Various Artists American Gangster Review 385j3x

The order is different from the film, but the album begins well, with the retro sound of Anthony Hamilton’s “Do You Feel Me” marking the meeting between eponymous Harlem citizen Frank Lucas (toweringly played by Denzel Washington) and the beautiful Eva, Miss Puerto Rico. Lowell Fulsom contributes a barnstorming cover of “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?” that introduces Russell Crowe’s avenging cop Richie Roberts, but on the whole, unlike the film, this soundtrack isn’t as extensive as it might be, most notably overlooking “Only the Strong Survive”, as well as Jay-Z’s “Heart of the City”, from the trailer.

Washington wanted Jay Z to do this soundtrack, and while Bobby Womack’s stunning “Across 110th Street”, enhanced the sweeping, panoramic effect of the film, its inclusion here is a reminder that the soundtrack isn’t the most original. Anthony Hamilton’s “Stone Cold” holds its head up amongst the classics “Hold On, I’m Coming” and “I’ll Take You There” by Sam & Dave and the Staple Singers, and Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” ends the film effectively, but the soundtrack is let down by former PE alumnus Hank Shocklee with some mostly generic funk and western tracks. What happened to the Thai version of “Only the Lonely” from the film? Marc Streitenfield’s concluding “One Hundred Per Cent Pure” and “Frank Lucas” are better, and it’s a shame that there’s not more of his music featured, and that the whole isn’t woven together in a more contemporary style. For that, you’d have to turn to the aforementioned Jay Z’s version of American Gangster. Like the film, no real surprises here, but, for a large amount of the time, this is still a convincing piece of soul, from the depths.