[.ca] Trainspotting V.2

From Amazon.com:
With pop song-collection soundtracks becoming an increasingly popular way for artists and labels to market new music, the connections to the films they're supposed to be supporting becomes increasingly tenuous. Witness Trainspotting #2;. Inspired by the success of director Danny Boyle's bleakly hilarious tale of a band of smacked-out Scottish louts and the strong pop collection that underscored it, #2 is nearly as thematically compelling, if artistically suspect. These are songs that, as the producers put it, "inspired the filmmakers or (have) been inspired by the film." Thus we get star Ewan McGregor's memorable "choose life" monolog sampled and looped over the dance music of PF Project or Joy Division's "Atmosphere" simply because the director "always wanted Joy Division in the film." What's next? Gone With the Wind featuring Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird"? --Jerry McCulley

Only half of a soundtrack, the rest is filler...:
This is not much of a soundtrack when one has to consider that most of the songs on this album were not used in the film, or if they were they were different mixes. Notable is the inclusion of the other Underworld song, "Dark & Long (Dark Train Mix)," which was used during Ewan MacGregor's sobering up scene, and was for some reason absent from the first soundtrack CD. The other tracks on this album that were in the film (exclusing the first track, Ewan's "Choose Life" narrative) were Ice MC's "Think About the Way," and Heaven 17's "Temptation." Mixes of songs from the first CD include a Darren Price remix of Underworld's "Born Slippy," which is still a pretty good mix, but might have been better suited for a single release merely because of the extemporaneous nature of this second CD altogether. There's also the full-length version of Leftfield's "A Final Hit," which is actually a welcome track, a remix of "Nightclubbing," as well as Iggy Pop's "Passenger," and David Bowie's "Golden Years," neither of which were in the film anywhere, nor are they listed in the end credits soundtrack listing. Sleeper and Primal Scream had songs on the first CD, so here they each have two new tracks, and because they probably couldn't get another New Order song to fit in the feeling of "Transpotting," they got Joy Division. While I love "Atmosphere," I fail to see the reason or logic behind its inclusion on this CD. But then again, this second CD was just meant to capitalize on the success of the first CD anyway, so...whatever. If you like this, get it and listen to it. I'd only listen to half of the songs here, but that's me.

Like most second volumes...:
This one loses the momentum of the first. What needed to be said and sung was said and sung on the first soundtrack. This one is not bad. Just not relevant. You can listen to the whole thing all the way through and maybe even enjoy it. You won't get any sense of continuity or relation to the film, however. I liked the inclusion of Habanera from Carmen... and "Temptation" from Fun Boy Three, but overall I could have spent this money better elsewhere. (Maybe the opera Carmen would have been a better investment!)

I loved it:
The tracks on this CD are expecially great when running on the treadmill!

Great album, but falls short of the first one:
I enjoy this album very much, however I don't like it near as much as the first one. The remixes aren't as good as the original tunes and there are a handful of tunes tossed in that seem out of place here. Habanera? Golden Years by Bowie? Huh?

Complements Its Predecessor Well:
"If truth be telt," as Begy would say, give or take a few songs from each CD, one Trainspotting soundtrack would suffice. I for one find this soundtrack to be vastly better than the "orange" (first) Trainspotting soundtrack. Although Trainspotting #2 has its pros and cons, its pros greatly outweigh its cons, resulting in my giving it a 5-star review. OK, let's get to the best bits first (titles are in 3 classes \obest, worst, ordinary\c followed by track-order). "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop is a catchy little ditty which, though not included in the film, definitely merited inclusion/is even worthy to replace Pop's "Lust for Life" as Trainspotting's theme song; "Dark & Long" \oDark Train Mix\c by Underworld is the song that's playing when the lead character, Renton, is having bizarre nightmares in the teenage bedroom of his parents' house. It is one of Underworld's many electronic epics and I can't praise it enough; "Golden Years" by David Bowie is a classic and was included on this album because it was the original track that Diane was to sing to Renton as he was coming off heroin in the aforementioned bedroom. Fair enough;"A Final Hit" \ofull-length version\c is just a "prolonged" version - only by a minute or so - of the edit which is on the orange soundtrack. Still great;"Temptation" by Heaven 17 is the song playing in/outside the club when Renton is accosting Diane;"Our Lips Are Sealed" by Fun Boy Three is a great tune à la New Order, and the reason it is included is because it was going to be used in the film but the correct spot for it could not be found (the director and producer felt that they related strongly to the group of friends in the story);"Atmosphere" by Joy Division was only included on the album because director Danny Boyle is from Manchester. It's very dark yet melodic, like most Joy Division songs;"Inner City Life" by Goldie is a great song in itself but its inclusion on this soundtrack is questionable: it was only included on the album because author Irvine Welsh stated that "It's what the characters would be listening to now";Born Slippy Nuxx \oDarren Price Mix\c by Underworld is possibly the best (re)mix of this song, and I've heard many, including the brilliant Deep Pan mix. Now to the two not-so-good tracks - sod it, they're just plain awful: "Choose Life" by PF Project is Renton's "Choose life" monologue superimposed on incredibly long, tedious, cheesy techno music; "Nightbclubbing" \oBaby Doc Remix\c is ineffably awful: just think of what would happen if you played incredibly amateur techno music with the lyrics and music from "Nightclubbing" at the end, albeit in an almost unrecognizable incarnation. The remaining tracks on the album, which I would rate half-decent are: "Habanera from Carmen", the classical music playing while Renton is citing the list of items needed to withdraw from heroin; "Statuesque" by Sleeper can best be described as "chick rock which really rocks", I believe it was used very briefly in the film; "Think About the Way" by Ice MC is the dance music playing when Renton moves to London. It's quite good; "Come Together" by Primal Scream is the epitome of 90's rock and, according to the liner notes, its admission in the album is the same as "Our Lips are Sealed" by Fun Boy Three. I'll consummate my review with an apposite quote from the late Frank Zappa: "Rock journalists are people who can't write, writing about people who can't play, for people who can't read."

• Choose Life - PF Project
• Passenger - Iggy Pop
• Dark & Long \oDark Train Mix\c - Underworld
• Habanera \oFrom Carmen Suite\c
• Statuesque - Sleeper
• Golden Years - David Bowie
• Think About the Way - Ice MC
• Final Hit \oFull Length Version\c - Leftfield
• Temptation - Heaven 17
• Nightclubbing \oBaby Doc Remix\c - Iggy Pop
• Our Lips Are Sealed - Fun Boy Three
• Come Together - Primal Scream
• Atmosphere - Joy Division
• Inner City Life - Goldie
• Born Slippy \oDarren Price Mix\c\oVersion\c - Underworld