Dog Soundtrack

Interesting and pleasant, but the soundtrack to Louis Leterrier's Danny the Dog will throw longtime Massive Attack fans for a loop. The band's trademark deep sound is untraceable for the most part. It's probably a testament to how hard they stuck to the soundtracking rules, but this program music is rather run-of-the-mill, especially when compared to Massive Attack's proper albums, which – to be fair – would overtake most filmmaker's visuals. Harpsichords play over neo-noir beats and guitars echo forever as tension builds, and while the band's keen sense of sonic structure is intact, they're layering things much less than usual here and traveling some previously explored territory.

This soundtrack to the movie features an astonishing array of blues artists from three generations. Recorded during one long night at NYC's Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 7, 2003, the electricity is in the air and on stage. While it may not have been the finest blues show in history, the collection of founding fathers such as David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Buddy Guy, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Larry Johnson, Hubert Sumlin, Solomon Burke, and the ubiquitous B.B. King along with their spiritual offspring (Gregg Allman, John Fogerty, and Steven Tyler) and some usual suspects like Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, and Keb' Mo', makes it arguably the most significant blues session ever captured on film. Beginning acoustic, the double disc builds momentum and volume as we hear the blues mutate to electric and finally hip-hop with Chuck D. exploding on a rap version of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom".

Mark Knopfler wrote and performed the soundtrack to Barry Levinson's political satire Wag the Dog, and it is one of his best scores, alternately graceful and rootsy. Seven of the eight tracks are instrumental, with the last being reserved for the agreeably humorous single "Wag the Dog."