The movie
Rock Star
is based on the
Cinderella
(not the band) story of
Tim "Ripper" Owens
, the lead singer of a
Judas Priest
cover band who actually joined
Priest
when the storied
Rob Halford
exited. This scenario is reenacted through two fictional bands:
Blood Pollution
, the proletariat tribute band, and
Steel Dragon
, the professional stadium sensation. The movie was originally titled Metal God, and that's exactly what the new songs lack. Both these bands are comprised of less-than-legendary metallers from
Black Label Society
(
Slaughter
and
Dokken
). The new
songs (especially
"We Die Young,"
which is sung by perfect-choice lung-buster
Mike Matijevic
of
Steelheart
) paint a portrait of a great time in
metal
, but you don't put your fist in the air or bang your head to a portrait. Like the film, this soundtrack is ambiguous as to whether it actually loves the music or sees
as a fascinating and brief moment in pop culture. Like always with fictional bands, the music must live up to the images and the precedence, and rarely does.
Twiggy Ramirez
from
Marilyn Manson
donates
"Blood Pollution"
for the band of the same name and
Sammy Hagar
supplies the typically brain-dead
"Stand Up."
An awful
Verve Pipe
coffeehouse number goes down in flames just as it does in the movie. (
Metal
, for all its flaws, is unapologetically commercial: as beautiful as it is bombastic and as poignant as it is plastic. A prefabricated
alternative
song is just embarrassing.)
Everclear
's
"Rock Star"
already appeared on
Songs From an American Movie, Vol. 2
a year prior, and just doesn't fit into the golden-age-of-leather sect depicted in the film (
Flipp
"Rockstar"
would have been a cooler choice).
Trevor Rabin
, who resuscitated the career of
Yes
, does the
score; he's a definite '80s star and a great guitar player, but rarely associated with
. Luckily, he's balanced out by
hair
maestro
Tom Werman
, an '80s producer with more apropos credentials who oversees the mock
rock
bits.
Werman
also brings along two of his electric jewels: all nine glorious minutes of
Ted Nugent
's airtight
"Stranglehold"
Moetley Cruee
's white-knuckle ride on the
"Wildside."
Elsewhere,
Kiss
Bon Jovi
classics sound as good as ever, and
"Devil Inside"
is a nice side line. Surprisingly, although
features two
Def Leppard
songs --
"Rock Rock (Till You Drop)"
"Let's Get Rocked"
(a 1992 number which has no place in a film set in the '80s) -- neither appear on this soundtrack. The almighty
is also absent, a tragedy considering the film's content and the
hero's eternal status as one of the genre's finest. ~ Doug Stone