A Walk to Remember Mervyn Warren (CD)

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, the film A WALK TO REMEMBER features teen phenom Mandy Moore as straight-laced Jamie Sullivan, the 17-year-old protagonist who ends up getting involved with and changing for the better the town bad boy Landon Carter (Shane West). Not surprisingly, Moore's vocal talents have landed her on the soundtrack with lovelorn ballads ("Only Hope", "It's Gonna Be Love"), a mid-tempo nugget ('Cry"), and a heartfelt duet ("Someday We'll Know" with Jonathan Foreman). Foreman's Contemporary Christian Music group Switchfoot also helps maintain the mood of innocence with secular fare like the ruminative "Only Hope," hook-filled slow roller "Learning To Breathe," and chiming "Dare You To Move". Other notable cuts include Toploader's snappy cover of '70s one-hit wonder King Harvest ("Dancin' In The Moonlight"), a ballad by Christian teen songbird Rachael Lampa ("If You Believe"), and a slice of soaring, blue-eyed soul by the late New Radicals ("Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough"). There's even a stab at alt-rock by Moore co-star Shane West via West, Gould & Fitzgerald's "So What Does It All Mean?"