VA - Can't Hardly Wait: Music From The Motion Picture (1998)

During the '80s, when teen movies reigned, the Replacements were a cult band, selling their records to an audience that, for the most part, wouldn't be caught dead at a theater showing Sixteen Candles (although they'd probably watch it on video, and they'd certainly catch the Westerberg High School reference in Heathers). So, it's a little ironic that the film that brought back the teen comedy in the late '90s was titled Can't Hardly Wait, after the Replacements classic. Nevertheless, anyone thinking that the song would be the launching pad for the soundtrack would be a fool (then again, Matthew Sweet is on the soundtrack). Teen movies may be about universal themes like love, sex, alienation and humiliation, but they're always true to their times. This means, of course, that the soundtrack to Can't Hardly Wait is filled with ska-punks, hip post-alternative rappers and tenth-generation punkers, as well as countless, faceless post-grunge combos. There's no denying that classics '80s cuts like "It's Tricky," "Paradise City" and "Can't Hardly Wait" are the most memorable items here, but with remixes of Missy Elliott's "Hit 'Em wit da Hee" and Busta Rhymes' "Turn It Up/Fire It Up" coming in a close second, along with blink-182's sole shining moment, "Dammit," it captures the era well enough, and that will be enough for anyone who will have fond memories of the movie.~Can't Hardly Wait [Original Soundtrack] Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine