Walk To Remember Soundtrack CD

Mandy Moore/J.Foreman/R.Lampa/ Switchfoot. Incl.4 New Songs.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Original score composed by Mervyn Warren.
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Having the disadvantage of being the third girl in the door of the late-'90s teen pop diva competition, Mandy Moore has had to take a slightly different approach to her career from the paths pursued by her predecessors, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. With radio programmers complaining of a glut of singing bellybuttons, she has moved on several fronts simultaneously, not only turning out the usual dance-pop pap, but also branching out to a VJ stint on MTV and quickly moving into the movies. In 2001, she made her film debut in a supporting role in The Princess Diaries and followed with Bubble Boy. But A Walk to Remember, in which she plays a minister's daughter who falls for a bad boy, is her first starring vehicle. Naturally, its soundtrack album is anchored by her recordings, and though Epic Records may not have planned it that way originally, the release of "Cry" as the first single indicates the label is using the soundtrack to try to reawaken interest in Moore's self-titled 2001 album, a commercial disappointment, on which it appeared originally. Certainly, the singer is trying to distance herself from her competitors on a track like this, which shows her tackling a ballad in a surprisingly thoughtful and mature way. You only need to contrast her approach with that of Rachael Lampa, who throws in all the tired vocal tricks without an ounce of real feeling on "If You Believe," to see the difference. The rest of the album seems to have been divided largely between the moody rock of Jonathan Foreman and his band Switchfoot and the very busy rock of Gregg Alexander (aka New Radicals), though Toploader's trip-hop arrangement of the old King Harvest hit "Dancing in the Moonlight" is a cute idea. ~ William Ruhlmann
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?"