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To paraphrase J.R McNamara, The Lost Boys is a modern horror classic and an example of Eighties-era tackiness. Whilst the film has held up and outlasted the decade that spawned it, the same cannot be said for the soundtrack, which comes courtesy of Atlantic Records. Given the dark comic tone of Joel Schumacher's teen-vampire movie, don't expect Kenny Loggins craziness or teenybopper balladeers like Simple Minds or A-ha to make an appearance.
The first half of the soundtrack shines with memorable tunes. Jimmy Barnes and INXS team up to play some classic Aussie pub rock on Good Times and Laying Down The Law, with Barnsy's cacophonic wail overpowering Michael Hutcheson's soulful croon. Lou Gramm gets into the spirit with a drum machine and keyboard heavy diet-goth-pop anthem Lost In The Shadows. Roger Daltrey lends a powerhouse vocal on a cover of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (it's about vampires, geddit?), and Eighties indie rockers par-excellence Echo and the Bunnymen do a quirkily sparse and infectious cover of the Doors' People Are Strange.
Elsewhere, the track selection is a little dubious: there's cheese to be savoured and mould to be avoided. Cry Little Sister (Gerald McMann) lays on the drama thick and heavy with child choirs and lone wolf howling vocals. Tim Cappella's I Still Believe wouldn't sound out of place on St Elmo's Fire, and Eddie And The Tide provide solid low voltage power pop. Eighties also-rans Mummy Calls stink it up big time with Beauty Has Her Way, a nauseating ditty with a Bowie wannabe vocal.
As a soundtrack to an Eighties movie, The Lost Boys doesn't quite achieve the hip nostalgia and romanticism of teen flicks like The Breakfast Club; it's too monotonously gauche in places. Nor does it really set the tone for a horror film with its emphasis on sub-Huey Lewis power pop. Only Lou Gramm and Echo really suit The Lost Boys' atmosphere and attitude; that rebellious too cool for school attitude meets the hysterical power ballad. It uses up all its tricks in the first half, climaxing with People Are Strange, the second half dragging painfully into monotony; cheesy instrumental To The Shock Of Miss Louise is a lowlight. The film itself is a fine product of post-modern genre pastiche that works on all the levels it's supposed to, but the soundtrack is far from a satisfying start-to-finish listen. The highlights are well worth it, though, at only $9.99; a must-have for Eighties wild childs putting on their leather trench coats and heading out for a night on the town.
Track List
Good Times: Jimmy Barnes and INXS
Lost In The Shadows (The Lost Boys): Lou Gramm
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me: Roger Daltrey
Laying Down The Law: Jimmy Barnes and INXS
People Are Strange: Echo and the Bunnymen
Cry Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys): Gerard McMann
Power Play: Eddie and the Tide
I Still Believe: Tim Capello
Beauty Has Her Way: Mummy Calls |
