High Fidelity [Original Soundtrack]

1	You're Gonna Miss Me / The 13th Floor Elevators 2:28
2	Everybody's Gonna Be Happy / The Kinks 2:18
3	I'm Wrong About Everything / John Wesley Harding 3:36
4	Oh! Sweet Nuthin' / The Velvet Underground 7:27
5	Always See Your Face / Love 3:21
6	Most of the Time / Bob Dylan 5:03
7	Fallen for You / Sheila Nicholls 3:16
8	Dry the Rain / The Beta Band 6:05
9	Shipbuilding / Elvis Costello & the Attractions 4:53
10	Cold Blooded Old Times / Smog 4:12
11	Let's Get It On / Jack Black 4:27
12	Lo Boob Oscillator / The Groop 6:36
13	Inside Game / Royal Trux 3:42
14	Who Loves the Sun / The Velvet Underground 2:46
15	I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever) / Stevie Wonder 4:51

Barnes & Noble

Any list of the top five novels about rock 'n' roll should include Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, the story of an obsessive, list-making record-store owner and his dysfunctional relationships. Hornby set his novel in London and filled it with references to '60s American R&B and late '70s/early '80s British punk, but the film version, relocated to Chicago and starring John Cusack, obsesses on indie rock and its progenitors. The soundtrack plays like a mix-tape made by your favorite college-rock disc jockey, which means that this set has plenty of hipster cred. Of course, there are some well-known artists such as the Kinks, Bob Dylan, and Stevie Wonder, but not the obvious hits you've heard ad nauseum. The soundtrack includes two Velvet Underground songs ("Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" and "Who Loves the Sun") and several contemporary VU disciples, including Smog and Stereolab (the latter's "Lo Boob Oscillator" might make some music geeks' list of the Top Five Songs of the '90s). For historical cachet, the soundtrack includes '60s nuggets from the Thirteenth Floor Elevators and Love, but it balances the distant past with an Elvis Costello ballad ("Shipbuilding") and current trendy Brits the Beta Band ("Dry the Rain"). You can imagine your music geek friend urging, "You gotta hear this song, it's great!" before every song on High Fidelity, and more often than not, she'd be right. Steve Klinge

All Music Guide

Gen X rock buffs can revel in nostalgia with the High Fidelity soundtrack. The film centers on the romantic escapades of record-store owner and ex-club DJ Rob Gordon (John Cusack) and his full-time obsession with music. Since High Fidelity has as much to do with vinyl addiction as it does with the difficulties of love, great care has been taken with its selection of tracks, a solidly eccentric collection of heartache-heavy pop gems ranging from obscure '60s bands and groundbreaking artists like "the Velvet Underground" and Bob Dylan, to Stevie Wonder and Stereolab. As in the film, there's a method to the compilers' elitist rock-geek madness. Even co-star Jack Black's schlocky blue-eyed cover of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" doesn't seem out of place.

The inspired screeches of acid-fried '60s singer-songwriter Roky Erickson's "You're Gonna Miss Me" set the pace for the musing, hangdog tone of the album. Besides the joyous licks of the Kinks' "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" and Royal Trux's hybrid of hip-hip, techno, and aggressive rock on "Inside Game," the bulk of the set is composed of moody folk-rock tunes like Dylan's exquisite "Most of the Time" and the Velvets' "Oh! Sweet Nuthin." Other noteworthy tracks include Love's "Always See Your Face," the Beta Band's "Dry the Rain," Elvis Costello's wistful "Shipbuilding," the stinging irony of Smog's "Cold Blooded Old Times," and Stevie Wonder's soulful optimism on "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)." It's a fine, complementary batch of tunes that not only enhances the film's mood but is integral to its theme, and, as High Fidelity's Rob Gordon would agree, it'll go down as one of the top five soundtracks released in 2000. Derrick Mathis