Driving on with the Speed Racer fanaticism I picked up the score CD. And let me tell ya, it was no easy feat tracking this thing down locally. I went to five different stores including smaller independent record stores like Streetlight and Rasputin, to big boxes like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. I was ready to give up, but remembered that the Borders nearby also carried media items and I ended up with the only copy in the store. Sure, I could have easily logged on to Amazon and ordered it, but damn it - Sometimes when you have a piece of music in your head you just have to play it!!

I have to admit, I wasn’t really paying attention to the music when I was viewing the film. I easily recognized the Speed Racer fanfare played through key moments, but otherwise the visuals themselves were so overwhelming loud that you didn’t really mind the music… at all. That is until the very end.

During the ending credits featuring ChimChim the monkey performing various cute human tasks like driving, the music played was a very upbeat & catchy remix called “Go Speed Racer Go” by Ali Dee and the Deekompressors. It features samples from the original tv show (both Japanese and American) along with rapping in various languages. It’s something you want to dance and/or drive very fast to and is what originally sold me on obtaining the score CD.

Unfortunately it’s not featured on the score CD at all. You can find it on a limited CD single of the same name and artist. I was saddened, but I did end up getting it anyway - On my Verizon eNV mobile phone of all places. What’s worse is that I can’t play the song on any other system as the data file is registered to my phone only. Grr….

On a brighter note, immediately after that sequence in the credits there played a big band/surf version of the original theme which featured the chorus samples “Go Speed Racer” and “Mach GoGoGo” set to the arrangement. This is simply awesome and a delight to cruise to in my Firebird!

I’m not trying to discount the rest of the score which is actually quite good. And I don’t know if it was planned, but you can tell by the styling that it’s a Wachowski Brothers film as there are tenses that are all too reminiscent of the Matrix score. It does work very well for a movie featuring lots of fast movements such as driving. And hell, it works great for driving on the freeway!

Hats off to Michael Giacchino, who is also known for his work on the Medal of Honor game series. He put together a great ensemble of work in “Speed Racer.”  As it turns out, the score finishes at a distant second place to the overwhelming amount of eye-candy that is featured.<>

<>If you’re a fan of Speed Racer, you’d be happy to pit and fuel up on this CD. Otherwise you’d do best to run a more laps.   [rd] - 5.22.2008