Blade II [PA]

Performer: Original Soundtrack
Engineer: Simon Thornton; BT
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Compilation producers: Happy Walters, Jeff Farley. Personnel: Danny Saber (guitar, programming); Endre Granat (violin); Stephen Erdody (cello); John Richard Lewis (trumpet); Alan Kaplan (trombone); BT, Alex Swift (programming); Kid Koala (scratches). Audio Mixers: Danny Saber; Frank Gryner; Paul Oakenfold ; Robert "3D" del Naja; Scott Humphrey; Steve Osborne. Audio Remixers: Martin Brumbach; Mocean Worker. Unknown Contributor Role: Static Revenger. Arranger: Robert "3D" del Naja. The Blade II soundtrack to the relatively large-budgeted, B-movie sequel starring Wesley Snipes is the third in a series of soundtrack records that Happy Walters of Immortal Records assembled. The first, for the movie Judgment Night, included hip-hop and rock acts pairing up for new songs, and the second was for Spawn and featured electronica and hard rock acts. For Blade II, it's hip-hop and electronica acts, and Walters has assembled many of the biggest names in both genres. Electronica can work perfectly with hip-hop, adding a lot of fancier beats and grooves and making the songs distinctive from the usual hip-hop soundtrack. Among the best tracks are Eve and Fatboy Slim teaming up on "Cowboy," and even better is Ice Cube and Paul Oakenfold on "Right Here, Right Now," a song that's reminiscent of Cube's over-the-top performance on the huge single "We Be Clubbin'." Both of these tracks are catchy enough to be huge rap radio hits. Redman also adds plenty of character to his teaming with the Gorillaz, "Gorillaz on My Mind," a silly tune backed by some super funky music and some smooth background vocals. ~ Adam Bregman The Blade II soundtrack to the relatively large-budgeted, B-movie sequel starring Wesley Snipes is the third in a series of soundtrack records that Happy Walters of Immortal Records assembled. The first, for the movie Judgement Night, included hip-hop and rock acts pairing up for new songs, and the second was for Spawn and featured electronica and hard rock acts. For Blade II, it's hip-hop and electronica acts, and Walters has assembled many of the biggest names in both genres. Electronica can work perfectly with hip-hop, adding a lot of fancier beats and grooves and making the songs distinctive from the usual hip-hop soundtrack. But as with a lot of these sorts of projects, many of the big names are just making appearances, while only a few seem to be putting much effort into this. Among the best tracks is Eve and Fatboy Slim teaming up on "Cowboy" and even better is Ice Cube and Paul Oakenfold on "Right Here, Right Now," a song that's reminiscent of Cube's over-the-top performance on the huge single "We Be Clubbin'." Both of these tracks are catchy enough to be huge rap radio hits. Redman also adds plenty of character to his teaming with the Gorillaz, "Gorillaz on My Mind," a silly tune backed by some super funky music and some smooth background vocals. But Mos Def sounds like he doesn't care about the lackluster "I Against I" with Massive Attack, and Cypress Hill, Bubba Sparxx, and Busta Rhymes' contributions are similarly forgettable. ~ Adam Bregman Just as the soundtrack to the first BLADE film echoed the movie's blend of old-school suspense and high-level effects, so too does its successor. In fact, BLADE II even more closely mirrors the Wesley Snipes film's combination of visceral emotion and modern technology by teaming hardcore hip-hop acts with contemporary electronica artists. The results are an effective new paradigm wherin the down-home rap stylings of Bubba Sparxxx are taken to Planet Trip-hop by the Crystal Method ("PHDream"), and the straight-up sound of Trina (fresh from kicking off the ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS soundtrack album) is offset on "Gangsta Queens" not only by Rah Diggah, but more noticably by the modern dance rhythms of Groove Armada. In the end, BLADE II is a satisfying mixture of street savvy and studio surprises.

Rolling Stone (5/23/02, pp.82-84) - 3 out of 5 stars - "...BLADE II combined hip-hoppers with electronic acts..." Rolling Stone (5/23/02, pp.82-84) - "...BLADE II combines hip-hoppers with electronic acts..." Q (May 2002, p.124) - 3 out of 5 stars - "Few blockbuster soundtracks could match this CD of dance/rap dust-ups for pure pyrotechnics..."

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