to their musical content, but Nicolas Cage’s 2000 film The Family Man is pretty diverse by just about anyone’s tastes, with Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, and U2 sitting side by side with Mr. Big, Blue Magic, Edwin McCain, and Luciano Pavarotti. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it’s definitely an eclectic bunch of tunes.
Various Artists, Ready to Rumble OST: The 2000 professional-wrestling comedy starring David Arquette, Scott Caan, and Oliver Platt wasn’t exactly a box office smash – its worldwide take was only about half of its original budget – but it definitely has a cult following, which means that there’s almost certainly an audience out there who’ll be excited about the reissue of its soundtrack. No matter what you may think of the film, you still have to admit that there are some pretty big names on here: the track listing includes songs by The Offspring, Bif Naked, Kid Rock, Run D.M.C., Dweezil Zappa, P.O.D., House of Pain, D.J. Hurricane, Papa Roach, and Motley Crue.
Michael Crawford, EFX Original Cast Album: If you visited Las Vegas at some point between 1995 and 2003, there’s a pretty decent chance that you saw some sort of advertisement for EFX, an epic production at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino which at various points during its run featured David Cassidy, Rick Springfield, and Tommy Tune as its headliner, playing The EFX Master. When the production first kicked off, however, the star of the show was Michael Crawford, arguably best known for playing the title character in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. Trying to explain the plot of EFX wouldn’t do it justice, so let’s just say that if you’re a fan of Crawford’s past work and haven’t heard this album, you’ll probably want to give it a go.
Danny Elfman, Black Beauty OST: Over the years, Danny Elfman’s soundtrack work has been so closely linked with the films of Tim Burton that it’s sometimes easy to forget that, as a composer, he’s also pretty good at writing material that doesn’t have a dark and creepy vibe. Take, for instance, his underrated work on the 1994 film adaptation of Black Beauty, which reveals that he’s actually quite good at handling upbeat, family-friendly fare as well.