Soundtrack Review: ‘Alpha Dog’

By Jeff Swindoll Jan 23, 2007, 23:41 GMT

You don\'t have to be a hustler to love the soundtrack to Alpha Dog. You don\'t have to be a sucker for a wistful yet deeply ironic rendition of "Over the Rainbow," either. You don\'t even have to know the difference between speed metal and speed rap, though you\'ll find bits of those on here, too. What you do need is an ear for a skillful assemblage of non-hits and ...more

Alpha Dog tells the tale of what happens when a Los Angeles drug dealer named Johnny has his friend’s brother kidnapped to make sure that he pays a debt.  The kidnapped 15-year-old boy starts partying with his kidnappers and is not eager to escape.  In fact, he becomes a sort of minor celebrity in the small cache of kidnappers charged with watching the kidnapped. 

The movie has gotten an amount of press since drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood’s defense attorney had the release of the film blocked as to not make his client look bad since one of the characters was based on him.  The legal wrangling finally aside, the film premiered at Sundance Film Festival.  The film stars Justin Timberlake, Sharon Stone, Emile Hirsch, and Bruce Willis. 

The soundtrack is a mix of some pop and rap tunes, but strangely no tunes by Timberlake.  You’d expect that having a pop star in your cast that the producers couldn’t resist having him sing a song or two.  Perhaps he insisted that he not be used on the soundtrack as to not take away from his performance? 

The tracks include “Over the Rainbow” by Eva Cassidy, “Enemy and I” by Lazarus, “Bullet & a Target” by Citizen Cope, “Jake Breaks In” by Paul Bushell, “Caribou Lou” by Tech N9ne, “Revolving” by Jake Bushnell, “Slither” by Tech N9ne, “Liar” by Miredys Peguero & Paul Graham, “Winner” by Paul Bushnell, “Let’s Chill” performed by Mic Holden, Maya, & Renee Rogers, “Dragonfly” by Miredys Peguero & Paul Bushnell, “La La Land” by Tech N9ne (featuring Gina Cassavetes), “Pool Party” by Mic Holden, “Never Give Up” by Mic Holden, “At the Site/Driving to the Site” composed by Aaron Zigman & Nick Cassavetes, “We are the Lost” by Lawrence Faljean, “Basketball” by Lowd, “Cookie Monster” by Paul Graham & Paul Bushnell, “Elvis Arrested” composed by Aaron Zigman, “Weightlifting” by Lowd, “Marco Polo” by Lowd & Cassie Simone, and “Night and Day” by Tech N9ne. 

The album is an interesting mix of styles from torch singers (“Over the Rainbow,” yes the Judy Garland version), rap (Tech N9ne, etc), and pop music (Paul Bushnell, etc.).  They even throw in some punk (“Jake Breaks In”) and one with a Latin feel (“La La Land”). It is an interesting combination.

‘Alpha Dog’ is now available at Amazon. Visit the soundtrack database for more information and a complete track listing.