Editorial Reviews

While it might seem strange (or at least highly ironic) to score a teen comedy about suburban white kids with pseudo-blaxploitation music, expectations were certainly raised when composer Lyle Workman rounded up his band for the project. Amongst a crew of studio horn and string players was a core band consisting of Bootsy and Catfish Collins, John "Jab'o" Starks Clyde Stubblefield and Bernie Worrell! All those guys are James Brown and/or Parliament/Funkadelic alumni, so if you thought this was going to be some kind of serious funk throwdown, you'd be right. Well, partially right anyway. Remember, this is music that's supposed to further a story line so while there are some super-funky jams, there are also moments that are more standard soundtrack fare. There are also a handful of songs from Curtis Mayfield, Jean Knight, the Bar-Kays and Rick James that really fit in nicely. The cuts from the Roots and Sergio Mendez are good songs, but don't really fit that well with the rest of the material. But when the score material hits, it hits hard and several of these tracks really smoke ("Superwhat?," "Flashback Party Weekend" and "Evan's Basement Jam"). "Evan Runs" is a chase scene classic. As support for the film, this set probably works in spades. As an album, this is a case where the concept doesn't quite live up to expectations. However, Bootsy completists can program a good short set. Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide

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