1. Boom Boom Ba - Bredou, Aida
2. Bongo Bong - Chao, Manu
3. Don't Make Me Love You (Til I'm Ready) - Peiken, Shelly
4. American Pie - McLean, Don
5. This Life - Hitchcock, Nicola
6. If Everybody Looked the Same - Cato, A.
7. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? - Hall, Richard
8. I'm Not in Love - Gouldman, Graham
9. Stars All Seem to Weep - Orton, Beth
10. Time Stood Still - Madonna
11. Swayambhu - Stevens, Joanna
12. Forever (And Always)
Amazon.com
The obvious centerpiece to this soundtrack is Madonna's hyperkinetic version of Don McLean's 1971 postmortem rock anthem "American Pie." Capturing the bittersweet intentions of the original, Madonna and producer William Orbit create a forlorn dreamscape of dance beats and floating electronica effects that serve to update the sentimental war horse. The entire soundtrack has a futuristic sheen. Thick washes of reverb, ethereal keyboards, and swooping tones create the illusion of space travel throughout. Previously released tunes deserving of headline status include Moby's unusually soulful "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad," which cleverly updates a classic '60s soul groove to modern effect. A highlight from Beth Orton's Central Reservation, "Stars All Seem to Weep," fits like a missing piece of the puzzle. Previously unreleased tracks from Christina Aguilera, Maverick recording artists Olive (who cover 10cc's "I'm Not in Love"), and Madonna's "Time Stood Still," another fruitful collaboration with William Orbit, round things out. --Rob O'Connor
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The Next Best Thing: Music From The Motion Picture
- Audio CD: 0 pages (2000-02-22)
- Publisher: Maverick; 2000
- Label: Maverick
- Format: Soundtrack
- Studio: Maverick
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 97 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #51690
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: One song makes this worth the price of purchase... 2008-08-28
Comment: If you are a fan of Madonna...and an even bigger fan of her ballads; there is no reason to be without this CD. It contains the most beautiful (IMHO) ballad she has ever done. "Time Stood Still", will pull at your heart strings in ways you won't believe. Even if you never play the other songs; the money spent would be worth it because there is absolutely no other way to get the song that I know of.
In reality , things are better than that because the cd also contains Madonna's cover of "American Pie". The William Orbit production is superb; as it is on "TIme Stood " Still.
Last but not least, the end track is a beautiful instrumental by Gabriel Yared, the composer who brought us the gorgeous original score for City of Angels.
So,to sum it up, the soundtrack has been discontinued but is still available from many merchants here at Amazon and elsewhere. Used Cd's are bargain priced and the three tracks I have cited make it more than worthwhile.
Go on...do yourself a favor.The remainder of the music is very hip , well produced, and undoubtedly has an audience. If that doesn't include you ,its no loss, because the other three selections are absolute Heart candy.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Boom Boom Ba is very sexy! 2007-01-10
Comment: I bought this album for the cut "Boom Boom Ba". As far as I know it's not available anywhere else. The 5 stars are mostly for this cut.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great CD. Very Ambient. 2005-11-24
Comment: Very ambient. American Pie just has the best production values. The Moby song is excellent as are all the others except Christina Agularas, which sounds out of place in the midst of the other songs.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Bad 2005-06-17
Comment: World beat, dance pop, moody electronica and dance floor shakers all come together for a fun and entertaining hour or so. And it's a damn sight better than the movie it came from, I can assure you of that. Even the slightly stiff and ham fisted cover of American Pie is forgivable, in light of the nice array of tracks from artists you have heard, and many ( well, most ) that you haven't. The best thing is this album really stands on its own, and doesn't need the awful movie it came from to prop it up.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good... 2005-05-01
Comment: This is one of those cds that a lot of people will buy for one song and end up loving the rest of the album. The album seems to have a theme: sophistocated and symphnonic (but obscure) Euro-tronic music. Of course, the main track is Madonna's "American Pie", her performance of which is worthy to be compared to the original, but almost every other song is great too. "Boom Boom Ba" is addictive and catchy and excells as the album-opener. Things are enhanced when Moby enteres the scene with his soul-influenced, beautiful oddball "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" and the two tracks by Olive and Beth Orton are very entertaining, whilst the interesting "Bongo Bong" gives you something you're very likely to NOT have heard: what sounds like one of the Chipmunks "rapping" which adds humor and life to the album, as does the delightfully bouncy (and catchy) track by Christina Aguilera. The album finishes peacefully with the Gabriel Yared track. But the very best song on the album and the one worth buying the album solely for is Madonna's stunning "Time Stood Still", a rollercoaster of emotional lyrics and sweeping strings and melodious electronica. Produced by William Orbit, the song is straight out of "Ray of Light", thoug for some ridiculous reason, the song was left off the album. Starting quietly, "Time Stood Still" snares your attention and before you know it, a beautiful, soaring climax that defies genre-boundaries is flooding your ears. Definitely worth the price of the album alone.
The reason, however, that this album only received 4 stars from me is the fault of the Christina Aguilera track, which, despite being a decent and fun song, seems to corrupt the musical theme and direction of the album. The other reason is the Solar Twins track, which eerily goes nowhere throughout the song and unnecessarily takes up time space. A song like it shouldn't have been on the album period, but it's followed by the equally mellow (without the eeriness) Gabriel Yared track, and by the time both songs are finished, the upbeat moments of the album seem like just a memory.
So, in conclusion, if you buy this just for the Madonna tracks, there are very good chances you will enjoy most of, if not all of, the rest of the album. And despite the two theme inconsistencies I just mentioned, I guess the more broad listener would argue "There's something for everyone." Either way, I highly recommend the album, especailly the two Madonna tracks.
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The Next Best Thing: Music From The Motion Picture
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