Various Artists - Trainspotting: Music From The Motion Picture

The first of two Trainspotting discs is a prime example of the contemporary rock soundtrack, functioning as a useful keepsake of the 1996 British film smash and as a cohesive, eclectic listen in its own right. Iggy Pop's booming, Bowie-produced 1977 anthem "Lust for Life" sets the boisterously ambivalent mood for a transatlantic, trans-generational cross-section of alt-rock. New Order's seminal 1982 dance hit "Temptation" and Lou Reed's hauntingly bittersweet 1972 tune "Perfect Day" shares space with tracks by such esteemed mid-1990s Brit-popsters as Blur (whose frontman Damon Albarn also contributes a solo number), Pulp, Elastica, and Sleeper. Elsewhere, the album dips into dance rhythms (Underworld, Bedrock featuring KYO) and ambient grooves (Brian Eno Leftfield, and Primal Scream's ten-and-a-half-minute title song) without breaking the spell. --Scott Schinder Amazon.com

Get lost in this

Easily one of the best soundtrack compilations ever put together. It's a perfect narrative for the forgotten, drug-infused, rock-bottom, greasy nightmare most of us have never lived through. In the end you'll have an incredible urge to rinse off in the shower. August 23, 2007

Love the film love the music

Its that simple. If there's ever been a soundtrack that goes so good with the movie this is one of them. Now you can relive Trainspotting any time. March 9, 2007

Trainlistening.

In a world where every other movie has it's own soundtrack, few stand out. This one does to me. Obviously a liking for the movie helps, but even without the film this is an excellent listen. A great mix of old and new, mellow and upbeat. I mean when you stick Iggy, Lou Reed, and New Order on the same disc as Brian Eno, Blur, and Bedrock.....well you can't go wrong. Still a great play ten years later, and should be found cheap anyplace. October 17, 2006

Better than the movie...?

When I started listening to this, it had been a year or so since I had seen the movie (which I liked), and I couldn't remember which scenes correponded to which tracks. Therefore I enjoyed it as a completley seperate work of art. When I re-watched the movie recently, I was almost dissapointed; the music actually seemed weakened in the context of the scenes. Don't get me wrong, Trainspotting is excellent, but the soundtrack stands indepedently and possibly even above it as a pop-culture watermark.

It's been observed that there's a lot of variance in the music, but I do think it's held together by a certain theme, a depiction of a way of life - squalor (Mile End, 2:1), desperatley sincere attempts to find some happiness or amusement (Lust For Life, Atomic, For What You Dream Of), an underlying and understandable sense of desperation (Sing and Perfect Day, the only songs which I thought perfectly matched their respective scenes in the movie), made bearable by the occasional glimpse of real, innocent sweetness (Temptation).

Taken seperatley, the songs are again very strong; there are great commerical hits like 'Temptation' and 'Born Slippy,' and more obscure but excellent tracks like 'Sing,' which I don't think can be found on any other album, but which I think is one of Blur's best songs, ever. The instrumental tracks are also good, particularly 'Trainspotting' itself. April 10, 2004

A must have for any lover of music.

I finally bought this CD after putting it off for years. I mainly bought it for Underworld, but this whole CD is cool. I'm not into Iggy or Lou, but I don't skip any tracks on this CD. This came out in 1996, but sounds so fresh and relevant to today's culture. My least favorite track is, Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," and my absolute favorite is, Blur's "Sing," which barely beat Primal Scream's "Trainspotting." The track that A track that surprised me is Pulp's hilarious "Mile End." Brian Eno is always good, and "Deep Blue Day" will give Eno more record sales. Blur's lead singer has the last track called, "Closet Romantic," which is a more of an electronic song. If you like emotionally charged tunes then go get this album. September 13, 2003

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