VA - Barb Wire - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1996)

Ah, soundtracks: arbitrary solo cuts only the most ardent fan would seek out, and throwaway tunes the artist couldn't care less about. This aural companion to Pamela Anderson's sexpot vehicle actually has some interesting, if not brilliant, moments of entertainment; and as a whole, the CD definitely cooks. Shampoo certainly comes through with a most excellent contribution wrapped around the heroine's catch phrase "Don't Call Me Babe (later to appear on the Jawbreakers soundtrack)." Fellow femme fatales (with one dude in tow) Die Cheerleader prop Patti Smith. And how can you lose when you cover Nick Gilder (Hagfish does "Hot Child in the City") or "Word Up" (Gun blasts the Cameo classic). True, the smoking Gun number loses some impact without a soaking wet Anderson gyrating along during the opening credits, but at least you don't have to sit through the rest of the movie. The seeds of Methods of Mayhem can be heard in then-hubby Tommy Lee's first real solo shot, "Welcome to Planet Boom." Also shorn of their respective bands, Michael Hutchence and Johnette Napolitano roll out a couple drive-bys: the former another retread remake, the latter a real rocker. As with any compilation, many of these tracks now appear on more worthy collections; the other tunes, like most parent soundtracks, fell through the cracks.~ Review by Whitney Z. Gomes