Smallville Soundtrack (The Talon Mix)

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Smallville Soundtrack (The Talon Mix)
pub: CD: Elektra CD62792.

'Somebody save me...'

Another look in our occasional series on Science Fiction/Fantasy soundtracks.
I'm very keen on soundtracks and particularly enjoyed the music of 'Once More With Feeling' as some of you may remember.

I note that there is now a soundtrack album for 'Charmed'. This may in some way compensate fans of the show for the very tardy release of any of the show on video or DVD.

Smallville Soundtrack (The Talon Mix) On a brighter note 'Smallville' was quite quick off the mark especially for those of us tied to terrestrial television with its recent release of the soundtrack and a few days ago the complete Season One on DVD.

'The Talon Mix' should reflect the kind of music the young 'uns are playing in the café of that name run rather remarkably by Lana Lang in between being a model student and mooning over Whitney/Clark etcetera.

Commencing with the excellent theme tune by Remy Zero it then launches into VonRay's 'Inside Out'. There are certain tracks of note in this rather superb compilation. The track that made me buy it is a mournful rebuttal of the Superman tag. Entitled 'Superman' by Five For Fighting it sums up with great clarity what is bad about being a super-hero.

All the tracks form the backing to scenes in the opening season that I am hoping to see again at some point. Ryan Adams offers a searing performance of 'Nuclear' and there is a poignant version of 'Time After Time' by the late Eva Cassidy. Another winner is The Flaming Lips with 'Fight Test'.

Poor Clark, he is constantly wearing his heart on his sleeve and for the future Man of Steel this is the only place he can be wounded. These songs are all about the conflicts and growth he experiences and they have been well chosen to complement the tone of the series.

They are all good solid songs with not a duff one among them. Off hand, I cannot remember how much of each song actually features in particular episode and I'm looking forward to the DVD set to find out. The only disappointment here is that there are no personal themes on this CD. However as part of the recognised merchandising of a popular series such as 'Smallville' it gets a big thumbs up from me in terms of playable tracks.

They even managed to slip in a cover version of 'Don't Dream Its Over' which sounds to me as good as the original. Oh and hats off to all the bands with the most ridiculous names. This CD also forms a great introduction to the featured artists - in particular The Flaming Lips whose other claim to fame is getting a single called 'Yoshimi And The Battle With The Pink Robots' played on BBC Radio 2 - go for it, lads. Look out for Brit band Steadman whose Oasis-style track is featured in the episode entitled 'Fever'.

The television programmes and CD are complementary and in the same way as the original 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' album, each of them can feed off each other!

As a bonus, the CD also offers exclusive access to Warner Brothers world of Smallville including a live performance of VonRay's 'Inside Out'. There's a virtual tour of Smallville and on-line access to the sold-out first issue of DC Comic's Smallville comic book.

It's a Smallville world!

Sue Davies

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