Release: July 19, 2005.

Style: Movie soundtrack.

My take: Considering that creating a soundtrack for any film set in the South can be as simple as slapping together a playlist of classic rock tunes, it's pleasing to see that there was some effort put into making this one.

So there was this sitcom in the 1980s called "The Dukes of Hazzard," which focused on the crazy antics of the Duke family: sex kitten sister Daisy, old-timer Uncle Jesse, and rambunctious cousins Luke and Bo, who'd always end up on the bad side of county sheriff Boss Hogg. It became incredibly popular because of Daisy Duke's characteristic high-cut shorts, regular car chases and gratuitous destruction by the General Lee (the brothers' getaway car), and decades later spawned a film starring Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds and Willie Nelson.

Audio clips of Nelson's Uncle Jesse telling dirty, Southerner jokes are suitable for a comedy soundtrack and act as bookends for the disc's songs. The majority of the tracks in between is a simple, if not mildly predictable, collection of classic Southern rock songs: The Allman Brothers band appears with a live version of "One Way Out"; the Charlie Daniels Band contributes "The South's Gonna Do it Again"; and Molly Hatchet, which is a band (not a solo artist), throws in "Flirtin' with Disaster." Of course, there's the obligatory Lynyrd Skynyrd track, which is "Call Me the Breeze" this time around, and Ram Jam's "Black Betty," a song that will probably never grow old.

What adds a touch of an out-of-left-field feeling — or a detour, if you will — is the nice cluster of newer recordings. For instance, The Blueskins, which sounds remarkably like The Yardbirds, appears with "Change My Mind," and there's country duo Montgomery Gentry's breakout hit "Hillbilly Shoes," and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's amazing track "Burn It Off."

There are the cover songs commonplace in soundtracks: Nelson's recording of the series' theme "Good Ol' Boys," an unnecessary yet still welcome addition; and Jessica Simpson's abysmal and insulting cover of "These Boots Were Made for Walkin'," which barely sounds like music and reinforces my theory that Simpson is better seen and not heard.

As a movie soundtrack, this one isn't too bad, considering most soundtracks are ham-handed with little or no effort behind them. With a solid collection of Southern rock songs that probably would all appear in a Time Life collection, there are more positives to be found here than one might assume.

Jeremy Castillo is a student at Windward Community College.

Have a game or CD you want to review? Reach TGIF editor Debra Yuen at dyuen@honoluluadvertiser.com.