Roll Into the Wild Wild West
by: tom reiter

Many people are skeptical about buying a soundtrack because generally there is only one or two good songs on it. Of course their are exceptions to this, such as the Go soundtrack or Matrix, to name a few recent ones. And sometimes there are those where the movie isn't all it's cracked up to be, but the soundtrack is good...such is the case with the Wild West Soundtrack. This could be because the music is "inspired by the motion picture," so half of it may not even be in the movie. Either way, it's already produced two hits, the title track by Will Smith and "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias, and the rest is surprisingly good too.

It was good to see MC Lyte again, and she shows she still has it. "Keep It Movin'" has a light, offbeat latin feel. Tatyana Ali's track, "Getting Closer," is on the r&b/dance vibe. It features a verse by Kel Spencer, who has his own track later in the album. The new duo of Dr. Dre and Eminem makes an appearance, doing "Bad Guys Always Die." It's the cleanest song I've heard yet from Eminem, of course there are a couple edits. One verse makes a lot of references to Dre's history with Snoop and The Chronic, and is kinda funny.

Kel Spencer's track, "I'm Wanted," demonstrates he has rhyming skills and is a decent song, but it isn't anything new. "Chocolate Form" by Neutral brings back the sexy, latin feel. The sample is really smooth and blends perfectly with the vocals. Slick Rick is still active with his laid back, old school style of rhymin' on "I Sparkle." Common implants his smooth hip-hop feel with "8 Minutes to Sunrise," which features Jill Scott. Scott sounds quite similar to Erykah Badu on the refrains.

This album could have easily been a flop, but the producers brought in a solid lineup that guaranteed success. It keeps the listener's attention from beginning to end, and serves up something for everyone. It seems like anything with Will Smith's influence is bound to make some money.....An average compilation that gets a 2.5.

Featured Artists:

• Will Smith feat. Dru Hill & Kool Moe Dee
• Kel Spencer feat. Richie Sambura
• Enrique Iglesias
• Breeze
• BLACKstreet
• Neutral
• MC Lyte feat. Payne
• Slick Rick
• Tatyana Ali feat. Kel Spencer
• Guy Tra-Knox
• Common feat. Jill Scott
• Dr. Dre & Eminem
• Lil' Bow Wow feat. Jermaine Dupri
• Faith Evans