Disney had to be sweating just a bit this summer. True, they did
have a huge hit with
Tarzan, but honestly, if you saw the movie
South Park-Bigger, Longer and Uncut, which of these songs
stayed in your head?
You’ve got the custom made mall music of Phil Collins. Then,
you’ve got that incessantly annoying song, “Uncle F**ka” bouncing
around in your dome. It’s ugly, it’s dirty and frankly, it’s
f***ing hilarious.
The biggest shock in this soundtrack is the reverence that is
treated for each song. “Mountain Town” seems straight out of
“Oklahoma!” with the soaring cadances and the innocent sounding
vocals. Hard to imagine such work went into a song which chorus
contains “redneck” and “podunk.”
Of course, that’s nothing compared to the song that I mentioned
earlier, “Uncle F**ka.” The high-pitched voices of Terrance and
Phillip (Trey Parker and Matt Stone) fit nicely into the choir-like
backup. But moralists will no doubt notice these subtleties when
they hear such vile banter like, “You’re a bonafide ass licking
uncle f**ka.”
It’s not all shock value though. “What Would Brian Boitano Do,”
is a funny, spunky number that actually sounds like it was made for
fourth graders to sing. And the artful meshing of three distinct
songs in
South Park fit well in the Les Miserable-like “La
Resistance.” The show and certainly the movie may not fit the
tastes of most people, but no one can deny that creators Parker and
Stone have done their homework when it comes to studying classical
musicals.
If this album were to stop at the closing theme, “Mountain Town
(Reprise),” this album could have actually had the chance to make a
run for the Oscar. But for better and worse, there’re some
additional “interpretations” of the show-stopping tunes in “South
Park.” Sang by the Violent Femmes, Isaac Hayes and for techno
lovers, Tricky Daddy, it is amusing to hear fresh material from
artists who have not come out with any new releses. And Rush fans
will no doubt buy this soundtrack to hear the uhh, interpreatation
of “O Canada.”
This album is straight ‘A’ material. But I’m not a fool.
Humor-themed albums tend to lose their luster after the fourth and
fifth listen. And
South Park is no different. Still, no one can deny the
craftsmanship of the musical numbers in this piece. And there’s no
way I’m selling a disc when I know I’ll have that once in a year
craving to hear Cartman rip through “Kyle’s Mom’s a B**ch.”
South Park fan or not, excellent anger therapy awaits
open-minded listeners with track one on this CD.
