There are soundtracks that resonate with you for your entire life sometimes due to the film itself and other times due to the phenomenal job of creating a perfect playlist for the ages. Today’s stand out album falls into the latter side of this equation by creating what was essentially the first collection of Steely Dan covers by some of the early 2000’s most popular artists. I present to you, today’s Stand Out Album, Me Myself & Irene the original motion picture soundtrack.
Why This Album?
In the 90’s and early 2000’s I was a Jim Carrey fan, I mean who wasn’t right? The man had something about him that just kept us coming back time and again for his zany style, crazy nature and simply cartoonish actions. So when it was announced that he and Rene Zellweger had teamed up with the Farrelly Brothers, I was fully in for the ride. Now, most comedy movies do not produce a solid soundtrack but I was pleasantly surprised when I picked this one up, although my initial response wasn’t entirely pleased.
You see, at the time I was also a huge fan of The Foo Fighters (still am to some degree). This band, featured one of the most talented musicians in the industry, Dave Grohl. When I heard that the soundtrack featured music by Foo, I jumped on without even giving it a second look. (The music video even featured this film so it was a nobrainer) So often had Foo Fighters provided films unreleased tracks that I had taken it for granted that this would in fact be the same case. Getting the album home I popped the cd into the player and was shocked to hear a track of of their recently released album There Is Nothing left To Lose. I mean, sure it was a good track but I had expected a new song or, like that of the X-files soundtrack, a new version of one of their songs. Almost giving up in frustration I nearly hit stop but then I noticed the other bands on the album. Smash Mouth, Ben Folds, The Offspring and many others told me that this might in fact be a collection I should keep. Listening on I soon discovered that much of the album were songs I had never heard before by bands I was familiar with and some I wasn’t.
Doing some research into the album I soon discovered that nearly half of the album consisted of cover songs by a band I had slight familiarity with called Steely Dan. While I have not been able to find verification for it any longer, I vaguely remember that the idea behind the Steely Dan cover filled album was that there was a subplot in the film where Carry’s character was a huge Steely Dan fan. The album, having the cover bands, echoed this fandom creating a bit of a meta moment that was never fully realized. Even if it is not true and just the creation of the shoddy memory of this middle aged fool, it still makes for a solid reason this sound track should exist.
One thing this album did do was introduce me to some wonderful bands including Pete Yorn (who we discussed last week), The Push Stars, Ivy and Ellis Paul. To this day this album and it’s incredible covers of the classic 70’s band remains one of my favorites. Thankfully I still have my original CD and spin it up from time to time.
Favorite Tracks
The World Ain’t Slowin’ Down by Ellis Paul from his Translucent Soul album this was my first and only introduction to Ellis Paul. Somehow I never went searching for more of his music but maybe I need to change that because this track is something special.
Barrytown By Ben Folds Five I loved Ben Fold’s work and this cover is pretty incredible. In a way I almost feel like it is his inspiration for Effington.
Strange Condition by Pete Yorn ( we talked about this last week, still it’s great) Interestingly, Yorn also wrote the films original score.
Ok, Where do I get it?
Unfortunately this is one album that is almost impossible to find these days. It’s practically out of print but you can find it on occasion used and man is it well worth it.
Keep an eye out, if you can’t find the soundtrack here is the track listing so you can track down the individual songs.
- I’d Like That – XTC
- Breakout – Foo Fighters
- Do It Again – Smash Mouth
- Deep Inside of You – Third Eye Blind
- Totalimmortal – The Offspring
- The World Ain’t Slowin’ Down – Ellis Paul
- Any Major Dude Will Tell You – Wilco
- Only A Fool Would Say That – Ivy
- Can’t Find The Time to Tell You – Hootie & The Blowfish
- Bodhisattva – Brian Setzer Orchestra
- Bad Sneakers – The Push Stars
- Reelin’ In The Years – Marvelous 3
- Strange Condition – Pete Yorn
- Barrytown – Ben Folds Five
- Razor Boy – Billy Goodrum
- Where He Can Hide – Tom Wolfe
Late to the Game 6/9/2020
Thanks for reading, If you would like to read more reviews I have a weekly series called Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday and also check out some retro tv goodness with the ongoing series Retro TV Reviews here. You can also find a few of my other Music Reviews Here.
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