Revisiting the Original Mortal Kombat Soundtrack

With this Friday's highly anticipated (and R-rated) Mortal Kombat movie release, I thought I'd revisit the legacy and personal impact the franchise had on me growing up.

Back in 1995, when I was a 12-year-old, braces-wearing, comic book-trading nerd playing Sega at my friend's house up the street, Mortal Kombat was the epitome of cool.  It was edgy, violent and addictive.

The overtly brutal game encouraged you to take on your friends, cage match style. This was before XBox and PS5 let you talk smack to random strangers online, and you instead had to sit in farty bean bag chairs next to one another and battle it out, yelling, "Get over here!", "Toasty!", and "Finish him!"

Now, more than 25 years later, Mortal Kombat still finds an audience.  It's rare for something to stay relevant for so many years, crossing generations.  I've been away from the game for some time now, but I still got excited when the trailer to the new movie came out recently.

The 1995 Mortal Kombat film by the same name was a doozy.  I saw it in the theater, of course. It was by no means an Oscar contender, but it accomplished what it needed to, hindered only by a PG-13 rating. It's pretty dated to watch the movie now, but man, does it take you back in time.

 The plot was simple:  three martial artists travel to a secret island to fight in an underground tournament to determine the fate of the world.  The talents of Robin Shou and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa carried the film, while Christopher "Highlander" Lambert--for some reason--played the Japanese Thundergod, Raiden.

The success of the 1995 film was also due in part to its soundtrack.  The theme song, "Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)" by the Immortals was one of the hottest tracks of the year.  You might know it as the techno song that periodically screams "MORTAL KOMBAT!"

But to write the soundtrack off as a gimmick would be unfair.  It also contained some great original music, crossing the aggressive genres of heavy metal and techno.  Not all of the songs on the original motion picture soundtrack were featured in the film itself, but the mood fits throughout.  Metal bands like Type O Negative and Napalm Death were featured alongside electronic acts like Orbital and Utah Saints, taking the soundtrack as high as #10 on the Billboard Top 200 that year.

Amongst my personal favorite tracks were "Goodbye (demo version)" by industrial rock group Gravity Kills, and the smoldering "Burn" by Sister Machine Gun.

But it's Orbital's 9-1/2 minute-long masterpiece "Halcyon + On + On" that has stood the test of time.  The ambient and melodic track slowly builds up, utilizing a delicate piano and guitar loop and a backmasked vocal sample from "It's Fine Day" by Opus III for its angelic, trance-like nature.

It's an extended version of the original Orbital single, and probably one of the greatest soundtrack songs of all time, having also been used in Hackers, and later, Mean Girls.  It's also one of my favorite songs of all time, so I'm honestly disappointed in myself that in 16 years of writing for the Lonely Note, I've never actually posted about this song before. 

All through Jr. High and High School, my friends and I would put the cd on track #6, set the boom box to repeat and listen to it over and over again while we'd hang out and talk about life, so it brings back a flood of memories anytime I hear it.  Never heard it?  You can listen to "Halcyon + On + On" in the YouTube clip below.

I should also mention that I bought the follow up compilation album, 1996's Mortal Kombat: More Kombat. It also featured some great tracks continuing in the same industrial direction, including songs from God Lives Underwater, Sepultura, the Crystal Method, and a song called "My Ruin" by Crawlspace (later known as Sevendust).

Will 2021's Mortal Kombat reboot live up to the hype?  It's one of the latest films to be simultaneously released to theaters and HBOMAX, and the trailer has a lot of fans (AKA other dudes in their 30s) worked up.  

Will it have a killer soundtrack?  That is yet to be determined, but there is a pretty sweet updated "Techno Syndrome 2021" theme song remix to go with it, so it's a start!

Instant Classic: LL Cool J - "Deepest Bluest (Shark's Fin)"

If there is one thing LL Cool J does better than acting, it's rapping.

So when the multifaceted LL performed the character of Sherman "Preacher" Dudley in the 1999 blockbuster, Deep Blue Sea, it was only natural that he take a bite of the soundtrack.

In Deep Blue Sea, Preacher steals the show as the scripture-quoting chef aboard a shark-infested sea lab. Preacher plays the groundbreaking role of "funny black guy in a movie" - a man never afraid to crack a one-liner right when his life is in the most peril.

With perhaps his biggest contribution to film dialogue, LL delivers the epic line, "You ate my bird" mere moments before tossing his flaming Zippo lighter across a gas-filled room; thus blowing up one very unruly, robotic shark.

But it is LL Cool J's addition to the musical soundtrack that really kills. His song, "Deepest Bluest (Shark's Fin)" floats the movie's heroic ending safely into the credits.

