American Dreams (Review)
Review by Jack Foley
RECORD companies are always looking for excuses to release compilation albums… be in Valentine influenced collections, best of compendiums, soundtracks, etc, etc.
American Dreams, for my money, is one of the better excuses to emerge in recent times, given that it’s a 2CD compilation of songs from some of the top-rated US TV shows of the moment.
Indeed, over recent years shows like Grey’s Anatomy, The OC and Gossip Girl have become a valuable resource for bands to make a name for themselves… just ask Imogen Heap, who became a US sensation after her song Hide & Seek featured prominently in the second season finale of The OC (and subsequent TV shows and films!).
It’s slightly disappointing, therefore, to find that American Dreams has opted not to focus so much on the small acts who became household names as a result of their TV exposure, but rather the big acts who have had music placed.
But it’s still a strong collection of 42 tracks that take in everyone from current music sensation Lady Gaga to the Glee cast via the Friends theme and Keane. Ironically, Imogen Heap doesn’t feature (she should) and there’s a rather cheeky inclusion of Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down, which actually featured in the current Sex & The City movie sequel!
But nit-picking aside (and there’s surely more potential for American Dreams 2 there?), this is a good mix of artists and songs that are both current, nostalgic and diverse enough to provide good dinner party backing.
Highlights range from the obvious – Lady Gaga’s anthemic Bad Romance, the Glee cast’s Don’t Stop Believin’, The Fray’s How To Save A Life – to some great retro cuts, such as The Rembrandts’ I’ll Be There For You, Timbaland’s The Way I Are, Run DMC’s It’s Tricky and Phantom Planet’s California.
In between, there’s good choices from bands of the moment such as Florence + The Machine (Kiss With A Fist), The Ting Tings (We Started Nothing), Owl City (Sunburn), Kesha (Tik Tok) and Noisettes (Never Forget You).
There are some tried and tested stalwarts of the American alt-rock music scene, too, from the likes of The All-American Rejects, The Killers, Fall Out Boy, Gavin DeGraw and Maroon 5, which are well known but somehow not yet tiresome.
The final track, Rufus Wainwright’s interpretation of the much-covered Hallelujah, is a good way to round things off and a useful showcase of a pretty fine artist in his own right (which goes some way to making up for the hopelessly cheesy likes of Kate Voegele!).
So, really, kick back and enjoy… or if you want to have a little more fun: try and place each song to the episode it may have featured in!
Download picks: We Started Nothing, Hallelujah, Don’t Stop Believin’, Bad Romance, Tik Tok, Kiss With A Fist, Sunburn, Never Forget You, The Way I Are, California, It’s Tricky, I Like, Signs
Track listing:
Disc One
Disc Two
- I’ll Be There For You – The Rembrandts [Single Version]
- Good Girls Go Bad – Cobra Starship, Leighton Meester
- Get Crazy – Lmfao
- Top Of The World – The Pussycat Dolls
- California – Phantom Planet [Demo]
- I Don’t Want To Be – Gavin Degraw
- How To Save A Life – The Fray
- The Way I Are – Timbaland, Keri Hilson
- It’s Tricky – Run D.M.C.
- So What- P!nk [Clean Version]
- I Like – Keri Hilson [Jost & Grubert Radio Mix]
- It Ends Tonight – The All-American Rejects
- Happy Ending – Mika
- New In Town – Little Boots
- Signs – Bloc Party
- Na Na Na Na Naa – Kaiser Chiefs
- Partie Traumatic – Black Kids
- You Can’t Break A Broken Heart – Kate Voegele
- Nothing Lasts Forever – Maroon 5
- All In My Head – Nick Lachey
- Hallelujah – Rufus Wainwright