The music's better than the film - you'd better believe it

Compilation soundtrack's can be a bit hit and miss but here are two which have got the balance just about right.

Nigel Bell

Music from Vanilla Sky
Director Cameron Crowe not only has an eye for film but an ear for good music.

Indeed the soundtrack to his latest movie is probably better than the picture itself.

Having said that, the inclusion of tracks like Radiohead's Everything In Its Right Place, really work in the film and standout on this CD.

It's a mix of the old and the new. Classic tracks like Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill mixing with new bands like Red House Painters.

Just as the film covers a multitude of genres, so does the soundtrack. You have REM alongside The Monkees alongside Leftfield.

It's nice to give a big thumbs up to Paul McCartney who comes along with a winning song in the form of the Vanilla Sky title track. It's actually better than the majority of tracks on his new album Drivin' Rain.

Chuck in Bob Dylan, Chemical Brothers and Jeff Buckley and you can see this is an eclectic mix but one which works a treat.

Music from Vanilla Sky is released on Reprise Records 9362-48109-2

Don't mess with the Rat Pack

Music from Ocean's Eleven is, if anything, even more rewarding than Vanilla Sky in the way composer David Holmes mixes music from the 60s with modern day.

While he puts his own twist on the lounge scene the listener might be shocked by the early inclusion of rap in Handsome Boy Modelling School (featuring Trugoy from De La Soul).

Retro is swiftly restored, however.

Watch out for lesser know standards by Perry Como (Papa Loves Mambo) and Elvis Presley (A Little Less Conversation).

Meanwhile, Holmes mixes his score with compositions by Percy Faith and Quincy Jones.

The tracks are linked by dialogue from the film so George Clooney lovers are in for a treat.

In that sense Ocean's Eleven is very much in the Pulp Fiction/Reservoir Dogs vein. Possibly not as immediate as those albums, in terms of known songs, it nevertheless stands up well.

Music from the Motion Picture Ocean's Eleven is released on Warner Sunset/Warner Bros. 9362-48112-2