"Now that I've met you, would you object to never seeing each other again"
- MAGNOLIA
Way back the first days of MTV (and yes, it was trash ever since the start), a group with funny hairdos was all the rage with a song called "Voices Carry". That group, 'Til Tuesday, was fronted by singer, songwriter and bassist Aimee Mann. Defying the common trends, they actually got more introspective and worthy as time went by, and with the group having gradually dissolved, Mann started a solo career around 1989, but only saw her first album, Whatever, released four years later. That's been something usual for her, since had similar problems with her next two works, due to their lack of commercial potential. Mostly know today for the acclaimed Magnolia soundtrack, her integrity is beyond all praises, but I'm rather sceptic about what her actual talents are: her voice is almost as limited as her choice matter, nothing about her songs really stands out, and her style is the same "dry, shiny, hookless, trying-to-sound-clever pop music" you are tired of hearing on the radio. So, her lyrics are sad, but is that anything of a revelation? She's closer to Kurt Cobain than to Joni Mitchell in that aspect, if you get my drift. I'm tempted to advice you not to worry about her at all and check out Tori Amos and maybe PJ Harvey for some good contemporary female songwriters, but, in fact, some of her albums are good, and I'm going to review them, so...
Usually, soundtracks feature songs "inspired by the movie"
as an excuse for beefing them up with hits, but in the case of the ever controversial
Magnolia (me, I kinda like it) it's the other way round: the movie was inspired
by the songs. Being the Aimee fan he is, director Paul Thomas Anderson beg,
borrowed and stole the demos of her upcoming work, found the opening line from
"Deadly" (the one atop this page) specially intriguing and started from
there. Then, as Mann was waiting for Bachelor No. 2 to be released, happily
proceeded to include many songs from that album in the film, and some loose
ends as well, and soon had in his hands the best soundtrack since The Graduate.
Or not?
To answer that question, we'll have to take a glance at the tracklist, which
includes a oh so cute orchestral theme by Jon Brion and... two Supertramp songs!
You know, those Breakfast In America overplayed ditties, yes, "Goodbye
Stranger" and "Logical Song". There's no need to discuss them here
but, anyway, be sure to skip them. In the States, a dull soft-rock composition
called "Dreams" is supposed to be included also but, luckily enough,
is not in my copy. But hey, it's not The Bodyguard we're talking about
and, since she contributes nine songs, Magnolia is Mann's show most the
way: the redundant Bachelor No. 2 numbers are still well chosen (the
soaring "Deadly", with a huge build up, the Badfinger-like "Driving
Sideways"), and the instrumental take of "Nothing Is Good Enough"
is an interesting curiosity that showcases her bouncy, melodic bass playing.
What will make you rush to your music store and buy this album (but wait till
I stop ranting, will you?), though, are the other songs, B sides, covers and
such, like Harry Nilsson's gorgeous "One", used fittingly in the opening
credits, or "Wise Up", which made its first appareance in the Jerry
Maguire soundtrack and pretty much sums up all the despair present in the character's
lives. You can sing along, just like them, if you want to, but beware of the
lyrics: "it's not going to stop till you wise up, so just... give up".
Heh. "Save Me", nominated for an Oscar, was probably the only song written
specifically for the film. Not as good as Phil Collins' Tarzan love song, I
admit, but what is? Here we have a melancholic acoustic tune, matched by some
sincere singing and cool electric guitars, so let's try to get over with it.
Two obscure hit and miss cuts from the middle nineties round up the song selection:
the rocker "Momentum" (believe it or not, Aimee rocks for a while) and
the cheesy "Build That Wall". Damn, I detest those lyrics filled with
self-pity and trite metaphores. They're so dumb. Like frogs raining down the
sky.
Any comments or reviews to grate us with?
First, the good news: Aimee founded her own label, and presumably
won't be having any more problems with getting out her records. But this one
is no great shakes. Everything (and here come the bad news) is marred by clumsy,
samey lyrics and blatantly alternative production. And by "blatantly alternative"
I mean politely distorted guitars, drum machines, predictable string orchestrations
and whatnot.
"How I'm different" is a down-tempo look at a broken relationship, ambivalently
directed against a stupid ex-lover or a stupid record company executive. Anything
but different from "Nothing Is Good Enough", a (surprise, surprise!) down-tempo
look at a broken relationship, ambivalently directed against a stupid ex-lover
or a stupid record company executive. Notice a certain trend here? However,
"Nothing Is Good Enough" (this time with vocals), has a cute melody Elton John
could have penned in his heyday. So I'm not complaining. "Red Wines", then,
is rather cheesy, but has a great chorus. The intro, by the way, is by Michael
Penn, fellow songwriter, Aimee's husband and actor Sean Penn's brother. It's
a small, small world, don't you think? The Costello co-write "The Fall Of The
World's Own Optimist" drowns a nice chorus amid moribund verses and rote guitar
playing. Boring. Just like almost anything else. You know, the reason why I
find this album so deceiving coming on the heels of the decent Magnolia,
is that the new songs are second-rate: "Driving Sideways", "Deadly" and, to
a lesser extent, "You Do", really overshadow pathetic tear jerkers like "Just
Like Anyone" and "Susan", so ridiculous it has to be heard to be believed. But
who knows, if you manage to avoid sleep-inducing stuff like "It Takes All Kinds",
you might enjoy the pretty, waltzy "Satellite". That this album ended topping
many "best of the year" lists is nothing short of incredible: if Bachelor
No. 2 is one of the greatest records of the decade, then I'm Lester Bangs.
Um, think I'm gonna start praising Bruce Springsteen right away...