Soundtrack Albums Require Support, Money to Succeed

Not having a major studio’s support hasn’t kept small, independently distributed films from having an impact at the box office this summer. Indeed, the imaginative, low-budget horror film “The Blair Witch Project” has done as well at the box office as a number of the season’s would-be blockbusters.

But there is one place where the big studio releases have a decisive advantage: CD stores.

Simply put, it’s impossible for a production company with limited resources to license the sort of music a major studio can. And that makes a world of difference on soundtrack albums, where having big stars can mean the difference between the top of the charts and the bottom of the remainders bin.

Take the soundtrack album from “Runaway Bride” (Columbia/Soundtrax), for example. It would be hard to imagine a song that sums up the restless, romantic nature of Julia Roberts’ character as aptly as U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” It’s equally hard to imagine such a song coming cheap.

But that’s what we expect of such a soundtrack--something big and familiar. So even when the performances themselves are new, the music on “Runaway Bride” is safely tethered by familiar faces, including Eric Clapton (“Blue Eyes Blue”), Shawn Colvin (“Never Saw Blue Like That”) and the Dixie Chicks (the delightful “Ready to Run”).

By contrast, you’d have to be a pretty devoted college rock fan to be familiar with the music on the “Blair Witch Project” soundtrack, “Josh’s Blair Witch Mix” (Artisan). Ostensibly the contents of a “mix tape” left in character Joshua Leonard’s car stereo, the album offers selections by such creepy, cultish bands as Laibach, Bauhaus and Type O Negative.

It’s not quite the stuff of which hit albums are made, but it does create a mood. Indeed, there’s something so oddly out-of-time about the music here that even listeners who don’t normally like dark-and-arty alt-rock will be drawn in by the sense of atmosphere it evokes.

Atmosphere is barely a consideration with the rap-heavy soundtrack to “Deep Blue Sea” (Warner Bros.). Instead, this is a pop album masquerading as a movie score. OK, so it does have LL Cool J--who not only appears in the film, but executive-produced the soundtrack--offering a plot synopsis in the form of the ominously catchy “Deepest Bluest (Shark’s Fin).”

But the rest of the album is straight hip-hop pop, with LL doing his darndest to match the pop appeal Will Smith has had with the “Men in Black” and “Wild Wild West” albums. Given that Uncle L.’s sound is generally harder than Smith’s, it’s not surprising that there’s more edge to the music on “Deep Blue Sea.” But that doesn’t mean it lacks for hooks, as Chantel Jones’ soulful remake of “I Can See Clearly Now” and Natice’s itchy “I Found Another Man” make plain.

A big-budget soundtrack doesn’t have to rely on established stars for its pop appeal. For instance, even though the soundtrack to “Mystery Men” (Interscope) boasts a smattering of genuine hits--including Smash Mouth’s ebullient “All Star” and the Trammps’ immortal “Disco Inferno”--some of its most endearing moments come from lesser stars: John Oszajca and Jill Sobule.