What the producers did decide on that had some merit was to load up a soundtrack album with some of the heavy hitter bands of the time, and give them the chance to create a song that could be featured in the movie itself. When compiled, some of those songs were featured in the movie, while the rest were put together on this album, which was stamped as “Music FROM and INSPIRED BY Mission Impossible 2”, so as to cover their backsides when it was finally revealed that not all of the tracks appeared in the film itself. All of the songs were recorded and produced by the bands themselves.
And it is an eclectic selection of bands and artists, which is very much a snapshot of heavy music at the time. Because it is dominated by nu-metal bands and alternative metal and rock bands. And if you are fans of that era in music then this album is most probably already in your collection. But if you are not fans of the standard of the turn of the century, then there are probably a lot of reasons not to go near this album. As a study of the era though it acts as an interesting collection to listen to and remember just where certain parts of the world were at when it came to the evolution of heavy music. It isn’t really necessary to tie this to the movie, but then again perhaps the enjoyment of the movie or the music comes from how you view the other.
The Australian version of this album has an overloaded 19 tracks on it, and the running time in total is an hour and 20 minutes. It’s almost as long as some films, though not as long as this one was. There are three bonus songs tacked onto the end of the regular 16 songs, one is “Iko Iko” by Zap Mama, an electronica reggae version of this well covered song, while the other two are by Australian artists, “Sucker” by 28 Days is a solid hard rock track from this very good Aussie group, ne that keeps the intensity high, while the “Theme from Mission Impossible” by Josh Abrahams is a nice way to exit the album.
Back to the top of the track list and this is where the heavy hitters of the album reside, to drag you in from the outset. Leading us off is Limp Bizkit with “Take a Look Around”, which utilises the main riff of the Mission Impossible theme tune as its basis and works onwards from there. I can’t say that I know a lot of Limp Bizkit and most of what I hear is not really my cup of tea, but I do like this song, the way it moves from moody to heavy to clear to raging. The song is a little long at over five minutes but it's a good listen. Metallica’s “I Disappear” follows, and interesting bridge between what they had written for “Reload” and would then write for “St Anger”. It is more or less their nu-metal anthem, one they made a film clip for that was probably better than the film itself, and which would go on to be the catalyst for their legal action over the peer-to-peer networking application Napster when a demo of this song appeared on that network well before the release of this album, or the song as a single. It is sometimes overlooked as it doesn’t actually appear on a Metallica album. Rob Zombie’s “Scum of the Earth” is typical Rob Zombie and blasts through the album as a result. The Butthole Surfers’ “They Came In” is an interestingly recorded track, full of differing instrumental effects that showcase a side of the band that isn’t always obvious. Then “Rocket Science” by The Pimps mirrors the Limp Bizkit style of rap and metal grooves. The cover version of Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar” is performed by the Foo Fighters with two differing performers. Firstly, the song is sung by drummer Taylor Hawkins, who gives the vocals a whole new sound. He is obviously a fan of the band, and his performance is passionate as a result. This also has Brian May guesting on guitar which gives the solo through the track lovely sound that only May can provide, as a counter to David Gilmour’s original. It’s an interesting interpretation of the track. Chris Cornell’s “Mission 2000” has moments that sound great, when his vocals hit those tones that we all know and love, but the track itself does fall a little flat. On the other hand, Godsmack’s “Going Down” was recorded during sessions for their debut album but not used, and was recycled here and then on their sophomore album.
Into the second half of the album, the lesser known acts get their chance to showcase their wares, and the range of genres of music here extends as a result. “What U Lookin’ At?” by Uncle Kraker, who had worked with Kid Rock up to this point in time, has a similar vibe to his music here. “Backwards” by Apartment 26 sits in an alt-metal phase, and given the relative newness of the band is an interesting choice for this soundtrack. The song is solid but is very rigid in composition. Diffuser’s “Karma” is very alternative rock of the late 1990’s but is an enjoyable trip down typical movie soundtrack songs from teenage coming-of-age movies of the day. It could easily have been in the movie “Empire Records” for instance. Buckcherry’s “Alone” is a standard hard rock offering from the band here.
Powderfinger’s “Not my Kinda Scene” is the standout from the back half of the album, the professional and excellence of their music immediately noticeable around the other tracks here. Tori Amos’s “Carnival” will please her fans but is not instantly brilliant, while the Hans Zimmer track “Nyah” seems like something that could easily have been omitted at the final hurdle.
I remember buying this after the movie had been released at the cinemas. I’d been to see the movie, and as I mentioned earlier, I had been underwhelmed with it. It isn’t a patch on the first movie, the story and the stunts. But some of the music from the movie I thought had been pretty good, and having sat through the credits in order to see who contributed to the songs I decided I may as well go out and buy the CD of the soundtrack. And, overall, it was good. I wouldn’t say that I’m a fan of all of the bands on the album, but I enjoyed about half of the album from the first couple of listens.
I have quite a number of soundtracks in my collection, and they all get bought after I’ve seen a movie and like the music, and then they get an occasional listen and then go back on the shelves. This album is no different. I listened to it when I first bought it, and then it has been residing in amongst my other CDs forever. I don’t remember when the last time was that I listened to this album. When I go to listen to music at home, I go for an album by a band, not really a compilation or soundtrack album. Sometimes I’m in the mood for that but mostly I swing the other way. So while I have these soundtrack albums that I have bought over the years, they don’t get much of a run. Which is one of the reasons I do this podcast. To pull these albums off my shelves and give them a chance to listened to once again. Just like Andy and his toys in Toy Story.
I guess I feel about the same way listening to this album today as I did all those years ago. It’s okay. It has some good songs here, and some that are very dated to the era. There are bands and artists here that I have never really listened to much that sound better than I would expect. There are bands here that I generally enjoy that have offered a reasonable track to the album. And as with all soundtrack albums there are bands and artists here that I just don’t know at all, and don’t really feel any desire to change that.
I could have skipped doing an episode on this album and it would probably not have bothered anyone in the world. All it would have done was annoy me because I knew it had an anniversary, and it was in my collection, and I passed over it. So now it is done. Everything is in order. And we can all move onto the next episode.
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