Search - Soundtrack :: Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Precious and Few

PAUL A. RACIOPPIJR | BROOKLYN, NEW YORK United States | 01/22/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"While the "Precious" soundtrack does not resonate the way the previous reviewer thought it should have, it does have its few moments of greatness, and I mean greatness. Jean Carn's 1979 classy disco smash is one of those great moments, adding sophistication to a tragic drama that was anything but. Any man who puts a hand, let alone something else, on his daughter or son, will simply burn in hell forever! "Was that all it was...a way to pass the time" is a phenomenal vocal by Carn, and one of the great moments of her beautiful career ( her song "I'm In Love Once Again" is a zenith for her, and for me! ), but its placement on the sdtk was a metaphorical way of showing how nonchalant a pig of a father can pass his time. Phyllis Hyman's "Be Careful (How You Treat My Love)" title would have sent the same message, but the meaning is slightly off in the lyrics. "Love is the Message" is from 1973 by MFSB, and is integral in its title. Sunny Gale's cover of the 1933 song "Did You Ever See A Dream Walking?" is a pick-me-up for Precious, as she escapes in a dream, never wanting to wake up to the hell she is living, and Labelle's signature sound on their old and new vocals ( It Took A Long Time - from their 1975 LP "Nightbirds", and "System" from their sensational 2008 comeback CD, Back to Now )never sounded fresher. Personally, if I were putting the soundtrack together, I would have chosen 2008's "Truth Will Set You Free" from Labelle's 2008 CD, but that didn't happen. Mahalia Jackson's "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" has the "wear in the vinyl" crackling sound to resonate the cracks in Precious's world and (moreso) her heart. While I gave this CD three stars, I did so only because I felt the soundtrack needed a few more songs, as well as a few more "messages" sent to fathers who never should have been fathers through song titles that "give it to them" a lot more. I would have placed Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's 1979 track, "God Don't Like Ugly" on this disc without batting an eyelash, just to stick it in every bastards face who coule even think of doing this to their daughter! And Stephanie Mills' 1985 track, "Stand Back" would have added another nail for these "mice" (not men) to swallow. The mother needed a message as well, because love was definitely not hers for the giving. Cheers to the women strong enough to place these tragic memories in their past, escape, and move on to the love that is out there waiting for them. It is. Believe that God wants that for you. And it will find you. God Bless them. Paul, Brooklyn, New York."