The song finds LL rapping lyrical comparisons of himself to a bloodthirsty shark. Have a taste of this verbal assault:

"Struggling to flow with hemorrhages in your throat, Getting the lap dance while I smash through your boat"

Sorry. You are now, officially, shark chum.

In the accompanying music video, LL not only spits his rhymes between splices of movie footage; he re-acts scenes of the movie while slowly transforming into a ravenous shark. He also seems to get sprayed in the face by a fire hose during a synchronized swimming class. Make sure to watch the music video through the dramatic conclusion.

Many websites specializing in deciphering music lyrics still debate whether the main lyric to the song is truly, "Uh! My hat is like a shark's fin!" Forget that this lyric doesn't really make any sense. It's simply too deep (and too blue) for you.

Aside from the sheer entertainment value of the film and LL Cool J's raptastic soundtrack, Deep Blue Sea sits in good company with Jaws to continually remind us of a very important public service announcement: Sharks Are Trying To Kill You.

You have been warned.

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A Musical Overview of Oscar Nominees

It's that time of the year again when the Academy Awards are on the tip of every critic's tongue. This Sunday's show marks Oscar's 80th birthday, and the ol' codger should be proud of several of the field's contenders.

My pick for the night's big winner goes to No Country for Old Men. The cast and screenplay of this morality play are impeccable and the cinematography is exceptional. The sound work is stark, subtle and unnervingly powerful. Javier Bardem's menacing portrayal of a serial killer already ranks up there with the best movie villains of all time. His character's Dutch boy haircut was even creepy enough to send the actor himself into a depression.

Paul Thomas Anderson's oil-soaked epic, There Will Be Blood, was another end of the year standout (notice how many of the nominees came out within the last 3 months?). The film is essentially one giant platform for Daniel Day-Lewis' masterful performance as a highly competitive, misanthropic oil prospector. Day-Lewis proves again that he is the man, and his work in this film is a coup de grâce to the Best Actor category.

I know what you're thinking: "What is all of this movie jibberish doing on a music blog?"

Well, did I mention that the score for There Will Be Blood was composed by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood? Maybe you forgot that Eddie Vedder recorded the original motion picture soundtrack for Into the Wild. Across the Universe tackled the Beatles' extensive catalog of tunes for its whole plot and accompanying soundtrack.

Overall, this year's Oscar bunch has had some strong soundtracks. And while most of them are not nominated for musical achievement awards, I have decided they still warrant a post.

To start with an actual Best Song nominee, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová's duet "Falling Slowly" (from the movie Once) deserves the nod. The two songwriters, who are also co-stars of the film, deserve credit for the entire gem of a soundtrack. Hansard, previously known as the frontman to Irish band, The Frames, shares a genuine chemistry with Irglova in the heartfelt little film.

Next up is Juno, this year's only Best Film nominee with a sense of humor. Juno's spunky title character, played by Best Actress nominee Ellen Page, is a pregnant teen with a penchant for 70's glam rock and punk.

The film's fast-paced dialogue is full of quick retorts and conversations about music. At one point, Juno and her baby's soon-to-be adoptive father even have a conversation in which he plays her Sonic Youth's cover of The Carpenters' treasure, "Superstar."

Kimya Dawson, formerly of The Moldy Peaches, has several songs featured throughout the soundtrack. Page and co-star Michael Cera even duet on The Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else But You."

Juno's cutesy anti-folk songs are balanced by classic rock from The Velvet Underground, Mott the Hoople, and The Kinks.

My favorite soundtrack moment has to be Barry Louis Polisar's "All I Want is You." Hearing the opening credits, I was instantly transported back to my childhood - a time when I listened to Polisar's 1977 album, My Brother Thinks He's a Banana & Other Provocative Songs for Children, like there was no tomorrow. I swear I still have that tape around here someplace...

Barry Louis Polisar - 'All I Want is You' (from the Juno Soundtrack)

And finally, I can't round out a comprehensive list without mentioning the stage-to-screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd, can I? Johnny Depp gets the Tim Burton treatment yet again in his role as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Depp and the rest of the cast rise to the occasion to pull off several fantastic vocal performances. But it is composer Stephen Sondheim who deserves the most credit for translating his own musical to work with the actors' vocal ranges. For your listening satisfaction, I'm including one of my favorite Sweeney Todd tracks, "Johanna," as performed by Jamie Campbell Bower, Johnny Depp and Laura Michelle Kelly.

Sweeney Todd OST - 'Johanna'

So, that's my take on the Oscars. What other films from the past year do you think deserve to be recognized for their soundtracks?