The Commitments
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (MCA) (STAR)(STAR)
As a film, Alan Parker`s ”The Commitments” is a terrifically engaging story of a group of young Dubliners discovering and performing American soul music. As a soundtrack album, though, ”The Commitments” loses something in translation. The music is primarily performed by the film`s cast of actor-musicians, and while they do an adequate enough job on songs like Wilson Pickett`s ”Mustang Sally,” Aretha Franklin`s ”Chain of Fools” and Al Green`s ”Take Me to the River,” their versions pale next to the originals. Seventeen-year-old Andrew Strong turns in an impressively gut-wrenching performance on ”Try a Little Tenderness” and Maria Doyle adds a sultry rendition of Aretha Franklin`s ”I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).”
But if you saw the film and loved the music, you`d be much better off checking out CD reissues by the original artists.
Ratings:
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