By Various Artists - Soundtracks, 2001

Writer-director Brian Helgeland dared to use rock music--mostly anthems from the '70s--to accompany his rousing tale of a medieval jousting champion, and this anachronistic strategy pays off handsomely by giving the film a joyful exuberance that it might otherwise have lacked. Divorced from the movie, this hot sampling of hits is just another corporate song package intended to boost the movie's profit margin, but it's still a blast to listen to. For anyone who grew up with this music--by Queen, War, David Bowie, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Heart, Thin Lizzy, and others--the lineup of favorites plays like an hour from the golden years of album-oriented-rock radio.

Younger listeners can hear what they missed--the music was so much better than it was given credit for at the time--and an update of Queen's "We Are the Champions," with Robbie Williams interpreting the irreplaceable Freddie Mercury, turns out to be not half bad (especially since Brian May's guitar licks are still fantastic). "One of Our Own" is the only track to sample Carter Burwell's lush film score with a dialogue clip included, and three tracks (including "Eye Conqueror" by Third Eye Blind) are passable nonmovie songs exclusive to this CD. Cynics might argue that this music has no place in a medieval knight's tale, and that this soundtrack is entirely perfunctory.

Those opinions could be justified, but it's a whole lot easier--and a lot more fun--to press "play" and groove on this energetic celebration of heroic rock & roll. --Jeff Shannon

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