Elly Roberts reviews
Sony/BMG
With Will Smith on the verge of another huge success with the comedy-flick Hitch, now comes the obligatory soundtrack.
A subtle mix of contemporary RnB, covers and originals, this will have massappeal for Smith fans across the globe. After that, it has little broad-scopepurchase potential.
Golden oldies like Earth Wind and Fire, Jimmy Cliff, Martha Reeves and TheTemptations make a welcomed inclusion. That said, and not having see the film,Im certain the listing will adequately match the scenes. Its a punchy RnBopener in the Beyonce mould (Amerie) and the funky grooves roll on witha subtle cover of Stevie Wonders classic and revitalised EW&F featuring songbirdKelly Rowland. Overall, a very good soul filled OST.
Top tracks Love Train, sounding as great as it did way back in thedisco days of 1973, when it got to #3 in the UK singles chart: The TemptationsI Cant Get Next To You and Jimmy Cliffs reggae rendition.
Makes you wonder how much Will Smith influenced the choices !
The full list of tracks included are :
1. 1 Thing – Amerie
2. Dont You Worry Bout A Thing – John Legend
3. This Is How I Feel – Earth Wind and Fire featuring Kelly Rowland & Sleepy Brown
4. Ooh Wee – Mark Ronson feat. Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg, Trife Da God and Saigon
5. Now That We Found Love – Heavy D & The Boyz
6. Happy – Meleni Smith
7. Love Train – OJays
8. I Cant Get Next To You – The Temptations
9. You Can Get It If You Really Want – Jimmy Cliff
10. Its Easy To Fall In Love (With A Guy Like You) – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
11. Reasons – Earth Wind and Fire
12. Never Gonna Let You Go(Shes A Keepa) – Omarion
13. Turn Me On (Low Tide remix) – Kevin Lyttle
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.