I Am Sam (soundtrack)

Covering the Beatles is hardly a novel idea, but you’d be surprised by how few people have done it well. This soundtrack, which concentrates mostly on the Fab Four’s mid-to-late period work, is heavy on star power (Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, The Wallflowers) but doesn’t always shine. Rufus Wainwright (“Across The Universe”) and Ben Folds (“Golden Slumbers”) get by on unabashed schmaltz, pumping enough emotion into the songs to make them their own. Of course, no one can out-schmaltz Nick Cave, who turns “Let It Be” into a grave pop gospel. V2 egregiously packs the record’s second half with its own artists, though, to be fair, their charges provide as many highlights (Chocolate Genius’ aching, swirling “Julia” and Grandaddy’s appropriately bug-eyed “Revolution”) as lowlights (The Black Crowes’ whiney, plodding “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”). Ultimately, it would’ve been more interesting to hear some artists take real chances with their interpretations of these well-worn classics, but it must be said, with songs this good, it’s pretty hard to fuck them up.