I know this record was a big deal to fans of these bands at the time, but I had literally no idea about it until an anniversary of it maybe 5 years ago. I had low expectations, despite how many of these rock bands I like.
“Just Another Victim” by Helmet and House of Pain; 4:23
The Helmet and House of Pain collaboration which starts things off appeals to me on a really visceral level and because it’s so heavy, and because the guy’s vocals are so close to hardcore until the break. By that point it’s won me over enough that the overly hip hop part feels both jarring and natural at the same time, if that’s possible.
“Fallin'” by Teenage Fanclub and De La Soul; 4:28
The Teenage Fan Club and De La Soul collaboration is from another album entirely. To the extent that I know De La Soul (not much at all), it sounds like De La Soul rather than Teenage Fan Club. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s in the same spirit as the other collaborations. I do enjoy the over-singing at the end.
“Me, Myself & My Microphone” by Living Colour and Run DMC; 3:10
The Living Colour and Run-DMC track is much more what I was expecting when I first heard about this. It certainly sounds more traditional, in terms of rap rock, than a lot of the tracks here. Closer to “Walk This Way” if you know what I mean.
“Judgement Night” by Biohazard and Onyx; 4:35
When I first listened to Biohazard I sort of despaired their poor rapping so I’m glad someone could take it over for them. I’m not sure I’d like Onyx on their own, but they rap better than Biohazard.
“Disorder” (Medley of 3 Exploited songs: “War”, “UK ’82”, and “Disorder”) by Slayer and Ice-T; 4:58
Ice-T seems to have fully embraced shouting for Slayer. Like the Helmet/House of Pain track, this feels closer to metal/rock to me than hip hop, only this track sticks with it all the way through. Though it’s musically less interesting, I prefer it.
“Another Body Murdered” by Faith No More and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.; 4:24
The only song I knew from this, barely, was the FNM/Boo-Yaa Tribe track. I didn’t really have fond memories of it and when I listen to it now I figure the only reason I sought it out was by obsession with FNM at the time. It’s fine.
“I Love You Mary Jane” by Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill; 3:52
Of all the tracks listed here, I figured I was most “excited” by the Sonic Youth Cypress Hill collaboration. But it’s a little nondescript and less notable that I imagined it would be. It doesn’t sound like Sonic Youth to me except for the noises at the end.
“Freak Momma” by Mudhoney and Sir Mix-A-Lot; 4:00
For some reason I was kind of dreading the Sir Mix-a-Lot track but it’s pretty enjoyable relative to everything else on the record.
“Missing Link” by Dinosaur Jr. and Del the Funky Homosapien; 3:59
Somehow Dinosaur Jr. manages to sound like itself with Del the Funky Homosapien. I can imagine them performing this track with Mascis singing some other lyrics over it. One of the tracks I like the most.
“Come & Die” by Therapy? and Fatal; 4:27
I’ve never heard of either Therapy? or Fatal but this track fits in with the rest of the record pretty well.
“Real Thing” by Pearl Jam and Cypress Hill; 3:33
The Pearl Jam and Cypress Hill track works better than the Cypress Hill and Sonic Youth track, to my ears, managing to balance the two sounds pretty well in comparison.
This is a fascinating experiment and I don’t know of too many other soundtracks that were used to make such weird music. Honestly, it’s held up pretty damn well. Nothing strikes me as embarrassing in hindsight, and though some tracks work better than others and some tracks feel like they don’t quite belong, it’s still a worthy attempt at doing something different. I hear the movie is terrible.
8/10