26 soundtracks: Still Crazy

I like the soundtrack for Still Crazy (reviewed HERE) enough that I sill own it and several of the songs have stayed with me. I could go on and on with a breakdown of the soundtrack, I could talk about what I like and what falls flat. Instead I want to focus on two things, the stand out track The Flame Still Burns and the nature of songs written for soundtracks.

            The Flame Still Burns is thee song from the film. It’s the great song that the band wrote back in their heyday as a tribute to their fallen original member. It’s a great dramatic prop that is one of thee tensions between band members. It’s an epic song with a drama that rises above the din of 70s hard rock that the film evokes. Not only is it a song that can be read as a tribute t the fallen band mate, but also to the spirit of rock and the magic that happens when a performer really allows the music to open them up and expose the raw power of sound to scream to the heavens and to connect with the audience.

            I have to ask if anyone is playing that song and any of the others today. It’s a shame when great and even good bands have superior songs that are unheard these days for whatever reason. In the case of soundtrack songs, and epically ones that are part of a film and part of a band that is created just for the film, they are often even more forgotten than those of defunct bands. The nature of songs written for a soundtrack is that they are created for a film, and often there is very little investment in those songs by their creators. Often times a band is asked to write a song to go along with a film, they get a payday and have a short period of time to get it written and recorded.

            Sometimes those constraints can bring gems to the surface. It can allow bands to have the distance from the material to create something that is raw and not over thought. I can name a dozen great songs that were written for and only appear on soundtracks that have the magic that songs by the same artists that were created for their albums or live sets.  In the case of Still Crazy you have not only The Flame Still Burns, but also Dirty Town and All Over the World, which are little gems that are crying out to be rediscovered and played live.