America's Sweethearts
(Atlantic Records)
By Sheng Yuen
Sounds like:Adopting the same formula as Julia Roberts' previous bestselling soundtracks, with even regular composer James Newton Howard coming along for the ride,"America's Sweethearts"is an album that reminds one of, in chronological order,"Pretty Woman,""My Best Friend's Wedding,"and"Runaway Bride."You May Have Heard:There's no way you could have escaped The Corrs'"All The Love In The World,"so the comfort for those who already own the Irish quartet's new album is that the version contained in this album is a remix.We Fancy:The inclusion of non-famous names like Kelly Levesque, Clara's Star, and Scapegoat Wax presents a wonderful juxtaposition to celebrity singers like Geri Halliwell and the ubiquitous The Corrs. Fact is, these extremely talented acts may just find themselves breaking out from the curse of nonentity into a newfound level of public awareness by virtue of this soundtrack, which is varied enough to attract the attention of fans of romantic ballads, country songs, alternative pop, and of course, the very populous base of Julia-admirers.We're Not Sure About:Out of 12 tracks, four are asterisked and listed as 'Does Not Appear In The Film.' Of these four though, we can easily see Franky X Perez's"American Classic"forming the musical background to a scene with lead actor John Cusack mulling over his complicated state of (love) affairs with Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones. It's exclusion from the film, therefore, is what befuddles us.Verdict:America's favorite Chesire cat and serial heartbreaker extends her winning streak beyond hit films and into this refreshing cocktail of eclectic tracks that bowls one over with its diversity and peppiness.
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