Coyote
Ugly
Country
or pop...it just doesn't matter
 |
Jerry
Bruckheimer specializes in chick flicks. First "Flashdance"
and now, approaching 20 years later, it's "Coyote Ugly."
At least this latest has five sweet little things--including the
incredibly hot Tyra Banks (much better than Jennifer Beil!)--to gawk
at when your girlfriend drags you to the theater. |
Based
on the story of an aspiring singer/songwriter in NYC, it is to be
expected that a pretty decent soundtrack accompanies the film, and
"Coyote Ugly" delivers...in that girl-pop way.
If
you allowed the disc's chart success to be an indicator (it's spent
the past several weeks atop "Billboard" magazine's "Hot
Country" albums chart), you'd think this was, in fact, a
"country" CD. Four new LeAnn Rimes tracks coupled with a
favorite like The Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down To
Georgia" would seems to support that. And while Rimes' "But
I Do Love You" and newcomer Tamara Walker's "Didn't We
Love" should find a home at country radio soon, it takes more
than three songs to make a disc "country." So don't be fooled!
"Coyote
Ugly" is, at its base, a party CD--and not a country one. It
deftly blends pop classics like EMF's chart-topping
"Unbelievable." Snap's "The Power." Don Henley's
"All She Wants to Do Is Dance," and INXS's "Need You
Tonight" with original material by new acts as well. A likeable,
if not overly inspired dance-influenced track by unknown Mary Griffin
even closes that disc. Aside from the previously mentioned "I Do
Love You." even Rimes' material proves this isn't country--it's
pop through and through.
Since
her appearance on the charts at the tender age of 13 with the Patsy
Cline-styled "Blue," Rimes has been a country
standard-bearer. She's racked up Grammy Awards and number one country
singles, but her recent focus has seemingly been on cross-over
success--including her current Top 20 pop hit "I Need You."
The four Diane Warren-penned tracks found on the "Coyote
Ugly" soundtrack continue this trend.
Rimes
returns to more familiar territory, a Warren-penned ballad, |

Rimes
-- all grown up |
on
"Please Remember." Beautifully written and lush, as is to
be expected from a seasoned pro like Warren (music's most tried and
true writer), "Remember" allows Rimes to show her
impressive pipes.
"How
Do I Live," possibly the most successful power ballad of the
last several years, placed Rimes in record books as the longest
"Hot 100" chart run in history and spent weeks sitting at
#2. Unless Rimes wants to be seen as a one-trick-pony, a country
version of Celine Dion belting out moaner after moaner, she needs to
break the precedent of her previous Warren collaborations. More
creatively important, "Coyote Ugly" showcases Rimes on two
uptempo tracks that could move her beyond such pop-balladeering.
"Can't
Fight The Moonlight," which Rimes performs from atop a bar in a
cameo at the film's close, is positioned as the first single. This
"theme" from the film, "Moonlight" could
establish the barely-legal Rimes as a bonafide cross-genre success
the likes of Shania Twain.
The
most irresistible track from the disc, though, is "Right Kind
Of Wrong." Sounding like Shania meets Britney Spears meets 80s
pop--meant in the nicest possible way--Rimes sells the song
thoroughly. Add to the equation Rimes' impressive voice, and the song
simply works. Instantly infectious and very radio-friendly, Rimes
could easily push her way into the blond teen queen battles--and the
Top 10.
LeAnn
Rimes doing Britney Spears? Charlie Daniels and INXS side-by-side?
Sure---it sounds scary. Then again, so did the prospect of five
chicks tending bar. But "Coyote Ugly" had a balance of
material for both sexes, and so does the soundtrack.
Admit
it: You walked out of the theatre with a smile on your face. In
fact, you begrudgingly liked "Coyote Ugly."
You're going to like the soundtrack, too. Just don't admit either to
your girlfriend, or you'll be at the next Meg Ryan movie so fast, you
won't know what hit you.
Click
here to purchase this CD from Amazon.com
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