Inside the Sleeve Pop: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Author:
Alan Niester
Publication: The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Date: September 4, 1982
Abstract: A review of the soundtrack to Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Full Moon/Asylum 96 01581
In a perverse way, this album is a strange case of art imitating life.
Despite the fact that there are 19 different artists on the soundtrack, the over-all sound is so similar that putting the album on the turntable gives one the lifeless feel of current FM AOR radio.
Granted, there are a few hidden gems in the stew, including a nice remake by ex-Poco Timothy B. Schmit of the classic So Much In Love, and a peppy Jackson Browne number (Somebody's Baby) that's already snaking up the charts. It's a unique rock movie soundtrack in that all the material is original, not just a K-Tel mix of various artists' odds and sods. But that's not necessarily admirable, because it just reaffirms the over-all sense of programmed predictability. Given the film's burgeoning cult movie status (it has been reported that kids in California are already into repeat viewings and shouting dialogue back at the screen), it will probably be a big seller, but it contains the germ of all that's stagnant in today's pop music scene.
