Audio CD review:
Various Artists, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Jürgen Prochnow, Ronny Cox, Brigitte Nielsen, Allen Garfield, Dean Stockwell, Paul Reiser, Gilbert R. Hill - Beverly Hills Cop II: The Motion Picture Soundtrack Album

Various Artists, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Jürgen Prochnow, Ronny Cox, Brigitte Nielsen, Allen Garfield, Dean Stockwell, Paul Reiser, Gilbert R. Hill - Beverly Hills Cop II: The Motion Picture Soundtrack Album

Band: Various Artists, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Jürgen Prochnow, Ronny Cox, Brigitte Nielsen, Allen Garfield, Dean Stockwell, Paul Reiser, Gilbert R. Hill Title: Beverly Hills Cop II: The Motion Picture Soundtrack Album Rating: Release Date: 01 January, 1995 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Shakedown - Bob Seger 2: Be There - Pointer Sisters 3: In Deep - Charlie Sexton 4: Hold On - Corey Hart 5: I Want Your Sex - George Michael 6: Better Way - James Ingram 7: Love/Hate - Pebbles 8: Cross My Broken Heart - The Jets 9: 36 Lovers - Ready For The World 10: I Can't Stand It - Sue Ann 11: All Revved Up - Jermaine Jackson

Customer Reviews The album is good The main reason I like it is because of the tune "Shakedown" sung by Bob Seger. The album is pretty good. The song was given to Glenn Frey formely of the Eagles, (who had a succuessful solo career in the 80's with hits for soundtracks such as "The Heat Is On" and "You Belong To The City") to sing but he came down with laryngitis and Seger recorded the song instead. As well "Shakedown" was Seger's first #1 hit of his career, with his vocals that do the song justice. I cannot picture Eric Clapton singing that song, it would not work. More diverse mix in BHC 2 soundtrack And hey, they had three Top Ten songs, including a #1 and #2. Whereas the first Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack was a celebration of 80's electropop, the second one shows a split between rock and R&B/pop, with multiple producers. And three of the songs ended up on the artist/group's albums, making this soundtrack a launching pad of sorts. "Shakedown" was yet another soundtrack song for Bob Seger, and this time, he hit the top, with its infectious backbeat thanks to rapid-fire keyboards and some soulful backing vocals in the chorus. If this sounds like a Billy Idol song, it's because Keith Forsey was one of the producers, the other being Harold Faltermeyer, who did one of the best songs on the first BHC movie and fresh from the Top Gun Theme. Forsey produces another track here, Charlie Sexton's "In Deep", whose fiery guitar solos and power synths and keyboards might work for Sexton but is something Forsey's star client, Billy Idol wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Canadian singer Corey Hart has a good turn with the inoffensive 80's pop of "Hold On," with its jingly synths, pulsing rhythm guitar, all produced by Giorgio Moroder. The only other group from the first movie to do a song here are the Pointer Sisters with "Be There. " Despite the brassy horns, rattling drums, and Narada Michael Walden's production, this song is half-hearted, showing the trio's last bit of oomph was 1985's "Dare Me. " George Michael sure picked some way to introduce his second solo hit, his first being "A Different Corner," due to the unnecessary controversy created by the title and the alleged meaning of the song. "I Want Your Sex" made it to #2 despite the brouhaha. Hey, it has a good backbeat, and a real underlying message: "It's natural, it's chemical, it's logical, habitual" And of course it ended up on his Grammy-winning Faith album. The last couple of songs are firmly in the soul/R&B area. Former Prince guitarist Andre Cymone produced two tracks here. The first is James Ingram's "Better Way" which is typical 80's R&B/soul with some accompanying horns. This song though doesn't do justice to Ingram's voice, as he's done better. The second is Pebbles' funky jam "Love/Hate" which sounds like a refugee from Janet Jackson's Control album. This also landed on Pebbles' self-titled debut. Yet another song that ended up on the group's album is the Jets' bouncy crossover pop "Cross My Broken Heart" also on the Jets' Magic album. If the beat resembles early Madonna, it's because the song was co-written and co-produced by Stephen Bray, a songwriting