I was born in the South sometimes I have a big mouth when I see something I don't like...

First off, I never saw Cars. Odd, then eh, having the soundtrack? No, since for this Pixar flick the soundtrack included a top-20 pop and country hit, lite-country stars Rascal Flatts and their version of (irony aside) “Life Is A Highway”. The CD itself, though has a dual personality – roughly half music-artist contributions and half Randy Newman’s score. Sheryl Crow’s “Real Gone” starts things off with a seemingly happy tune that I felt listening to the lyrics to be a commentary on the Dixie Chicks bashing affair – who she’s worked with before – but I may be wrong. Rascal Flatts does an adequate workman’s version of Tom Cochrane’s “Life Is A Highway”, though it’s undetectably any more “country” that way. Brad Paisley has two songs here, both which could be left-offs from his last album, though entertaining nonetheless. “Behind The Clouds” is wistfully dreamy, while “Find Yourself” is mildly inspiring. James Taylor submits a by-the-book soft-rock of “Our Town”, while John Mayer’s version of “Route 66” is eclipsed here by Chuck Berry’s version, as well as being way too long (though probably I can see it as the “credits rolling” piece). And along with Chuck Berry, the set includes two other oldies, which are the true gems of the piece, the Chords fast doo-wop pre-rock of “Sh-Boom”, and Hank Williams’ flawless “My Heart Would Know”. Both of these, of course, have homes on a zillion other CDs, so their inclusion here is no real revelation, and reveals the B-team status of the newer material. As for Randy Newman’s score, I’m sure it serves its purpose in the film, which its pseudo-country tinges and racing-fast pace. However in purely audio medium, most of the pieces are disjointed or too short for a sit-down listen. I’m sure “Life Is a Highway” will show up on a RF hits set sometime if you didn't get it on a late version of their Me And My Gang album, and while the rest of the tracks (Crow’s especially) deserve a listen, Cars is certainly a collection for Pixar fans or “buyer bewares”.

Grade: C
Best Cuts: “Sh-Boom”, “My Heart Would Know”
Weakest Links: “Route 66” (John Mayer’s), the score

Cars (Soundtrack) hit #6 US pop albums.
"Life Is A Highway" by Rascal Flatts hit #7 pop singles and #18 country.
"Sh-Boom" hit #2 pop and #5 R&B (in 1954)

Buy: You can pick up a copy of Cars (soundtrack) at websites like here and here.

And for some clips...first off Sheryl Crow's "Real Gone"....



And here's Rascal Flatt's take on "Life Is A Highway"...