MY VIEW
Music: 'Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Friday Night Lights'

By Joshua Huff
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: THE RATINGS 5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have. 4 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely listen to it. 3 — Good: Worth listening to despite some flaws. 2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the group or singer, don't bother. 1 — Poor: Save your money (and your ears).

Release: Oct. 12.

Style: Post-rock, ambient.

Rewind: "An Ugly Fact of Life," "To West Texas" and "A Slow Dance" (all by Explosions in the Sky).

Skip: "Seagull" (Bad Company).

My view: Having been quickly hailed as "one of the greatest sports movies" of all time weeks after its release, "Friday Night Lights" is a story about a small West Texas town picked to win the state title. The team went through many ups and downs, and this is all documented gorgeously in the soundtrack, mainly by the band Explosions in the Sky.

The band is from Texas, and knows just how big football is in that state. But the announcement that they had worked on the album was quite a head-scratching one, as the band isn't well known outside of certain circles. The most anyone might know about the band is that the cover art for its 2001 release "Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever" featured a picture of an airplane with the lines "This Plane Will Crash Tomorrow" scrawled beneath it. The album was released Sept. 10, 2001, in Canada and Britain, and the art seemed eerily prophetic when the events of the next day unfolded.

Regardless, the makers of "Friday Night Lights" should be applauded for their decision to have Explosions in the Sky score the movie. The band is known for its loud crescendos, but here they give the listener subdued, restrained tracks. Honestly, it's next to impossible to remember the title of one song, as they all have a similar feel and theme, but the record really is a moving collection of music.

There are a few other contributors on the "Friday Night Lights" soundtrack. Longtime U2 producer Daniel Lanois performs the song "Sonho Dourado," which sounds like a bit like gospel staple "Hallelujah" if Jimi Hendrix were to play it. Bad Company also contributed "Seagull," which, while being a soft-rock song, is very out of place, breaks up the album and threatens to take away any significance from the two pieces that follow it. Listeners who stick around, however, are rewarded with the last track, "A Slow Dance" (by Explosions in the Sky), the best song on the album. The song is very upbeat and optimistic and sounds as if it were intended for long car rides through the middle of nowhere.

The album's producer, Brian Reitzell, may deserve the most credit. He put together the stunning soundtrack to last year's film "Lost in Translation," which was composed of work by Air, Squarepusher and My Bloody Valentine, among others, and was regarded as the best music from a film all year. Once again, he hit gold with the soundtrack to "Friday Night Lights," which will undoubtedly be hailed as one of the best soundtracks of 2004.

If you're looking for the perfect album to wake up to or to drive home on H-3 Freeway to, the soundtrack to "Friday Night Lights" is your best bet. No other collection of music matches the sundown skyscape of our state than the subdued songs of Explosions in the Sky and company.

Joshua Huff is a senior at Moanalua High School.

Have a CD you want to review? Reach Island Life deputy editor Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.