Last week ended on a high note for Little Monsters around the world. The soundtrack of “A Star Is Born” was released to juice up anticipation for the music-focused remake.
Although Bradley Cooper proves that he can sing, act, and direct, it is Lady Gaga’s star power that lifts each track, regardless if it’s a tender piano ballad or heart-rending duets. Because the soundtrack progress chronologically in accordance to the movie storyline, light spoilers are inevitable.
“There were a lot of discussions about how the marketing of the music would play out. This is a special film and the music is not just a soundtrack; all the music is part of the story of the film. And so it was very important to give people a chance to take that in (in theatres) and then have the soundtrack hit. That was a big, big gamble,” said Steve Berman.
The Interscope vice chairman explained that there were discussions between the studio with Cooper and Gaga’s camps, adding that, “it really boiled down to the confidence in the film, confidence in the music, and let’s follow this vision all the way through.” The result was positive as 6 tracks from “A Star Is Born” OST made it to the top 8 on the US iTunes digital singles chart.
If you’ve listen to the whole soundtrack, you’d noticed that significant amounts of dialogue were included in the 34-track album. “Between Gaga and Bradley, they thought it was the right thing to do, to extend that experience through the soundtrack. And a lot of those dialogue moments really do lead right into the songs,” explained Anthony Seyler, who’s in charge of Interscope’s TV marketing and licensing.
Many would argue that the “A Star Is Born” is a Lady Gaga album, with occasional features from Cooper’s character. However, Berman disagrees. “Gaga has a massive fan base, but this movie is such a great piece of art that we feel it’s going to touch so many different audiences, and we want to be prepared to serve all of those audiences with the way that they consume music,” he commented.
The “A Star Is Born” soundtrack features 5 Gaga/Cooper duets, 5 solo Cooper cuts, and 8 songs solely by Gaga. Here, you’ll find blaring blues-rockers, tender acoustic ballads, anthemic torch songs, as well as 2 super pop songs. Take a listen:
Penned by Nashville singer/songwriter and guitarist Jason Isbell, we hear Cooper delivering a slow guitar confessional that paints him as a genuine rock star. It also hints at the personal demons faced by Cooper’s country rocker Jackson Maine. It’s only later that we come to grasp at just how lost Jackson actually is.
“Shallow” is the focus track of the movie. Co-written by Gaga, Mark Ronson, former Dirty Pretty Things vocalist Anthony Rossomando and Miike Snow vocalist Andrew Wyatt, the beautiful song starts of as a delicate country-tinged confessional ballad, before Gaga’s huge “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AH AH AHHHHHHHHHHHHH” takes over powerful rock chorus.
As the movie and soundtrack progress, we see Gaga’s Ally becoming the central focus. “Look What I Found” is the song that leads to more pop singles being released that are catchy. Even though these pop songs are placed in the film to drive home the notion that Ally is losing her writing voice, they still sound delicious to our ears.
“Is That Alright?” is another soaring ballad on the soundtrack. A quick look at the comments section and we’re already a ton of people feeling emotionally connected to the song. People are already dubbing this as their wedding tune. “Whenever I listen this song, I imagine marrying my crush and this song would be our wedding song. Omg I’m so excited but I can’t even tell him that I love him,” wrote Okan O.
Naturally, the soundtrack has to have a tearful finale. For those that can’t get enough of it, the album also includes an extended cut with just Gaga alone on it. To quote Rolling Stone, “I’ll Never Love Again” is meant to be the biggest moment following a series of huge moments – just like the first time Ally sang an original song in front of a crowd.
Check out the full playlist below:
What are your favourite tracks from the album so far? We’ll probably have a different opinion after watching the movie once it debuts here. Can’t wait!
Source: Variety.
