South Park - Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Soundtrack

Atlantic Records, 1999

REVIEW BY: Sean McCarthy

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 09/15/1999

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."my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

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.

Rating: B+

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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© 1999 Sean McCarthy and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Atlantic Records, and is used for informational purposes only.