In the grand tradition of soundtracks that suck, The WB’s “One Tree Hill” takes a valiant stab at breaking from the established mold, yet accomplishes nothing more than a colossal face-dive in the form of a disappointing debut.
With such a wide variety of quality underground music to pick from, you’d think it would be impossible to put together anything less than a killer soundtrack. Never ceasing to amaze, the WB has managed to do just that.
The album starts off with the show’s theme song, “I Don’t Want to Be,” performed by none other than the talented up-and-comer Gavin DeGraw. In a desperate effort to add an interesting twist to the rather cliché approach of opening a soundtrack with a theme, the album substitutes a live recording for the usual studio-produced track.
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Predictably, the thinly veiled marketing ploy of acoustic substitution under the guise of innovative originality fails miserably in its attempt to live up to any semblance of intended indie-rock glory. Instead, the listener is left utterly confused and disappointed at the lack of coherent “hit” recognition.
The track “Kill” from Jimmy Eat World’s overlooked and underplayed new LP, Futures, attempts to offer the album the saving grace of an established group. Unfortunately, not even a quality Jimmy Eat World tune is enough to carry the weight of this shame spiral of an album.
No angst-ridden teen compilation would be complete without at least one awkward cameo by the poster child for emo-rock — yep, you guessed it — The Get Up Kids.Their melancholy “Overdue” is delicately and depressingly sandwiched between one of Travis’s signature crooner-rock hits and an energetic, little-known group called Rock ’n’ Roll soldiers.
In the true tradition of keeping the theme alive, this album sounds like it was plucked from the show’s emo-inclined character Peyton’s iPod. Lead actress Bethany Joy Lenz is also featured on the disc, performing a surprisingly well-crafted duet with Tyler Hilton.
Despite a great mixture of talented artists and the potential for a smash album bubbling just below the surface, this mix is doomed to meet the fate of many a soundtrack that has come before it.
That said, it will predictably be granted a sympathy listen, immediately regretted and disappointingly discarded amid the heap of forever-forgotten mixes in your closet — the place where CDs go to die.
Much like the show, the soundtrack functions as an aural representation of the ever-present, debilitating angst and drama that goes hand in hand with the high school experience.
From poignant manic-depressive breakup ballads to energized indie-rock hits to overall diatribes of emotional neuroses, this soundtrack has it all.
So cheer up, emo kid, here’s yet another depressingly uneventful album to add to your collection of whiny, acoustic-driven backing tracks for your wallflower existence in a world where it’s not cool to be noticed.
Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
