Almost Famous

Performer: Original Soundtrack
Producer: Danny Bramson; Cameron Crowe
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: ALMOST FAMOUS won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Although it's been pronounced dead more often than Mark Twain, the life expectancy of rock & roll was surely looking faint at the end of the '60s. Few people realize that it wasn't all bad. As Almost Famous' central character slowly realizes, it's much less important what history may mean to music journalists 30 years from now than what it means to actually experience it right then and there. Maybe it was a hard lesson to learn. Because while the counterculture and its music started to become everything it hated (and too soon before punk came to remind everybody what the revolution was really about) rock's "lurch" still promised much for those that paid attention. Indeed, it would take a concentrated effort to ignore this soundtrack's refreshing outlook. Simon & Garfunkel and the Who are pitted right against Yes and Elton John. The Beach Boys against Cat Stevens. There's a sense of heady nostalgia here -- but one more deliberately adolescent and tender than the schlock-infested oldies radio station trends of most soundtracks of this ilk. The Seeds are represented by one of their most psychedelic pop gems ("Mr. Farmer") while Thunderclap Newman sounds almost prophetic with their playfully carny-piano mini-marathon ("Something in the Air"). Even the two new fictionalized compositions both manage to evoke the feeling of a waning era with just the right amount of reminiscence. This is surely not a definitive collection of post-'60s music and it's proud not to be. Like all great soundtracks, the one for Almost Famous works both as an instant reminder of the film's highs as well as a personal, startling perspective into the very "last gasps" of rock & roll. And like all great soundtracks, music journalists will probably hate it. ~ Dean Carlson Long before he became a world famous director, Cameron Crowe cut his teeth on the road as a teenage reporter for Rolling Stone magazine. In his fourth directorial role, Crowe uses this personal experience to create a fictional account of his real-life adventures. In co-producing the accompanying soundtrack with partner Danny Bramson, the acclaimed filmmaker loads up on '70s heavy hitters without going for obvious song choices. Classic rock fans can salivate over The Who ("Sparks"), Lynyrd Skynyrd ("Simple Man") and Rod Stewart ("Every Picture Tells A Story") along with lesser-known names like Thunderclap Newman ("Something In The Air") and the Seeds ("Mr. Farmer"). One of Crowe's more notable feats was using a relationship with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (dating back to his teen years) to convince them to license a Led Zep song ("That's The Way") to a soundtrack for the first time ever. Other treats include a 1972 live version of David Bowie covering "I'm Waiting For The Man" and the Beach Boys' 1971 psychedelic nugget "Feel Flows." Also included is wife Nancy Wilson's Donovan-like instrumental "Mr. Trumble" and cock-rock stomper "Fever Dog" by Stillwater, the fictional band at the center of ALMOST FAMOUS.

Uncut (2/01, p.91) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[As] loveable as the movie....ALMOST FAMOUS cruises along on a well-judged, left-of-the-canon, nostalgia vibe..."

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