Ambitious "Gatsby" soundtrack pays off

Ambition is the first word that comes to mind when you listen to the soundtrack to one of the summer’s most anticipated movies, “The Great Gatsby”. Baz Luhrmann, the film’s director and a huge fan of visual opulence in cinema, enlisted hip-hop mega-producer and rapper extraordinaire Jay-Z to executive produce the album.

The soundtrack is purposely built around a kinetic fusion of swinging 1920s speakeasy jazz and contemporary hip-hop/rap and R&B. After all, the energy that amplified the Jazz Age could feasibly be personified by today’s hip-hop culture. It’s loud, brash, and never strays too far from the controversial.

It’s no surprise that Mr. Beyonce Knowles has pulled out all the stops, firing all cylinders musically and recruiting a plethora of today’s biggest artists to make contributions to the soundtrack.

Hova slays the opening track, a classic hip-hop romp musing on everything from Jay Gatsby to 9/11. Beyonce makes an appearance next, lending her smoky vocals to a gorgeous cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black.” Male vocals provided by Andre 3000 seem odd at first, but on a second listen his ghoulish involvement sinks in.

The biggest misfire is will.i.am’s “Bang Bang”, a track that unsuccessfully mediates between 1920s swing and unnecessary electronic trash. It’s no shock considering will.i.am has always been a rather weak player. But the party picks right back up with Fergie’s “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody”. The track firmly commits to a modern day dubstep silliness that pays off in spades. It’s the most fun you’ll have on the whole soundtrack.  

Beauty pageant queen Lana Del Rey impresses on the stunning “Young and Beautiful”. This Gatsby adaptation wouldn’t be complete without Ms. Del Rey, an airy and ethereal vocalist whose timbre perfectly matches F. Scott Fitzgerald’s opulent and extravagant prose.

Other highlights include Goyte’s “Hearts A Mess”, a welcome reminder that the “Somebody That I Used to Know” singer is more than a one-hit wonder. Jay-Z also has up and comer Emeli Sande croon his boo Beyonce’s smash “Crazy In Love”. The cover is strictly jazz age swing, giving the album a modern yet old school spark.

The only concern is how well the soundtrack might age. Jay-Z and Baz Luhrmann have jam packed it so tightly full of artists popular right now, one worries that a year from now no one will remember this ambitious risk. Time will have to tell, but for now, let Gatsby’s party rage on.