Trainspotting: Music From The Motion Picture

 (30 customer reviews)

When I started listening to this, it had been a year or so since I had seen the movie (which I liked), and I couldn't remember which scenes correponded to which tracks. Therefore I enjoyed it as a completley seperate work of art. When I re-watched the movie recently, I was almost dissapointed; the music actually seemed weakened in the context of the scenes. Don't get me wrong, Trainspotting is excellent, but the soundtrack stands indepedently and possibly even above it as a pop-culture watermark.It's been observed that there's a lot of variance in the music, but I do think it's held together by a certain theme, a depiction of a way of life - squalor (Mile End, 2:1), desperatley sincere attempts to find some happiness or amusement (Lust For Life, Atomic, For What You Dream Of), an underlying and understandable sense of desperation (Sing and Perfect Day, the only songs which I thought perfectly matched their respective scenes in the movie), made bearable by the occasional glimpse of...Read more

I consider the soundtrack to the movie "Trainspotting" one of the most definitive soundtrack in modern music. There is an eclectic mix of artists and bands that ranges from alternative to techno, mixing old songs with new songs. This soundtrack couldn't have started off on a better note than with Iggy Pop's classic "Lust For Life", both a film and commercial favorite. The thunderous beats and Iggy's raw vocals mixes nicely together and makes the listener get up and dance. "Nightclubbing", another Iggy Pop song, is excellent. A bit monotonous at times but I just love how deep Iggy's voice gets on this song. It has a trip hop influence in the song, long before the term trip hop was defined. Sleeper's cover of the Blondie classic "Atomic" is excellent without a doubt. Catchy and darn right fun to listen to. I almost love this version more than the original and I love Blondie's music to death. I think my very personal favorite track off the...Read more

While most of the songs on this soundtrack can stand alone, they do form a cohesive and convincing ensemble of songs to create the ambience needed to build the world of Mark Renton and his misfit gang of heroin junkie and crime addicted friends. The movie is an interesting collection of character sketches, if not a disgusting look at the life of heroin addicts, and the soundtrack serves as a perfect backdrop to this narration. "Lust for Life" is a perfect lead-off anthem (although, I am disappointed to report that "Lust for Life" is now being used in a series of inane American t.v. commercials for a cruise ship company...) Primal Scream's "Trainspotting" fits the bill (as a lot of their music would) because it just floats along with no real end in sight, no real climax, and the lifestyle of the characters seems to have this low-key element to it. Nothing matters to them but the "next hit". Based on the strength of Sleeper's remake of Blondie's...Read more