Cradle Will Rock: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack

Amazon.com Sure, Cradle Will Rock is about politics, but at its most convincing level, the movie is a showcase for its namesake--Marc Blitzstein's Federal Theater Project-funded operetta from 1937. In the film, we see the long- forgotten musical rehearsed, dissected, critiqued, and convincingly performed by the movie's cast (even the musicians seen in the film are the actual performers on the soundtrack). This disc features many of the musical's best moments and David Robbins's equally impressive melting pot of an instrumental score, which includes folk songs, gypsy music, klezmer, and jazz. But there are also a few surprises: Polly Jean Harvey gives a noir-ish and impassioned version of Cradle's "Nickel Under the Foot," while Eddie Vedder and Susan Sarandon's duet on "Croon Spoon" is only slightly less convincing. Broadway star Audra McDonald, though, shows us how Blitzstein's "Joe Worker" would sound on the Great White Way today. It's a great package, but the music featured in the film--for starters, the infectious and cute "Honolulu" and Emily Watson's endearing performance of "Moll's Song"--is the real highlight. - -Jason Verlinde