Last Action Hero (Soundtrack)
| Last Action Hero - Music from the Original Motion Picture | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack by Michael Kamen (composer) and various performers | |||||||||
|
Publication |
June 16, 1993 |
||||||||
| Label (s) | Columbia Records | ||||||||
|
Format (s) |
CD |
||||||||
|
Hard rock , alternative rock |
|||||||||
|
Title (number) |
12 |
||||||||
|
running time |
54:19 |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
Studio (s) |
Various |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
Last Action Hero - Music from the Original Motion Picture is a music album for the movie of the same name Last Action Hero from 1993. The album contains eleven music tracks by ten bands from the rock and metal scene as well as an instrumental composition by the film composer Michael Kamen the well-known guitarist Buckethead . In addition to this CD, which is characterized by the black cover, there is also a CD with 30 minutes of film music by Michael Kamen, which, despite the identical cover motif, has a white color scheme. Since there are two soundtrack albums for the film, there is oftentalkof a “black” and a “white” Last Action Hero albumin this context.
With the exception of Swim (Fishbone), these are exclusive pieces of music by the respective groups that have not previously been released on any other sound carrier (in the versions represented here). However, due to the popularity of some songs, many were reused on later releases by the performers.
Origin and background
AC / DC's Big Gun
Arnold Schwarzenegger, leading actor and executive producer of the film and avowed fan of the group, personally offered the band to write a song for the soundtrack of Last Action Hero . As usual with the Australian rock band, the song was penned by the brothers Angus and Malcolm Young. The title was also the band's first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, who two years later also produced AC / DC's studio album Ballbreaker .
Big Gun is the last recording to date that was made with Chris Slade as drummer for AC / DC. The song was also released as an independent single in parallel with the film and enjoyed considerable success in some countries. A music video was also shot for Big Gun , directed by David Mallet, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger can be seen in his film role and he storms the band's concert stage. The video was taken at Van Nuys airport hangar 104E in Los Angeles.
Alice in Chains' What the Hell Have I and A Little Bitter
The song What the Hell Have I was written in the spring of 1992 for the album Dirt , which was the breakthrough for the band. Since the song recorded with a sitar was not used there, it was finally released for the first time on this soundtrack together with A Little Bitter . A remix version of both songs was also released on the Alice-in-Chains albums Music Bank (1999) and on The Essential Alice in Chains (2006).
Megadeth's Angry Again
Angry Again is one of the few songs on the album that was written specifically for this film. Band founder and singer Dave Mustaine wrote the song within a day, it was inspired by the melody of The Clashs Should I Stay or Should I Go . The track was recorded during the tour for the album Countdown to Extinction . Angry Again was nominated for a Grammy in 1993 in the "Best Metal Performance" category, but eventually lost to Ozzy Osbourne's I Don't Want to Change the World . A music video was directed by Wayne Isham. The song appeared in 1995 on the EP Hidden Treasures for the first time on a Megadeth album, and later also on the greatest hits album Back to the Start from 2005. A live recording of the song was released in 2002 on Rude Awakening .
Queensrÿches Real World
This song was written with the participation of the film composer Michael Kamen, with whom the group had already worked together in 1988 on the album Operation: Mindcrime and in 1990 on Empire . The final part of the song is an excerpt from the original score that was used in Last Action Hero . In 2003, a live version of the title was also presented on the re-release of the 1994 album Promised Land . The original also appeared for the first time on an album of the band, it was also reused in 2007 for the best-of album Sign of the Times .
Def Leppard's Two Steps Behind
The acoustic version of Two Steps Behind , which was also alluded to in the credits of the movie , was also used on the B-side and non-album track compilation Retro Active in October 1993 . This version includes strings added by Michael Kamen, a simple acoustic version of the song was released in June 1992 with a length of 4:11 minutes on the single Make Love Like a Man . An "electric version" of the same song was originally released as a Japanese bonus track on the Adrenalize album in 1992 and on the Retro Active compilation the following year . A live acoustic version of Two Steps Behind was released in 2011 on Mirror Ball - Live & More .
Aerosmith's Dream On
The original version of this song was released in January 1973 on the debut album Aerosmith by the hard rock band of the same name, so it was already 20 years old at the time this soundtrack album was released. The version of the song that is only featured on this album is an orchestral live version that was recorded in 1991 at the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the music channel MTV . Michael Kamen, the film composer of Last Action Hero , was also involved in this recording as director of the orchestra and as producer. Other live versions of Dream On appeared on the Aerosmith live albums Live! Bootleg (1978), Classics Live! (1986) and on the double CD A Little South of Sanity (1998).
