CD Reviews: Dukes of Hazzard, Iggy Pop

CD Reviews: Dukes of Hazzard, Iggy Pop

The Dukes of Hazzard 'Original Motion Picture Soundtrack': Aidin Vaziri | Let's face it, nobody is buying this for the crusty redneck anthems by Molly Hatchet or the Charlie Daniels Band. Any self-respecting Lynyrd Skynyrd fan wouldn't go near an album that includes the James Gang's "Funk No. 49." And what about '90s stalwarts the Blues Explosion and Southern Culture on the Skids? Their fans don't have the kind of disposable income that supports train- wreck compilations, and they don't really have that many fans to start with anyway. No, the main selling point here is Jessica Simpson (left), just as the only reason people are going to pay to see the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie in theaters is not so much for the comedic gunpowder of Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott but to see her in those small denim shorts on a really big screen. For what it's worth, Simpson gives Nancy Sinatra's signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walking" a stunning demographic-crunching makeover, complete with futurist hip-hop beat, brink-of-orgasm vocals and a whole new middle part that veers from new-country fiddles to a wholly unnecessary rap bit with a verse about Uncle Jesse. That's why people are buying this album. Well, either that or Willie Nelson's bestiality jokes.

Iggy Pop 'A Million In Prizes: The Anthology': Aidin Vaziri | Considering that Iggy Pop's last good album was "Lust for Life," released in 1977, the entire second disc of this 37-track compilation only serves to poke huge Swiss cheese-style holes in the streetwalking cheetah's legacy. For every blast of primitive punk brilliance like "The Passenger" or the Stooges' "No Fun," there is a grizzly rebuttal like the cola jingle "Real Wild Child (Wild One)" or -- horror of horrors -- "Candy," the 1990 duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52's. It's like engaging in a sweltering one-night stand and waking up with a ring around the finger and a poodle in the backseat. And that's before suffering through the DVD, "Live From Avenue B," recorded during Grandpa Punk's ill-advised introspective period.