Good songs gone bad

"Mr. Deeds" Soundtrack
Various Artists
RCA Records What, no Styx? For what appears to be the first time ever, an Adam Sandler movie soundtrack doesn't include a Styx song. But that doesn't necessarily mean that these songs are all brand new either. And that's what's essentially wrong with the album. It doesn't know whether it wants to be next in line as free add space for familiar rock bands and up and coming pop stars, or just a soundtrack that plays it safe with songs from the past 30 years everyone's guaranteed to know and love already. Of course, to be fair, we should see how well these songs work in the actual movie, but judging by the line-up, I'd guess it's rather schizophrenic. The album kicks off with The Dave Matthews Band's newest song "Same as every other song we do." O.K., just kidding, it's called "Where Are You Going," and the answer is "hopefully back to the guy who writes songs better than I do," since this one is penned by Matthews himself and poorly at that. Travis' "Sing" follows it with a similar mood and superior lyrics. Pete Townshend's classic "Let My Love Open the Door" fits in with its pop sensibilities and kicks things up a notch only to be drug down by U2's "Sweetest Thing," one of the band's worst songs. Other classic rock songs follow, but are much more out of place here. There's David Bowie's "Space Oddity" featuring an intro by Sandler that's not as bad as the concept sounds and Yes' "I've Seen All Good People." You can only imagine what they do to the flow of the album. Two of the better tracks come as more of a surprise: Trik Turner's groove "Friends & Family" and Counting Crows' upbeat rocker "Goin' Down to New York Town." The rest of the disc continues with the mid-tempo, rainy day pop of "Falling" by Ben Kweller, Natalie Imbruglia's "Wrong Impression," Lit's "Happy in the Meantime (remix)" and Weezer's "Island in the Sun." While the songs all stay in the range of average to pretty good (U2's contribution being the exception), none of them really hit hard lyrically or musically and leave little impact on your mood, which is the main goal of a soundtrack. "Mr. Deeds" may have good taste in tunes, but don't let him make you a mix tape.