A Knight's Tale Soundtrack

In the liner notes of A Knight's Tale, writer-director Brian Helgaland explains, "Rock and roll is the musical voice of this movie. It makes us feel instead of think. It forces feet to move and hands to come together." Which explains Helgaland's concept: videos of Medieval scenes for some of his favorite classic rock songs. The downside is that it's not a very good movie and the songs were badly placed if not entirely inappropriate. The upside is that the soundtrack album for A Knight's Tale is a great collection of classic rock hits and an album that is good enough to stand on its own, without a movie.

The album opens with Queen's "We Will Rock You," and it's every bit as riotous as ever. Helgaland couldn't be more right about this one: turn it up and it's all but impossible not to have a foot stompin', hand clappin' good time.

Rare Earth brings its infectious groove to the table with "Get Ready." The remastering focuses the sound and raises the intensity a notch or two.

Just as infectious and exhilarating is "I Want to Take You Higher" by Sly and the Family Stone. It's five minutes of pure, distilled joy and just a blast to hear it again.

Arguably the greatest beneficiary of modern day digital remastering is War. "Low Rider" becomes the high point of this album, featuring War's stellar rhythm unit. The mix is crisp and clean, far better than previously muddy presentations of the song. Cymbals, drums, and the signature cowbells shimmer across the speakers and the saxophone has a wry sexiness that hasn't been heard since the days of LP. A nice piece of work.

The album offers a bonus track from Third Eye Blind. "Eye Conqueror" wasn't featured in the movie (presumably because it's a new song), but it's a nice way to round out the album. The guitar riff is intense and powerful. Even though it doesn't exactly match the rest of the album, it's a great song.

OK, so the movie was lame. The jousting scenes were still pretty cool and the album's great. A Knight's Tale soundtrack is good summertime fare, made for pool side parties and driving with the top down.

By Ian Reif