Up Soundtrack

Film director Alfonso Cuarón's dystopian science fiction thriller Children of Men is about a near future in which human fertility has nearly ceased, and to represent a setting that is familiar yet disturbing, the compilers of this various-artists soundtrack (there is also an album of the score) have chosen some rock and pop songs by well-known artists dating back to the '60s, some of them, however, presented in versions not so well known. Everybody knows the heavy metal band Deep Purple, but the band's initial American hit, a cover of Joe South's "Hush," doesn't sound much like its more successful "Smoke on the Water" phase. The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" and the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" are iconic '60s songs, but they are here performed by Junior Parker and heavily accented Italian singer Franco Battiato, respectively.

Although this hit soundtrack was recorded with cheap '70s synthesizers, the simple scores composed by John Carpenter are acclaimed masterpieces. Carpenter sets the mood for his horrific movie with such tracks as "The Shape Stalks," "Laurie's Theme," and, of course, his main theme, which consists of the beating out of a 5-4 rhythm. A definite first pick for those interested, this soundtrack even bests most scary music albums.