But nobody would have noticed.
Instead, Metallica turns up for a predictably artless rampage through the theme from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," Celine Dion dismantles a piece of "Once Upon a Time in America," and Andrea Bocelli, Chris Botti and others apply themselves to material best appreciated in its original form.
A couple of moments stand out.
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters sings "Lost Boys Calling" from "The Legend of 1900" like it's on loan from "Dark Side of the Moon," and Quincy Jones with Herbie Hancock adds some funky fusion to a spaghetti Western sauce.
Outside of the original film scores, the best tribute to Morricone remains Wall of Voodoo's "Call of the West," in which Stan Ridgway said "We All Love Ennio Morricone" more convincingly than the acts here.
By Fred Shuster, Los Angeles Daily News
Almost exactly two years ago, on its final tour, the NYC quartet Luna played one of its very last shows at St.
Andrew's Hall in Detroit to an enthralled, sold-out crowd. The group's subtle but compelling blend of Velvet Underground-influenced dream-pop has been missed since then. Former Luna members Dean Wareham (guitars, vocals) and Britta Phillips (bass) get together here for their first full-length release since the band's breakup, and they deliver a disc that's welcome and elegantly crafted.
The now husband-and-wife team of Dean Britta are equal partners on "Back Numbers." They trade off lead vocals and cowrote the original material. Beautifully produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T.
Rex, Morrissey), the collection has some charming, offbeat covers, such as "You Turned My Head Around," written by Lee Hazelwood for Nancy Sinatra, and "White Horses," the theme song from a British children's TV show in the '60s.
Sonic Boom (Pete Kember), formerly of the neo-psychedelia trio Spaceman 3, provides some rich, atmospheric keyboards to the mix, as does vibes player Sean McCaul, often pushing Wareham's guitar to the background. This might not please every diehard Luna-tic, but as the lyrics say in "Our Love Will Still Be There," the album closer, "we're not going back there again.
" In stores Tuesday.
By Martin Bandyke, Free Press special writer
Amber, Sarah and Julia Ross are sweet-faced siblings who probably would fare well in school musicals. At some point in the not-too-distant past, they might have made interesting pop stars.
But today, under corporate hit factories like Disney, which spawned this sister act, and "American Idol," producers and entertainment moguls seem more interested in expanding their brands than nurturing young artists -- or making great singles, for that matter.
The generically feisty tunes on Everlife -- driven by the aggressive, anonymous hooks and rock-flavored arrangements that record execs have clamored for since Avril Lavigne's breakthrough -- offer none of the personality that Svengalis from Phil Spector and Berry Gordy on have tapped in young women. Like other current teen idols and "Idol" finalists, the Rosses are sometimes credited as cowriters; and as on those other CDs, the tracks are dominated by a posse of proven hitmakers who seldom seem inspired by the task at hand.
Sure, some will argue that Everlife is lucky to have such established talent and money behind them. But my guess is that years from now, these gals will wish they had waited until they could express themselves more distinctively, and had a support team that encouraged them to do so.
By Elysa Gardner, USA Today
Toronto's K-OS (stands for "Knowledge of Self") is a musical omnivore in the vein of Outkast and Gnarls Barkley, a hip-hop artist who idolizes Bo Diddley and Bob Dylan.
Solid DJ cuts underpin the "Jailhouse Rock" cop, his old-school soul turn recalls Dionne Warwick, and the single combines "Hey Ya" with "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" At its most chaotic, this sounds like six great records playing at once, so maybe his name actually means what it sounds like.
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