Cypress Hills Cock the Hammer
The song was released on July 19, 1993 as track 6 on the Cypress Hill album Black Sunday , but in a version 11 seconds longer. Cock the Hammer samples the two tracks Blind Alley by The Emotions and Uri (The Wind) by Flora Purim . On Live at the Filmore , the only previous live album the band is a live recording of Cock the Hammer to hear from the year 2000.
Fishbones swim
This song is the only one on this album that was previously released on another album. It was released on May 23, 1993 in an album version that was a good 30 seconds longer on Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe . The version contained here is only the single edit that was previously released.
Track list
- AC / DC : Big Gun (Angus Young, Malcolm Young) - 4:24
- Alice in Chains : What the Hell Have I (Jerry Cantrell) - 3:58
- Megadeth : Angry Again (Dave Mustaine) - 3:47
- Queensrÿche : Real World (Queensrÿche, Michael Kamen) - 4:21
- Def Leppard : Two Steps Behind (Joe Elliott) - 4:19 (Acoustic Version)
- Anthrax : Poison My Eyes (Charlie Benante, Scott Ian, John Bush, Frank Bello) - 7:04
- Aerosmith : Dream On (Steven Tyler) - 5:42 (Live, taken from the MTV 10th Anniversary Special)
- Alice in Chains : A Little Bitter (Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, Sean Kinney) - 3:53
- Cypress Hill : Cock the Hammer (Louis Freese, Senen Reyes, Lawrence Muggerud) - 4:11
- Fishbone : Swim (John Bigham) - 4:13
- Tesla : Last Action Hero (Frank Hannon, Jeff Keith, Tommy Skeoch, Brian Wheat) - 5:44
- Michael Kamen with Buckethead : Jack and the Ripper (Michael Kamen) - 3:43
reception
| Professional reviews | |
|---|---|
| Reviews | |
| source | rating |
| Allmusic |
 
|
Germany
The music magazine Rock Hard described the album in its 75th edition as a "certainly interesting soundtrack". The author Achim Karstens named the two songs by AC / DC and Cypress Hill as the “negative climax” on this CD, but also highlighted the “great guitar work” on Tesla's “brilliant” title track and the two Alice-in-Chains titles as “ great numbers ”. The Megadeth contribution is "not exactly a milestone", while Queensrÿche does not manage to "approach old, blissful times".
The soundtrack reached a respectable 45th place in the German album charts and stayed in the top 100 for a total of 17 weeks.
United States
In the US edition of Billboard magazine on June 10, 1993, four songs from the soundtrack were listed in the top 30 of the mainstream rock charts ( Big Gun, Real World, Angry Again and What the Hell Have I ). The soundtrack reached number 7 and was awarded platinum.
Original Score from the Motion Picture
This album by Michael Kamen also contains the title Jack and the Ripper , and with The Real World there is also an instrumental interpretation of the Queensrÿche song Real World .
- Jack and the Ripper - 3:47
- Danny - 4:24
- Jack Hamlet - 1:13
- River Chase - 2:48
- Benedict - 2:46
- Practice - 4:18
- Leo the Fart - 4:32
- Benedict Gets the Ticket - 3:20
- The Real World - 3:43
- Premiere - 3:20
- Saving Danny - 1:39
- Big Mistake - 4:50
Web links
- Last Action Hero at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Last-Action-Hero-Various/dp/B000025KNN/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358964321&sr=8-1
- ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Big-Gun-Ac-Dc/dp/B00004ZLEH
- ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Two-Steps-Behind-Def-Leppard/dp/B00006ZU0U/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1359624660&sr=8-10
- ↑ Google Books: AC / DC - Maximum Rock'n'Roll (English)
- ↑ Rock Metal: Megadeth - Hidden Treasures (English)
- ↑ Amazon.co.uk: Product Description Black Sunday (Cypress Hill)
- ↑ Allmusic | Category = album | ID = mw0000097397
- ↑ Rock Hard Review Archive: Last Action Hero
- ^ Hitparade.ch: Last Action Hero
- ↑ Google Books: Billboard magazine, June 10, 1993, page 64 (English)