'Awaydays' is “the soundtrack that inspired a film,” according to the tagline. Well, I haven’t seen the film, nor have I read the book by Kevin Sampson that inspired the soundtrack (which in turn inspired the film that inspired somebody else to re-release the soundtrack, albeit this time as “the soundtrack that inspired the film” - aaarrrrggghhh) but it doesn't matter. The soundtrack is a blast regardless. 'Awaydays' contains a wonderful collection of late 70's tunes mixed in with a couple of catchy incidental tracks, and a few rarities to boot.

There are 28 tracks in all on this disc, some of which are moments of dialogue (and I personally blame Quentin Tarantino for making such an occurrence popular). 'Awaydays' starts out with a bang music-wise, and the overall tempo slows down considerably somewhere in the middle: which obviously has something to do with the book I have never read that inspired the soundtrack, and so on and so forth.

Artists on this Universal Music Catalogue release include Echo & The Bunnymen, Ultravox! (who win the “Most Tracks On A Soundtrack By The Same Artist Award” with a total of 3 songs here), Elvis Costello, OMD, and even the blissfully depressing sounds of Joy Division! A couple of rare tracks come from The Cure, with a home demo version of “10:15,” giving the song an almost psychedelic-like sound and The Rascals with an exclusive recording of “All That Jazz”.

All in all, Awaydays is a fun soundtrack, even if you haven’t read the book that inspired it or the film that it inspired.


Tracks:

1. Steve Lillywhite, Ultravox! - Young Savage (Single Version)
2. Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle - Carty And Elvis In Erics - Dialogue Clip
3. The Rascals - All The Jazz (Exclusive Recording)
4. Cabaret Voltaire - Nag Nag Nag
5. Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle, David Hughes - Sunrise - Dialogue Clip & Score
6. David Alan Hughes - Liverpool 1979 - Score
7. Magazine - The Light Pours Out Of Me
8. Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle, David Hughes - When We Go To Berlin - Dialogue & Sore
9. Ultravox!, Conny Plank, Dave Hutchings - Slow Motion
10. David Alan Hughes - Wool Stomp - Score
11. The Cure - 10:15 Saturday Night (RS Organ Home Demo With Vox 2/78)
12. Joy Division, Martin Hannett - Insight
13. Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle - Come See The Stars - Dialogue Clip
14. David Alan Hughes - Elvis's Dub - Score
15. Liam Boyle, David Hughes - Carty Deflated - Dialogue & Score
16. David Alan Hughes - Carty 's Revenge - Score
17. Echo & The Bunnymen - Going Up
18. Nicky Bell, David Hughes - Carty's Last Awayday - Diallogue & Score
19. Conny Plank, Dave Hutchings, Ultravox! - Just For A Moment
20. The Mekons - Where Were You
21. The Jam, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton, Rick Buckler - When You're Young
22. Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch - Night Rally
23. Christopher Merrick Hughes, Dalek I, David Bates - The World
24. The Chameleons, The Teardrop Explodes - Sleeping Gas
25. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Paul Collister - Electricity
26. Human League - Being Boiled
27. Wire - I Am The Fly
28. Gang Of Four - Damaged Goods