Thugs: Society's Mutants?
So, here's something I've been thinking about lately.
One time I went to college in southern California! And in good ol' Redlands, if you wanted music, you pretty much had to go to the Wherehouse. (Lydia! Lisle! The damn Wherehouse! What a suckhole!) And one time, in the used section, I found a wholly inexplicable treasure that had no right to exist... yet did!
It was an album of Music From and Inspired By the Original TV Movie PRYDE OF THE X-MEN!
For those of you friendlist non-nerds of mine, once, in the faraway year of 1987, there was an adorable, wee little X-Men pilot episode. It featured a Kitty Pryde constantly on the verge of tears, Cyclops duly saying things like "We'll be right there, Professor!" and "Let's go!", Dazzler vis a vis Olivia Newton-John, Colossus by way of Yakov Smirnov, and freakin' Australian Wolverine. They had their mandatory battle against the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants following Magneto's theft of Cerebro's mutant power circuit (back in the day when circuits still took the form of glowing globes) in order to, um, steer a comet into the Earth. The X-Men went into space, saved the planet, and even came back with a space-dragon for all their trouble! Yay!
So you can imagine my confusion when I found this heretofore unknown soundtrack album, produced a full 13 years later, and featuring -- get this -- a "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" warning! And on sale for like a buck! Hoo-ha!
Yes. It's amazing. A cursory glance at the track list revealed a much more... um... "urban" leaning than I may have otherwise been led to expect, liberally sprinkled amidst the Stan Lee interviews and contributions by "The Encino Light Orchestra." So, inquisitive fanboy that I am, I checked out the liner notes to see how these people justified this curious whatsit. Turns out someone found these original soundtrack tapes in a garbage bin in a warehouse in Van Nuys, and while most were irretrievably gooified, the rest were painstakingly de-oxidized to salvage what they could. And, to bolster it out...?
"...it was decided to add a dynamic hiphop element to reinforce the wonderful hidden message behind the X-MEN that Stan Lee reveals with his never-before-released interviews... That's why the music on this album is multicultural and in keeping with today's ethically diverse style. To do less would ignore the point Stan was trying to make when he created the X-MEN. Also, Stan's unique ability to recognize human qualities in even the most troubled of mutant beings gives birth to songs such as HIGHER THAN HIGH, HUMAN RACE, and DEVIL INSIDE."
Also, lest we forget: ROCK "WILE OUT" by Tru Life and Ghetto Inmates, X-TREME!!! by The Rob Walsh Project, and -- my personal favorite -- WHEN YOU'RE A THUG by Tru Life featuring Prodigy and Mobb Deep!
Oh, and wait! Wait! For you devotees of the Church of Lee:
"Almost eighty now, Marvel Comic icon Stan Lee brings an almost spiritual presence to this album. And judging from the number and intensity of X-MEN websites around the world, a case could be made that, in the animation and comic book field, he does indeed walk on water."
Haha! Jigga-WHAT?
So this whole deal begs the obvious question: who is this marketed for? Which begs the even more obvious answer: freaks like me! I mean, sure, it was just a dollar, but I still think that price might've been steep -- at least, in the strictest terms of musical enjoyment, which I imagine is why most people (i.e., Lisle) purchase CDs. But ah, the irony purchase! I think that's why I had to get it: to prevent anyone else from having it. If I'd have passed it up, I would've regretted it forever, never quite knowing what I was missing out on. Furthermore, I'd have the gnawing feeling that somewhere out there, the person who bought it might not be appreciating it as well, and on as many levels, as he or she should.
...Eh? What'sat? Well, no. No, I haven't listened to it, per se. I mean, sure, I'd love to transcribe some lyrics in the thirty-second window that I can stand the thing... but really, how much more enjoyment out of it could I possibly get?
One time I went to college in southern California! And in good ol' Redlands, if you wanted music, you pretty much had to go to the Wherehouse. (Lydia! Lisle! The damn Wherehouse! What a suckhole!) And one time, in the used section, I found a wholly inexplicable treasure that had no right to exist... yet did!
It was an album of Music From and Inspired By the Original TV Movie PRYDE OF THE X-MEN!
For those of you friendlist non-nerds of mine, once, in the faraway year of 1987, there was an adorable, wee little X-Men pilot episode. It featured a Kitty Pryde constantly on the verge of tears, Cyclops duly saying things like "We'll be right there, Professor!" and "Let's go!", Dazzler vis a vis Olivia Newton-John, Colossus by way of Yakov Smirnov, and freakin' Australian Wolverine. They had their mandatory battle against the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants following Magneto's theft of Cerebro's mutant power circuit (back in the day when circuits still took the form of glowing globes) in order to, um, steer a comet into the Earth. The X-Men went into space, saved the planet, and even came back with a space-dragon for all their trouble! Yay!
So you can imagine my confusion when I found this heretofore unknown soundtrack album, produced a full 13 years later, and featuring -- get this -- a "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" warning! And on sale for like a buck! Hoo-ha!
Yes. It's amazing. A cursory glance at the track list revealed a much more... um... "urban" leaning than I may have otherwise been led to expect, liberally sprinkled amidst the Stan Lee interviews and contributions by "The Encino Light Orchestra." So, inquisitive fanboy that I am, I checked out the liner notes to see how these people justified this curious whatsit. Turns out someone found these original soundtrack tapes in a garbage bin in a warehouse in Van Nuys, and while most were irretrievably gooified, the rest were painstakingly de-oxidized to salvage what they could. And, to bolster it out...?
"...it was decided to add a dynamic hiphop element to reinforce the wonderful hidden message behind the X-MEN that Stan Lee reveals with his never-before-released interviews... That's why the music on this album is multicultural and in keeping with today's ethically diverse style. To do less would ignore the point Stan was trying to make when he created the X-MEN. Also, Stan's unique ability to recognize human qualities in even the most troubled of mutant beings gives birth to songs such as HIGHER THAN HIGH, HUMAN RACE, and DEVIL INSIDE."
Also, lest we forget: ROCK "WILE OUT" by Tru Life and Ghetto Inmates, X-TREME!!! by The Rob Walsh Project, and -- my personal favorite -- WHEN YOU'RE A THUG by Tru Life featuring Prodigy and Mobb Deep!
Oh, and wait! Wait! For you devotees of the Church of Lee:
"Almost eighty now, Marvel Comic icon Stan Lee brings an almost spiritual presence to this album. And judging from the number and intensity of X-MEN websites around the world, a case could be made that, in the animation and comic book field, he does indeed walk on water."
Haha! Jigga-WHAT?
So this whole deal begs the obvious question: who is this marketed for? Which begs the even more obvious answer: freaks like me! I mean, sure, it was just a dollar, but I still think that price might've been steep -- at least, in the strictest terms of musical enjoyment, which I imagine is why most people (i.e., Lisle) purchase CDs. But ah, the irony purchase! I think that's why I had to get it: to prevent anyone else from having it. If I'd have passed it up, I would've regretted it forever, never quite knowing what I was missing out on. Furthermore, I'd have the gnawing feeling that somewhere out there, the person who bought it might not be appreciating it as well, and on as many levels, as he or she should.
...Eh? What'sat? Well, no. No, I haven't listened to it, per se. I mean, sure, I'd love to transcribe some lyrics in the thirty-second window that I can stand the thing... but really, how much more enjoyment out of it could I possibly get?