Search - Bt :: Driven

Horror strikes with a first glance at the cover of this soundtrack album from Sylvester Stallone's race-car drama Driven: could the likes of Stallone, Burt Reynolds, and Kip Pardue (who?) actually be performing these tunes? Fortunately, the presence of movie-star names up front only denotes misguided art direction or an ego trip on the part of "co-executive soundtrack producer" Stallone. The disc instead proves to hold a smorgasbord of overdramatic tracks chosen for maximum multidemographic penetration. In addition to over-the-top pop-country from Curb artists LeAnn Rimes, Tim McGraw, and Jo Dee Messina, there's a misbegotten Matchbox 20/Chili Peppers fusion by Tantric, the Brit-dance-pop of Rob Dougan, and, what's this, an actual worthwhile cut by Hank Williams III that's more country-punk than anything on his excellent debut. Schlocky songwriter Diane Warren's spirit is the guiding one, but her "Soon" (by Rimes) and "I Wanna Get Back with You" (Mary Griffin) are totally outcheesed by awful covers of "For the Love of Money" and "Break On Through" by respective no-names Rare Blend and Steve Holy tacked onto the CD's end. They make the prospect of a Gina Gershon vocal seem not such a bad idea after all. --Rickey Wright