FFWD Weekly
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CD Review by Mike Bell VARIOUS ARTISTS The Million Dollar Hotel OST Island · Soundtrack for the latest Wim Wenders film with new songs from U2, Daniel Lanois, Bill Frisell and others. · Over half the 16 songs feature The Million Dollar Hotel (or MDH) Band whose members include Bono, Lanois, Brian Eno and Adam Dorn. Like closing time in a lobby bar, The Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack contains tremendous character and mood, and holds great romantic appeal. There’s a mellow bluesy glaze coating the slow, soulful rock songs and the smoky jazz numbers, giving the disc a cohesion that most soundtracks don’t have. But it’s the quality of the individual numbers that makes it a memorable album. U2 kick things off with arguably the best song they’ve done in well over a decade. Accompanied by Daniel Lanois on pedal steel and with lyrics by Salman Rushdie, "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" is everything you like to remember the band being: melodic, moving and grandly emotional. After that, their remaining appearances are only slightly less successful. The only glaring mis-step on the disc is Milla Jovovich’s subtle rendition of Lou Reed’s "Satellite of Love," which digresses into Nina Hagenesque caterwauling. Still if that’s the biggest complaint about a record – especially one with U2’s fingerprints all over it – then maybe we should dim the lights again, and serve up one more for the road. 4/5

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