For this Mel Gibson movie about a 1965 battle in Vietnam that turned out to be one of the most savage in U.S. history, producer Ken Levitan put out a call for songs that would honor the memory of the soliders who perished in this bloody event. The result is a mix of mainstream Nashville country artists, Christian acts, and some of pop music's biggest names. Among the...
Read moreFor this Mel Gibson movie about a 1965 battle in Vietnam that turned out to be one of the most savage in U.S. history, producer Ken Levitan put out a call for songs that would honor the memory of the soliders who perished in this bloody event. The result is a mix of mainstream Nashville country artists, Christian acts, and some of pop music's biggest names. Among the songs that thematically hit home are India.Arie's breathy acoustic ballad "Good Man," Train's stirring, piano-driven "Fall Out," and Five for Fighting's rumbling "The Beautiful," with its serpentine guitar playing and John Ondrasik's nasal alto. Balancing out these sentiments of sorrow and loss are ones of hope and homecoming: the rich and soaring Dave Matthews/Johnny Cash duet "For You," the righteous, Baptist-flavored "The Glory of Life" from country band Rascal Flatts, and the inspirational Jamie O'Neal/Michael McDonald duet, "Not So Distant Day." The lone wail of Joseph Kilna MacKenzie's bagpipe throughout "Sgt. MacKenzie" and the robust chorus of the United States Military Academy Cadet Glee Club and Metro Voices on "The Mansions of the Lord (Suite)" pluck the heartstrings. With many U.S. military personnel serving overseas in a post-September 11th world, We Were Soldiers couldn't have come along at a better time.
Brand: SONY
