Wonder Boys [Soundtrack]

Performer: Original Soundtrack
Producer: Carol Fenelon; Curtis Hanson
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Includes liner notes by Curtis Hanson. "Things Have Changed" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and was nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Bob Dylan dominates the soundtrack to Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys soundtrack with four songs: two latter-day selections ("Not Dark Yet," "Shooting Star"), 1974's "Buckets of Rain," and the brand-new "Things Have Changed." On the latter, Dylan is nearly as resigned as he was on Time Out of Mind, yet the song never sounds down-and-out -- it sounds hopeful, thanks to a fairly bouncy rhythm and one of the catchiest melodies the musician has written in some time. It's a fine song, certainly worthy of being the first new Dylan song since the acclaimed Time Out of Mind, and it sets the tone for the rest of the soundtrack, which is basically a collection of highlights from '70s singer/songwriters. In addition to Dylan, there's Tom Rush, Tim Hardin, Leonard Cohen, John Lennon, Van Morrison, and Richie Furay via Buffalo Springfield. Not all of their songs were written during the '70s, but they all share the literate, melodic bent of Dylan and "Things Have Changed." Clarence Carter's "Slip Away" and Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad" may seem a little incongruous, but they're not really, since most fans of this kind of confessional songwriting also have a soft spot for soul and R&B. The Wonder Boys soundtrack may not capture the amiable, sweetly aimless spirit of life on a college campus the way the film does, but it comes pretty damn close -- so close, that it's hard to see anyone who has fully embraced collegiate life, whether they're a professor or a student, not finding a lot to not just enjoy, but love, here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Director Curtis Hanson's follow-up to the gritty L.A. CONFIDENTIAL is a generation-gap comedy about an aging novelist who's got a raging case of writer's block and is feeling the hot breath of mortality on his neck. No surprise, the mostly older songs collected here are a lot more thoughtful and a lot more thoughtfully chosen than on the average blockbuster soundtrack album; the album's concerns are thematic, not demographic. The stylistic mix is mostly folk or folk-rock with a little R&B on the side. The most high-profile cuts are John Lennon's autumnal "Watching the Wheels" and Neil Young's prematurely elegiac "Old Man." Bob Dylan is represented by four entries, including the movie's chilling new theme "Thing Have Changed." Southern-soul legend Clarence Carter's "Slip Away" and the underrated R&B pioneer Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad" also contribute to the soundtrack's mood of quiet desperation, but by far the most amazing track is "Waiting For the Miracle" (from Leonard Cohen's 1992 release, THE FUTURE), a space-age Brecht-Weill tune featuring such inspirational verse as "The Maestro says its Mozart / but it sounds like Bubblegum." Wow.

Rolling Stone (3/30/00, p.66) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...follows the theme of aging, with autumnal-meditations from John Lennon, Van Morrison and Leonard Cohen [and] superb obscurities from Buffalo Springfield and Tom Rush....[It] shows where rockers like Dylan learned how to rage against the dying of the light." Entertainment Weekly (3/3/00, p.75) - "...offers somber classics from Tim Hardin, Leonard Cohen, and Van Morrison - plus the 1st original Dylan tune of the millenium....Proven songwriting talent taking priority over mass sales appeal? Wonderful, indeed." - Rating: B Q (5/00, p.119) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Extremely rarified....tantamount to THE BEST SUNDAY MORNING ALBUM IN THE WORLD...EVER!, it creates an impression of understated excellence." Mojo (Publisher) (4/00, p.103) - "...The album is that rarity, a soundtrack of sustained quality that can be played through entirely without skipping."

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