The mildly entertaining romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama features an equally take-it-or-leave-it soundtrack that mixes country, rock, and pop and excerpts of
George Fenton's score. Despite the cognitive dissonance that
Jewel's glossy cover of
Skynryd's title track causes, it's actually not a bad reworking of the Southern rock classic into an adult alternative single. Most of the album features winsome, perky, or feisty music by female artists, such
SHeDAISY's "Mine All Mine" and
Avril Lavigne's "Falling Down," who sound so similar to each other that it's hard to believe one song is considered contemporary country and the other alternative-leaning teen pop. In fact, aside from
Dolly Parton's "Marry Me," the most country-sounding tracks on the album are
Sheryl Crow's "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" and
Uncle Kracker's "To Think I Used to Love You (DJ Homicide Remix)." A flat version of "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" by
the Calling and
the Freestylers' out-of-place big-beat number "Weekend Song" are a couple of the misguided attempts at making the track listing diverse, but the album just ends up unfocused. Of course, Sweet Home Alabama will please anyone who liked the music in the movie, but the soundtrack really isn't successful on any other terms. ~ Heather Phares