Last Action Hero was a fun yet forgettable romp. Starring Schwarzenegger as a movie star, and Edward Furlong as the kid who gets dragged into his latest action blockbuster, the movie flopped box-office wise in the summer of 1993. That’s why the picture is nowadays remembered chiefly for its soundtrack.
The
Last Action Hero soundtrack pits eleven bands, of various degrees of heaviness, together for what is a highly entertaining hard rockin’ romp. The disc is then rounded out by a classical piece performed by Buckethead and the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by notorious metal buff Michael Kamen.
Still, the disc’s main point of interest at the time appeared right at the beginning. After three years of utter, undeterring silence, AC/DC came back with a bang with the ripping, roaring
Big Gun. Ranking as the first collaboration between the band and producer Rick Rubin, the song is sadly forgotten in the band’s catalogue. However, it is a shredding, appealing piece, featuring great vocals from Brian Johnson, strong drums and the usual brilliance from Angus and Malcolm Young. All in all, it is one of the high points of 90’s AC/DC, and highly reccomended for all the band’s fans.
(5/5)
Unfortunately, our interest wanes on the second track. The usually brilliant Alice in Chains come across quite dull with the first of their two contributions to this album.
What The Hell Have I is a hipnotic, 70’s-tinged track, but its exceedingly sluggish pace and spaced-out vocal performance ultimately divert our interest elsewhere. This will sound good if you’re playing this record as background music, but as far as individual tracks go, there’s much better on this album.
(2,5/5)
If you managed to get past the previous track, you are in for the most pleasant track on the album. Thrash mogul Dave Mustaine and his band Megadeth deliver a welcome dose of unbridled aggression in
Angry Again. Featuring a riff quite similar to the one on
Big Gun, and a chorus as aggressive as it is catchy, this song is a true singalong thrash anthem, that has been sadly forgotten with the downfall of this album. The whole is topped off by an excellent guitar solo that will please any metal fan. Undoubtedly an excellent song.
(5/5)
After this enjoyable thrash romp, things soften down yet again with Queensrÿche’s prog-metal ballad
Real World. Driven by a soaring, ethereal guitar lick, this song shines mostly due to Geoff Tate’s incredible vocals. Considered one of the best metal singers out there today, Tate honours his credits on this track, helping raise it above average. Still, the average hard-rocker may find the song slightly dull, especially due to its lenght. This is an inconsistent song: you will either love it or skip it. For my money, it gets
(3,5/5)
Real World is followed up by another of the album’s standouts, and its one true ballad, Def Leppard’s
Two Steps Behind. This is a wonderfully minimalistic track, with Joe Elliot’s vocals being backed only by an acoustic guitar and an oh-so-subtle string section. Most will accuse it of being excessively sappy, and it does border on cheesiness at times, but none of that derides from the fact that this is a great pop track.
(5/5).
After our senses have been suitably numbed by this soothing pair of tracks, the album once again takes it upon itself to shatter our eardrums with some fast rocking thrash. Anthrax MKII (that is, with John Bush on vocals) deliver a multi-layered, multi-part opus in
Poison My Eyes. Starting with a somewhat controlled guitar lick, the track then evolves into full power/thrash lunacy, with even the fairly mediocre Bush managing not to embarass himself too much. At the end of the six-plus minutes, the listener is left exhausted but deeply satisfied. But once again, you must be patient enough to endure the full lenght of the song...
(3,5/5)
Track #7 is perhaps this album’s weakest moment, and oddly enough, delivered by a band that normally shines. Aerosmith’s live rendition of
Dream On is snore-inducing at best, with its excessively slow pace and hollowed-out sound. This ranks as the only unappealing track on the album, and one that you will most likely skip.
(1/5)
Next, Alice In Chains appear yet again with
A Little Bitter. This track is even more uninteresting than the first one, and once again you will likely skip this one, just like I do.
(2/5)
Fortunately, this dark spot is once again brightened by Cypress Hill’s participation.
Cock The Hammer is an irresistible hip-hop track, driven by a mega-catchy bassline and some top-notch rapping. A mere couple of times after listening to it, you will be singing along to the lyrics, and thoroughly enjoying it. Of course, hip-hop turns off quite a few metal listeners, but in this case, Cypress was a good choice: they are accepted by most members of the metal/crossover population. An excellent, if misplaced, track.
(5/5)
Crossover fans are further pleased by the inclusion of Fishbone and their track
Swim. Inserted in what we sometimes call sludgecore, this track is also marked by some rap-tinted vocals. Overall, for the average 80’s rocker, this won’t be very interesting. Crossover fans will love it, though.
(3/5)
Fortunately for the aforementioned retro-rockers, track #11 is Tesla with their irresistible title track.
Last Action Hero is a basic yet hopelessly catchy hard’n’heavy track, featuring all the pop-metal standards: huge rocking riffs, catchy rhythms, high-pitched vocals and shouted backing vox. And then, of course, there’s the huge chorus, perhaps the song’s best asset. Once again, the riff brings echoes of
Angry Again, creating what can be seen as a sort of pattern. All in all, a most satisfying track.
(5/5)
The album closes with an orchestral piece by maestro Michael Kamen and former Guns’n’Roses guitarist Buckethead. This track is as boring as any incidental score, and I must confess I never heard it through. A weak way to close a great album.
(1,5/5)
All in all, this soundtrack, while a tad inconsistent, is fully reccomended to all you hard rock buffs out there.
Recommended Tracks:
Big Gun
Angry Again
Two Steps Behind
Cock The Hammer
Last Action Hero
