Various Artists - The Big Chill - Deluxe Edition

Writer/director Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill was one of Hollywood's first forays into baby-boomer navel-gazing, an examination of 60's idealism gone sour during the subsequent selfish excesses of the Me Decade and Go-Go 80's. It's Motown classics-dominated score became both a commercial sensation and generational touchstone, facets that often overlooked its status as one of the most artistically skillful pop song scores ever set to a film. This deluxe two CD edition won't defuse any of the often overweening nostalgia that's been its hallmark. Indeed, this slip-cased, expanded set (which includes the 1983 album's complete original track listing, as well as that of its 1984 sequel, More Songs From the Big Chill) often seems to relish in them on the new classic-rock dominated second disc, Bigger Chill: Music of a Generation. The second disc's tracks (which span more Motown, and a gamut from James Brown to Lesley Gore) are "inspired" by the film and not in it, but should more than please those enthralled by the original collection. Also included are previously unavailable instrumental versions of the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want," Bert Kaempfert's "Strangers in the Night" and the mock TV "J.T. Lancer" theme, tracks that were the film's only "traditional" scoring touches. --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

Yes, incomplete, but still superb!

Here, we have a brilliant assemblage of '60s tunes that will transport any Baby Boomer back to as close as one can get to the good old days.

I particularly love this CD because they've revived some great songs that would have been otherwise forgotten for me. I swear that the folks who pulled this brilliant selection of tracks all together into one CD must be the scoundrels who stole my beloved giant box of 33s and 8-tracks!

It would have been nice if they had included each and every song from this superb film but something is better than nothing at all. For anyone into '60s nostalgia, this CD is a must. March 31, 2008

Classic

Brings me back to a better time. Love it. Even listen to it on the way to work instead of the news! February 8, 2008

Fantastic Songs by Fantastic Artists

This is truly one of the best soundtracks ever compiled for a movie. Every song is a classic, with both power as a standalone song as well as meaning within the timeline of the movie. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum is one of those songs that still sends chills through me when I hear it.

Aretha Franklin sends power and strength through her rendition of "You Make Me Feel like a Natural Woman" - while The Temptations lay it all on the line with "Ain't Too Proud to Beg". You've got the sweet songs of "My Girl", the happy-go-lucky songs of "Good Lovin'" and "Joy to the World", and much more.

These were songs that inspired a whole generation of new songmakers, and for good reason. They had great lyrics, intricate harmonies, and melodies that worked their way into your heart.

Highly recommended! These are great to listen to as a set, to capture the essence of an era, as well as working into your other playlists you have, as cornerstones for groups of a variety of song types. March 10, 2007

Love it ! !

All the music is great and being a teen in the 60s brought back some good memories. January 5, 2007

A review from New Zealand

Even though i am too young to have experienced these songs when they were first released, they are classics that will never die. What a great collection, that has all of the songs from the movie plus others that follow along the same themes.
Definitely worth the price (even when you take into account currency conversion and freight costs to New Zealand!!)
I haven't stopped playing it since it arrived. September 27, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...