Judgment Night

Performer: Original Soundtrack/Various Artists
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: The best-case scenario for most soundtracks is that they effectively complement the film (LESS THAN ZERO, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? et al.). But JUDGMENT NIGHT, by virtue of its careful assemblage of talent, transcends its source by creative slam-dancing leaps and stoner-rap bounds. What appeared to be a cheap exploitation of the emerging hip-hop/rock crossover trend turned out to be highly prescient. Inspired tandems like Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill, Biohazard and Onyx, De La Soul and Teenage Fanclub transform this collection into an almost avant-garde experiment, an angsty '90s alt-culture response to similarly groundbreaking comps like NO NEW YORK. The gimmick here is that on each track a hard rock act has been combined with a rap act: Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill, Living Colour and Run-D.M.C., and so on. The idea, as with Run-D.M.C.'s duet with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way," is to achieve musical synergy and commercial crossover, and at least the second goal was met when this album went gold while the movie it accompanied went into the dumper. But, as on any duet album, from Sinatra to Elton John, the concept has to be translated into appropriate pairings on good songs to really work. Sometimes, it has. Living Colour and Run-D.M.C. meld well on "Me, Myself & My Microphone," and Slayer and Ice-T make an angry thrash of "Disorder." But in both cases, the rappers are familiar with the style -- Ice-T has a metal band of his own in Body Count. Elsewhere, neither the rappers nor the metal kids sound distinctive enough to make a striking impression beyond a faithfulness to a hard, angry approach. ~ William Ruhlmann Music genres separated along racial divides, like rock and rap, have always borrowed from each other, even if it's bands on the edges of either camp. The soundtrack to the film Judgment Night takes the racial themes of the movie to the soundtrack, pulling together some of the best acts in both genres. Rather than cover existing songs, the bands collaborated on the frequently shared themes of injustice, violence, prowess at the mike, and love of the herb. Every track is exceedingly well constructed and produced, though it's debatable if new ground is being covered. By taking rap acts that already lean toward rock, like House of Pain and Ice-T, and rock acts that dabble in rap, like Faith No More, there aren't many surprises. Two tracks, "Fallin'" with Teenage Fan Club and De La Soul, and "I Love You Mary Jane" with Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill take a decidedly mellow approach. The other tracks feed off each other's rage and rhythm, particularly Slayer and Ice-T's "Disorder" and Helmet and House of Pain's "Just Another Victim." Surprisingly, the only track that really falls flat is the Pearl Jam and Cypress Hill collaboration "Real Thing." ~ Theresa E. LaVeck

Rolling Stone (9/30/93, p.100) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...JUDGMENT NIGHT'S bracing rap rock is like the wedding of hillbilly and `race' music that started the whole thing in the first place....It's an aspiring re-birth..." Entertainment Weekly (9/24/93, p.93) - "...can't vouch for the film, but the album is a MUST..." - Rating: A Q (11/93, p.122) - 3 Stars - Good - "...[JUDGMENT NIGHT] suggests that the future for both metal and rap as a kind of agit prop soapbox style is secure..." Musician (11/93, p.88) - "...Tear down a few walls and it's amazing what tumbles out...."

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