I Own That CD! - Stealing Beauty

There has long been a discussion/argument as to what is the best movie soundtrack. Spike Lee, Wes Anderson and Quinten Tarantino all have a great knack for soundtracks.

Today's featured release on I Own That CD! is my choice for best movie soundtrack. The soundtrack to Stealing Beauty.

Bernardo Bertolucci has always taken special care with soundtrack music to his films, including Last Tango in Paris and The Last Emperor. This time around, on the 1996 soundtrack to Stealing Beauty, Peter Afterman, who has a long list of movie soundtrack credits to his name, has put together an eclectic and beautiful arrangement of songs and artists.

The beauty of the soundtrack is the mix of modern and classic sounds that weaves beautifully together. From trip-hop artists like Portishead and Hooverphonic to Nina Simone and Billie Holiday.

With some compilation soundtracks, the flow simply isn’t there. That’s not the case for Stealing Beauty. Here, you seamlessly go from a classic like “I’ll Be Seeing You” by Billie Holiday to “Rhymes of an Hour” by Mazzy Star. The well-known tracks are all great inclusions: “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder, “Glory Box” by Portishead and “My Baby Just Cares for Me” by Nina Simone.

Frankly, it’s the previously unreleased or deep tracks that complete this soundtrack so well. “You Won’t Fall” by Lori Carson (a former member of the seminal band The Golden Palominos), “Rocket Boy” by Liz Phair (co-written by the late, great Jim Ellison of Material Issue) and the Beatle-esque tune “I Need love” by the phenomenal Sam Phillips.

The only negative from the soundtrack were some of the omissions including some great classical music, and tracks by Bjork and Roland Gift (formerly of Fine Young Cannibals).

No worries – it’s still a pleasure to listen from start to finish. So take a listen on your favorite music streaming service – or if you’ve got a CD player, you can borrow my copy.