I think we have to be clear from the start… At The Movies will not be for all of you. Mastermind behind this all-star Heavy Metal film soundtrack covers machine (yes, for the uninitiated, this really is a collective who work remotely together to re-do songs from Hollywood soundtracks) Chris Laney, guitarist of The Pretty Maids, is very clear that the purpose of ATM was a group of friends “looking for something to have some fun with (during lockdown)… asking ourselves all the time… can we get away with this?”
And so they set about reinterpreting hit songs from movies. But not the rockier songs, for where would be the fun and bile-induction in that? While Volume I – re-released at the same time to partner its sister act (#SorryNotSorry) – focused on the eighties, The Soundtrack Of Your Life Volume II (Atomic Fire) bites the bullet and rolls down its jacket sleeves, musses up its hair a little and steps into the world of the Hugh Grant RomCom and takes on some of the nineties movie megahits. For better or for worse.
So, this may be where some of you get off the bus. In fact, this may be where some of you saw the poster on the side of the bus and decided that you’d prefer to just walk, thanks. But, just remember, the world has been a bit shit for a while and people just wanna have fun… See, because this isn’t as simple as being something for a Bridget Jones-style night at home with the pinot and the record player, of letting the hair down and belting out a few classics (though this does have that), Laney and co really have pushed the mark with what they’re trying to get away with.
In and amongst the Soft Rock jubilance of ‘Waiting For A Star To Fall’ (Boy Meets Girl / Three Men and a Little Lady), a powerful ‘(I Just Died) In Your Arms Tonight’ (Cutting Crew / Never Been Kissed) and a version of ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’ (Belinda Carlisle / Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion) that genuinely sounds like it could have been on New Jersey (Mercury), we have chunked up versions of ‘King Of Wishful Thinking’ (Go West / Pretty Woman), ‘Crush’ (Jennifer Paige) and ‘I’ve Been Thinking About You’ (Londonbeat).
But you know what is pushing it too far? While ‘(You Drive Me) Crazy’ (Britney / Drive Me Crazy) falls short, yeah, there’s a little bit more line crossing it has to be said, and no matter how much the pounding exuberance of Venus (Bananarama / The Brady Bunch) makes you shake it, When You Say Nothing At All (Ronan Keating / Notting Hill) and I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys / Drive Me Crazy) are a tough ask, to say the least (though at least the BsB track is a tuuune! ha!).
The thing is, if you’re tuned into At The Movies for the YouTube weekly hits they’ve become, this (and the re-issue of vol 1) will be a good repository. If you’re not already onboard, some of this may be a bit too much to take in and is far easier to swallow as one off YouTube curios than as an album.
But Laney, Björn “Speed” Strid (Soilwork, The Night Flight Orchestra), Linnéa Vikström (Ronnie Atkins, Therion), Morten Sandager (Pretty Maids), Pontus Egberg (King Diamond), Pontus Norgren (HammerFall) and Allan Sørensen (Royal Hunt) have been keeping people entertained online during a pretty rubbish time. So, that’s nearly enough to forgive them that Notting Hill song.
Nearly.
Buy the album here: https://music.atomicfire-records.com/soundtrack2
But the reissue of Vol 1 with the bonus track here:
Vol. 1 (reissue): https://music.atomicfire-
7 / 10
STEVE TOVEY