Black Rain

『ブラック・レイン』(1989年 アメリカ作品 / 監督 リドリー・スコット / 音楽 ハンス・ジマー / 出演 マイケル・ダグラス、高倉健、アンディ・ガルシア、松田優作、ケイト・キャプショー)のサウンドトラック盤。

The first half of the soundtrack to Ridley Scott's Black Rain is a cobbled-together collection of songs that really have little to do with the movie (something that had become the norm during the latter half of the '80s). It doesn't seem to be so blatantly an attempt to spin off radio hits. Soul II Soul's "Back to Life" is included, but was already climbing the charts upon this soundtrack's release (and its inclusion here is a different mix). Iggy Pop's "Livin' on the Edge of the Night" is catchy, restrained hard rock foreshadowing his mainstream breakthrough a year later with "Candy" and UB40's "The Way You Do the Things You Do" wouldn't chart until released on their album in 1990. The David Paich-produced "I'll Be Holding On," a power ballad so formulaic that his band Toto wouldn't have touched it, seems to be the bid for airplay and features Gregg Allman providing the overwrought vocals. The second half is a four-part "Black Rain Suite" which fits the taut, suspenseful plot well as composer Hans Zimmer merges electronics with Japanese instrumentation to good effect. ~ Tom Demalon