I've said this before about compilation albums. In this time of streaming, they have sort of lost their purpose. Then again, you might think of them as mini-playlists. Back in the 90s, the compilation albums were a good way of discovering new music, but also, owning music was quite important as you couldn't listen to music you didn't have in some physical form. Of course a lot of music was on cassettes, minidiscs or CD-Roms, copied from friends. Anyhow, Forrest Gump was a great compilation as a teenager when I became interested in the music of the 60s and 70s. Just like the film progresses in chronological order from rock n' roll era eventually to the early 80s, so does the soundtrack. It wasn't just music, but a kind of music history lesson at the same time. Or, at least an American music lesson. Afterall, the film focuses specifically on American history.
I really liked the film when it came out and I think a big part of it was the music. It came out just when I was beginning to become interested in old-school music after my metal and hard rock phase. Looking back, this album doesn't necessarily include the best music from the era, probably because personally I've always preferred British music to American, but it's still a good compilation of hits. This album also includes hits from artists, who I wasn't that much into at the time but have grown to love only later, such as Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin. When I was younger, it was just all about rock and I didn't really understand what people saw in genres like soul or folk. From today's perspective that seems completely mad as I've perhaps even grown a bit tired of most rock music.
I also really liked Alan Silvestri's original score for the film. I've never taken lessons on playing the piano, but it was fairly simple to find the sounds on the piano that I know from the guitar and play some simple things. One song that I learned to play as a kid was the Forrest Gump Suite. I've tried to remind myself more recently, but unfortunately I can't really remember it anymore. I don't have a piano at hand so it's difficult to practice.
Back when I was listening to this album as a teenager, many of these songs were just individual songs of the flower power era. I didn't really know that much at all about the artists and bands on the compilation. Since then, in more recent years, I've listened to the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, I've written numerous blogs and most importantly, I've made my own massive playlist of classic songs that is in chronological order from the 50s to today. These have made me quite a connoisseur in rock music history and now that I'm listening to this compilation, it is much easier to put these songs in context with what else was being released at the time. All of the above projects have just convinced me more about just how special the 60s and 70s were in terms of music. Back then, pop music was just a very young genre, but so many different styles were formed and there was so much innovation in the air that it hasn't been defeated since. I don't think it's even possible anymore. Sure, there are possibilities to make some innovative and new sounds, but still pretty much all music nowadays sounds a bit retro in one way or another. It would've been strange to grow old from the 40s to now with the music changing so much within your lifetime.
I don't really have that much to say about this album. These are songs that need no introductions. The concept of compilation soundtrack is probably a bit outdated now, but it was a very relevant concept for me personally while growing up.
Listen to the album on Spotify.
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