No one can ever accuse this job of being boring. There’s always something new dropping through my mailbox, and this week is no exception. I don’t usually concentrate much on film soundtracks, but I thought I would make an exception for this one as it seemed interesting.

Stage Fright features performances by Meat Loaf, Minnie Driver, Allie MacDonald and the Metal Killer! The film’s writer/director Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion composed the music and lyrics for this Glee meets-The Rocky Horror Picture Show musical comedy producing a genre-bending score that mixes heavy metal rock with a full orchestral sound.

Starry-eyed teenager Camilla Swanson (Allie MacDonald) wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a Broadway diva, but she’s stuck working in the kitchen of a snobby performing arts camp. Determined to change her destiny, she sneaks in to the audition for the summer showcase and lands a lead role in the play, but just as rehearsals begin, blood starts to spill, and Camilla soon finds herself terrorized by a bloodthirsty masked killer who despises musical theater.

The album starts off pretty well, with the lovely Minnie Driver singing against a strong and full orchestral track. And the orchestra sounds great on this album, no doubt. However, the material just doesn’t match the quality. The soundtrack tracks are nice, and I can’t comment on their application within the movie, but don’t excite as a soundtrack album. The songs for me, again, don’t work as separate tracks - I certainly had no idea of the story until I read the synopsis.

Performances are good however, Meatloaf especially coming over very well. But for me, not an album I would listen to again as a soundtrack.

5

Ian Gude