OK, I think I’ve thoroughly explained how this album works on
\nprevious occasions. Composer James A. Johnston creates the entrance
\nmusic for the various World Wrestling Federation superstars. It
\nfunctions as the theme for the wrestling character – mean bad ass,
\ndark warrior, evil backstabber, etc. – and its very start sends
\nfans into frenzies of cheers or boos. This music is placed on CDs
\nthat shockingly proceed to enter near the top of the Billboard
\ncharts.<\/p>\n
I guess what amazes some is that, as they are continually
\nreleased; they are more and more popular. Like professional
\nwrestling has become accepted in the mainstream, so has this little
\ncompilation album. Now, the WWF has unleashed its fifth edition and
\nI can only say, it’s about time. In the time that has passed
\nbetween
\nVolume 4<\/i> and
\nVolume 5<\/i>, several new wrestlers have joined the WWF and some
\nof the cooler entrance music had been officially missing. (Yes,
\nthere were some of these available through Napster, but they were
\npoor recordings made at the live shows).
\nWWF: The Music Vol. 5<\/i> finally gives the wrestling fans the
\nchance to hear these.<\/p>\n
For me, the coolest track here is “The Game,” the entrance theme
\nfor Triple H (or Hunter Hearst Helmsley). While the WWF had already
\ngiven him a new entrance theme in
\nVolume 4<\/i>, this one is an improvement, if I do say so. Why?
\nIt’s simply because they went out and got Lemmy Kilmister and
\nMotorhead to record it. If anyone can project mean with his voice
\nand with his music, it’s Lemmy and here he delivers it. While the
\nlast theme gave Triple H the attitude of breakout, this new one
\ngives him a true sense of mean.<\/p>\n
Other big highlights are “If You Dare” (Tazz), “What About Me”
\n(Raven) and “Shooter” (Chris Benoit). This is testosterone-packed
\nmood music, but it’s highly enjoyable. From the raven sounds in
\n“What About Me?” to the EEG sounds in “If You Dare,” Johnston finds
\nlittle things that make each track different, unique and cool.
\nAnother cool, if goofy, track is “Turn It Up” (Too Cool), which
\nmanages to sound as the DJ mix of the cheesiest rappers of all
\ntimes. Hear it and you will laugh and enjoy it.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, a lot of this music is middle-of-the-road and not
\nreally that exciting. “Who I Am” (Chyna), “Get Rowdy” (K-Kwik),
\n“I’ve Got It All” (“The One” Billy Gunn), and others are only
\naverage and don’t present as much attitude as they should. This may
\nbe due to a lack of focus on just who the wrestler is. I mean,
\nlisten to “Out of the Fire” (Kane) or “Shooter” (Chris Benoit) and
\ncompare it to “It Just Feels Right” (Lita) or “Bad Man” (Rikishi)
\nand tell me which one exudes more presence. At the same time, there
\nare a few tracks like “Latino Heat (Eddie Guerrero)” and “Medal
\n(Kurt Angle),” which, while not bad, are not as great or as
\nexciting.<\/p>\n
Then, there’s “Pie.” The Rock’s recording debut – with guest
\nSlick Rick – is a toss-up. To the millions (and millions) of Rock’s
\nfans, this song is great and funny and just brims with his
\npersonality. However, its gospel\/hip-hop mix might not find a lot
\nof fans with everyone else. It’s a mixed affair as far as I’m
\nconcerned. Depending on what day I hear it, I either laugh or shut
\nthe CD off.<\/p>\n
And, as always, I will speak of those tracks that are missing
\nhere. While I understand that the entrance themes for the Hardy
\nBoyz and Crash Holly are public property – therefore cannot be
\nplaced on a CD – there are several others that should have made it
\nhere. Entrance music for wrestlers like the Dudley Boys, the
\nRadicalz, Dean Malenko, and the Disturbed-version of Stone Cold
\nSteve Austin should have all been here. One guesses that these and
\nothers are being saved for that upcoming sixth volume.<\/p>\n
Coming off the strong third and fourth volumes, there was a lot
\nof expectations for
\nWWF: The Music Vol. 5<\/i>. I really would have liked for this
\nvolume to have been the strongest in the streak of
\nWWF: The Music<\/i>, but alas, it is not. While some of these
\ntracks are great, others leave me wanting for more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":28067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5827],"rating":[5619],"class_list":["post-39461","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-various-artists","rating-rating-c"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39461"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39461"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}