 Various Artists WWF capitalized on its rising mainstream popularity as well as the built-in nostalgia factor by re-releasing two older albums along with two more recent albums as a box set. This is the most comprehensive catalog of entrance theme music ever assembled. OK, I'm a loser and a sucker. I bought it. The first album is The Wrestling Album, featuring various mid-80s wrestlers doing mostly covers, and some "originals." It's a nice little throwback to my days as a kid watching "WWF Superstars" on Sunday morning and "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'N' Wrestling" cartoon on Saturdays, and hoping mom and dad would let me stay up late enough to watch "Saturday Night's Main Event" once a month. In retrospect, some cuts are laughable, and were probably a laugh to everyone, including the wrestlers, when this came out. A big group of wrestlers doing "Land of a Thousand Dances"? Announcer "Mean" Gene (spelled "Jean" on the box) Okerlund doing "Tutti Frutti"? I don't remember finding those entertaining as a kid, and sure don't now. But then there's "Real American" by Rick Derringer, not the Hulk Hogan's theme we all grew to know, but actually Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo's theme. The next best thing on this album is the cover: trying to name all the wrestlers is enough to make you shake your head and wonder why you got wedgies in grade school. The in between tracks commentary from "announcers" Vince McMahon and Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura provide fun time-capsule moments as well. Next is Full Metal -– The Album, probably my favorite out of the four discs. The first two tracks wrestling fans will recognize as the music played at the beginning of "Raw" on Monday nights. Then it goes into the entrance music for 12 wrestlers. The instantly noticeable thing for me was that of the 12, six are gone from the WWF, and one left and returned. In reality, most of the tracks I could live without. Most sound the same, so they get kinda repetitive. Their main utility is to bring back memories of wrestlers past. Bret "Hitman" Hart's "Hart Attack" and Shawn Michaels "Sexy Boy" always make me jack the volume up to 11, though. Once again, the pictures are entertaining, the wrestler "bios" on the inside jacket are kind of nice, and the message from the late Gorilla Monsoon is a nice touch as well. Better than The Wrestling Album, but only by a few tracks. Released in 1997, WWF The Music Vol. 2 represents the beginning of the WWF's mainstream climb. Many of the wrestlers' themes on here are still in use today, or are recent enough you don't need/want to hear them. Unfortunately, we do get a couple of repeats from "Full Metal." However, we do get the old Mankind theme, which is a nice memory for Mick Foley fans. We also get the first taste of Stone Cold Steve Austin's theme, with voiceovers showing Austin's "heel" persona at the time. The themes for Vader, Dude Love, and Rocky Maivia bring instant grins, especially when remembering where the aforementioned wrestlers were in their careers then and how they've progressed. The box gains somesteam here. WWF The Music Vol. 3 closes the set. Released in 1998, this showcases more entrance themes still in use, with only two of the 14 tracks for people no longer associated with the WWF. I won't call these people "wrestlers" cuz they ain't deserving of that title. You know who you are, and Vince banished you to nowhere!!! Low point: a third showing of the Undertaker's theme. Give it a rest. The song bores me more than he does by now. Whether the giddy grins I got from this set were worth the $42 spent is questionable. I was in the car for two hours the day I bought it, and that was plenty of wrestling music for me for awhile. Jim Johnson, the man who wrote 90% of the tracks, evolved through the set to show himself as a talented songwriter who can write catchy hard rock songs, or mood-catching tunes. Unfortunately, he'll never be recognized for his talents in the music industry. But I'll give him the recognition he deserves.
Review by Mo' Mitch |