BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA
Rating: 
Original Review: Mike Judge's anarchic creations, Beavis and Butt-head, have been poking fun at American youth culture for nearly six years now. The biggest joke is that most of the people who enjoy it's infantile, crude humour probably don't appreciate just how biting and scathing it really is: they simply laugh whenever Beavis (the dumb blonde) or Butt-head (the not-quite-as-dumb brunette) mutter "Whoa, that was cool" at the latest music video to come under the dubious duo's critical eye. A big screen adventure was probably inevitable but, what was really surprising, was that it actually ended up being a very good movie. I'm not too proud to admit that I enjoyed it immensely, and that I now snigger uncontrollably at the mere mention of the words "Cornholio", "Tepee" and "Bunghole".
But here's something I never, ever, thought I would say about Beavis and Butt-head. The music is great! John Frizzell approaches the thankless task of scoring this movie as straight as an arrow, and never panders to the film's comedy roots, although some of the cues are admittedly quite amusing in themselves. There is no recurring theme to speak of, each cue instead acting a standalone piece, existing in its own right as an individual musical accompaniment to the pair's comic misadventures across the length and breadth of the good old US of A. Frizzell's fully orchestral, dramatically-orientated underscore is certainly not what you would expect, especially considering that the MTV series is normally accompanied by some god-awful heavy metal rubbish, and many of the 14 original cues included here are worth mentioning.
My personal favourites include the Max Steiner-inspired opening track, 'Buttkong', which reverberates to thunderous horns and pounding jungle drums; the guitar-led Morricone-style wild west theme in 'Dying in the Desert'; the peculiar whistling in 'Searching for the T.V.'; the fabulous pizzicato piece in 'Beavis the Sperm', the gloriously patriotic 'Mr. President We're Never Gonna Score', and the incredibly beautiful (yes, I said beautiful!), emotionally supercharged choral finale, 'The Walk Into The Sunset'. I wish I could work out what the choir in 'Judgorian Chant' are saying, because I'm sure its rather rude, and I can just imagine what Butt-head's reaction would be, if he were to see the video for 'Mucha Muchacha' on his TV screen - "That sucks!" Oh, and the front cover of the CD is one of the funniest I have ever seen!
Frizzell's work here is an unexpected delight, and is all the more effective because it doesn't take itself too seriously. Beavis and Butt-head Do America is a clever, intelligent, highly enjoyable score. Huh huh huh huh! I said score! You dumb ass...
Track Listing:
- Buttkong (2:57)
- The Flood (2:05)
- The Unit in Beavis' Pants (2:07)
- Dying in the Desert (3:33)
- The ATF (1:21)
- Dallas and Muddy (1:47)
- Searching for the T.V. (0:51)
- Beavis the Sperm (1:45)
- The Freeway Incident (1:35)
- DEFCON 4 (1:46)
- Judgorian Chant (0:37)
- Mr. President, We're Never Gonna Score (1:50)
- The Walk Into the Sunset (1:04)
- The Standoff (3:31)
- Aunque La Mona (0:54)
- Mucha Muchacha (written and performed by Juan Garcia Esquivel) (2:18)
Running Time: 30 minutes 27 seconds
Milan 73138-35787-2 (1996)
Music composed by John Frizzell. Conducted by Allan Wilson. Performed by The London Metropolitan Orchestra. Orchestrations by Frank Bennett and Emilie A. Bernstein. Recorded and mixed by Chris Dibble. Edited by Abby Treloggan. Mastered by Wally Traugott. Album produced by John Frizzell.
Home Page | Soundtracks | Soundtrack Reviews | Composers | Soundtrack Links
These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1998. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.