collaborator on Like A Virgin. And then, those guys who imitated Prince with "Oh Sheila"--Ready For The World. This time, they demand "36 Lovers," as extravagant a demand as their synths. The sound's more pedestrian soul-pop. Sue Ann's "I Can't Stand It" recalls brassy Pointer Sisters fare like "I'm So Excited" and THIS is the kind of stuff the Pointers should've been doing here. Jermaine Jackson's synth-happy "All Revved Up" makes him another Giorgio Moroder client, but Moroder did better for Hart earlier in the album. Not a bad album in itself, with numbers by Seger, Michael, Hart, Pebbles, and the Jets pulling the weight here. Reflects the death of the pop music industry post-1986 Four songs apart, the same cannot be said for the inferior sequel's album. THE BAD: The original Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack is one of the best OSTs of all time- layered with innovative artists and overall control from film composer Harold Faltermeyer and producing colleague Keith Forsey. Unlike BHC, BHC2 is a largely manufactured album and Harold Faltermeyer was only involved with the sig song SHAKEDOWN. Interesting to note that his credit on the film is that of "music score by" as opposed to his BHC credit, "music by". And we don't even hear ANY score music. The manufactured tunes of this album came from the hands of Giorgio Moroder (who Bruckheimer and Simpson worshipped after going soft rock on most of the Top Gun OST songs) and former Prince producer Andre Cymone. But then again, BHC2 was made post Stock Aitken Waterman, so it's unfortunately natural that the OST is out of the hands of the innovative (Forsey, Faltermeyer) and into the hands of the manufactured. It's totally representative of the late 80s Pete Waterman-initiated death of pop music, with plastic teeny bop garbage The Jets, Ready for the world, Corey Hart, Pebbles, and I WANT YOUR SEX, the sadist solo effort from George Michael. The rot had set in. Also annoying, the sleeve track listing differs from the track arrangements actually on the CD. THE GOOD: SHAKEDOWN- AMAZING production, AMAZING sound quality, AMAZING music (much more synthy than the rock-orientated edit heard in the movie), but let down by the misplaced presence of idiosyncratic hick Bob Seger. His contributions, including the lamentable lyric "Shakedown, Shakedown, You're busted!" Original choice Eric Clapton was much needed to respect this Faltermeyer/Forsey classic. BE THERE- As you may know, the Pointer Sisters contributed the classic NEUTRON DANCE to the original BHC OST, and a nice bit of continuity here as they make an exclusive return to the franchise. Produced by legendary soul producer Narada Michael Walden, who went on to write and produce the last great James Bond title song, Licence to Kill, this isn't a rehash of the success of the Sisters last BHC, this is to NEUTRON DANCE what day is to night. Drum machine driven with more ecstatic saxophone solos and upbeat synth chimes, this track is probably the most all round perfect track on the album. IN DEEP- Not actually that great a song, and it does have Charlie Sexton- But this is KEITH FORSEY producing, and it shows. One of the only links to the quality of the original BHC OST. I CAN'T STAND IT- As with SHAKEDOWN, BE THERE and IN DEEP, this song also has direct ties with the original BHC movie OST, and it shows. Producer Howie Rice, who produced NEW ATTITUDE and EMERGENCY for Patti LaBelle and Rockie Robbins respectively on the BHC album, was responsible for this Sue Ann sung song, and as with those other three BHC2 already mentioned, it really sticks out like a sore thumb on this album. It wouldn't be out of place on the original BHC OST. It's such a shame that those four songs apart, the only good musical contribution to this awful film's soundtrack is Harold Faltermeyer's original score, WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN RELEASED, and probably never will. It's sad that innovation and art plays second fiddle to manufactured, teeny bopper demograph fodder, yet in 1984, it was the other way around. If you enjoyed the score for BHC 2, I recommend purchasing Harold Faltermeyer's album Harold F, as there lies a the track BAD GUYS, which is the villains theme from the movie, but with vocal lyrics performed by Keith Forsey. . 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