Published on Nov 18, 1998
Not being a horror movie fan (I got scared off the genre after
watching Tonya Harding’s wedding night video), I can’t vouch for
what the critics have been saying about
Strangeland, Dee Snider’s first step into the world of
screenwriting. Judging from what the critics have been saying, it
sounds like Snider should have stayed in the music business. (I
gotta admit, some of the images I saw in the CD booklet scared the
hell out of me – I have a hard time looking through it just to get
information about the tracks.)
If only such a movie could also be judged on the strength of its
soundtrack.
Strangeland features selections from some of heavy metal’s
up-and-coming and biggest names today, and is, for the most part,
very listenable and enjoyable.
Snider, formerly of Twisted Sister (more on them later), shows
on the disc’s opening track “Inconclusion” that he still has the
pipes and the talent to be a good singer. The track is thoroughly
enjoyable, and is somewhat stylistically different than what his
former band used to put out. It’s an interesting change for Snider,
but not an unwelcome one.
If you’re either just getting into heavy metal or are returning
to a genre you once were a part of, you’re in for a treat
throughout most of
Strangeland. More familiar names like Megadeth (contributing
“A Secret Place” from
Cryptic Writings), Anthrax (“Piss & Vinegar”) and
Pantera (“Where You Come From”) all make appearances on this
soundtrack, each of them showing why they’re considered to be at
the top of the now-rebounding genre.
But there are many challengers to the throne waiting in the
wings, as
Strangeland alludes to. Bands like Sevendust (“Breathe”),
Coal Chamber (“Not Living”) and The Clay People (“Awake”) all make
strong cases with the tracks they contribute. The Clay People even
got a cameo in the film, from what I’ve read in the press
releases.
There’s even a reunion of sorts, as Twisted Sister, including
Snider, returns for one track, “Heroes Are Hard To Find” (no
relation to the Fleetwood Mac song of the same name). The song is
very much in the latter-day style of Twisted Sister (the
Love Is For Suckers era), but is enjoyable nonetheless. Were
Twisted Sister to reunite again, judging from the strength of this
track, I’d gladly welcome them back to the scene.
Ironically, the two cover versions of Twisted Sister songs are
the weakest moments of the whole album. Granted, I’m someone who
grew up with the original versions of “Captain Howdy” and “Street
Justice” from
Stay Hungry, and Crisis and dayinthelife… should be
commended for tackling these songs, knowing what they had to go up
against. Be that as it may, these versions just don’t do the
originals justice (though I do like the chorus from
dayinthelife…’s version of “Street Justice”).
I also can’t say I’m particularly fond of Marilyn Manson’s
contribution to the soundtrack (“Sweet Tooth”), but then again,
I’ve never really been able to get into Manson’s work. Likewise,
Kid Rock (“Fxxk Off”) and Nashville Pussy (“I’m The Man” – not the
Anthrax version) don’t particularly impress me. Still, these
moments are rare on this album, leaving the remainder to be a
pretty solid case for the status of metal in America.
Strangeland might be a box office bomb, but the soundtrack
is explosive in a much better way. Think of this more as a sampler
of today’s metal scene – it will give you a pretty good idea of
what’s been going on the last few years.