The soundtrack to the remake of Disney's classic generation gap switcheroo Freaky Friday definitely reflects the musical tastes of the movie's teenage girl instead of her mother, with whom she trades bodies. Crafting a soundtrack that reflected both mother and daughter's favorite songs might have been a more clever move, but packing the album with teen pop, punk, and modern rock was probably a more marketable one. Like most teen-movie soundtracks,
Freaky Friday is something of a mixed bag, offering a lot of familiar songs and some real standouts. Falling into the second category are tracks like
American Hi-Fi's
Green Day-esque "The Art of Losing,"
the Donnas' snotty "Backstage,"
Andrew W.K.'s anthemic "She Is Beautiful," and
Joey Ramone's cover of "What a Wonderful World," which somehow manages to remain true to his musical heritage as well as
Louis Armstrong's better-known version. Most of the other covers on this soundtrack will sound familiar:
Simple Plan,
Lillix, and
Bowling for Soup turn in versions of
the Turtles' "Happy Together,"
the Romantics' "What I Like About You," and
Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time," respectively. Likewise, the feisty girl rock that populates the album -- meant to reflect the
Avril Lavigne-esque lead in the movie, who has her own rock band -- runs the gamut. Aside from the aforementioned
Donnas, the album also offers up songs from several other female artists, ranging from the rather teen poppy "Ultimate" by Lindsay Lohan to
Lash's sneering, strutting "Beauty Queen."
The Halo Friendlies' "Me vs. the World" and Christina Vidal's "Take Me Away" sound made from the same mold, but all in all,
Freaky Friday is a serviceable soundtrack. ~ Heather Phares