Search - Various Artists, WWF: The Music (Series) :: WWE: The Music, Vol. 4

They've got the moves, they've got the outfits, and yes, they've got the music. Anyone familiar with the part circus-sideshow, part rock-video testostoronefest of the World Wrestling Federation's Raw and Smackdown shows will recognize the entrance songs for the hottest stars in the WWF. These are the songs to which the wrestlers power up as they take the stage amidst flashing lights, fog machines, and rock kicks to challenge their rivals. The majority of tracks on this compilation are suitably high energy, with enough power chords and distorted vocals to make even doing your laundry seem edgy and potentially dangerous. Stone Cold Steve Austin's "Oh Hell Yeah" sounds like Ministry lite, Chris Jericho's "Break Down the Wall" is a catchy rap-metal number, and the Test's awesome theme song "This Is a Test" has been known to inspire twitchy, robotic dances in its listeners. By far the most entertaining song on this CD is Mr. Ass's cleverly entitled "I'm an Ass Man." With lines like "Buns of glory, buns of steel, your eyes will give away the truth of how I feel" you know he is serious about the subject of ass. For the more romantic wrestling fan, Mark Henry's "Sexual Chocolate" provides a smooth, Barry White-like change of pace. Not all songs on this CD have the same verve. Mankind's "Wreck" is rather monotonous despite background car-crash effects, which is disappointing since he is one of wrestling's most interesting characters and should have a good song. "Ministry," Undertaker's theme, never quite lives up to the swelling crescendos of its intro. But this is after all intro music; if the first 15 seconds are good enough to get the crowd fired up, who cares if the rest of the song, like the sport it represents, is mostly comprised of smoke and mirrors? --Michelle Riggen