Bruce Almighty Soundtrack CD

Mick Jagger/Fat Boy Slim/Elvis Presley/Barry White/Patti Labe

Original score composed by John Debney.
Personnel: JoAnn Turovsky (harp); Eun Mee Ahn, Assa Drori, Al Hershberger, Tamara L. Hatwan, Robin Olson, Mark Sazer, Harris Goldman, Barbara Porter, Ken Yerke, Ronald Folsom, Robert Brosseau, Claudia Parducci, Roy d'Antonio, Jay Rosen, Lisa Sutton, Sid Page, Jacqueline Brand, Julie Gigante, Phillipe Levy, Sara Parkins, Liane Mautner, Dimitrie Leivici, Polly Sweeney, Ronald Clark, Endre Granat, Haim Shtrum (violin); Robin Ross, Dan Neufeld, Steven Gordon, Lynn Richburg, Rick Gerding, Michael Nowak, Robert Becker, Keith Greene, Jennie Hansen, Maria Newman, Simon Oswell, David F. Walther, Darrin McCann, Shanti Randall (viola); Christina Soule, Dennis Karmazyn, Anthony Cooke, David Low , Sebastian Toettcher, John Walz, Todd Hemmenway, Christine Ermacoff (cello); Steve Kujala, Geri Rotella (flute); Emily Bernstein, Gary Bovyer (clarinet); Tom Boyd, Phil Ayling (oboe); John Steinmetz, Kenneth E. Munday (bassoon); Dan Savant, Jon Lewis , Warren Luening (trumpet); Phillip Edward Yao, David Duke, Steve Becknell, Brian O'Connor (French horn); Alvin Veeh, Alan Kaplan, Bill Reichenbach Jr. , Stephen Holtman (trombone); James Self (tuba); Michael Lang , Mike Watts (keyboards); Alan Estes, Gregory Goodall, Thomas Raney, Terrence Schonig (percussion).
A largely predictable soundtrack, Bruce Almighty takes the movie's "what if an everyday guy was God" plot and runs with it, collecting God and miracle-themed pop songs. Some of them are clever, such as Mick Jagger's "God Gave Me Everything" and Wang Chung's "Praying to a New God," while others are a little predictable, like Snap's "The Power," which already sounded stale in the trailers and television commercials for the film. Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" and Fatboy Slim's "The Rockafeller Skank" don't follow the motif of the rest of the soundtrack as closely, and that may have something to do with why they're two of the more enjoyable songs on the album. Patti LaBelle's "Ready for a Miracle" and Barry White's "Never Never Gonna Give You Up" are two of the other highlights of this unremarkable but pleasant-enough collection; considering its uninspired selections and relatively short, ten-song track listing, only die-hard fans of the movie truly need Bruce Almighty. ~ Heather Phares