Drive: Re-scored | Revisited
I'm a big fan of The 1975. I recently had a newsletter come through about their new single "Medicine", little did I know it had been used as part of a soundtrack makeover for Nicolas Winding Refn's masterpiece "Drive".
I was sceptical to see how this would work, as the original soundtrack for Drive is one of the most fundamental parts of the film, it builds the pace and captures the moment in its own unique style unlike a lot of films I have seen before. My scepticism changed, once I saw this transformation was being made by Radio 1's Zane Lowe, and that it was being produced under Radio 1's banner. I have a lot of respect for Zane Lowe and his backing for various artists of all genres and I trust his decisions and taste when it comes to music. His musical tastes shine through in this film and it almost changes the feel of certain aspects of the film entirely, and not in a bad way either.
While some songs I feel take it out of its neon soaked, 80's vibe, it still does the job. I knew as soon as I heard The 1975 were advertising the rescore, their song would be used in one of my favourite scenes in the film, which is when "The Driver" takes Benicio and Irene for a trip down by the river. Again everything fit into place so well, the dramatic/emotional scenes still had the slow atmospheric synth/ballads whilst the action scenes had more of the pumping, yet mixed, heavy drum and bass sounds.
It's rare to see a film which originally, in my eyes, was near perfect, to actually become something quite different just with changing its soundtrack. It makes you realise how important film scores are in the films we watch. When I look back at a lot of my top films I realise I own the soundtracks for pretty much all of them: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, Road to Perdition, all have pieces of music which you can specifically link to a scene and visualise it almost like it was being played right in front of you. The emotional impact that it can have is astounding, my mother still struggles to listen to Steelers Wheel's "Stuck In The Middle With You" after Tarantino decided to use it in one of his most renowned torture scenes in Reservoir Dogs.
This is why I think Zane Lowe and the artists associated took a bold step in changing one of the things that put the cherry on top for this film, and props to all of them for actually doing an amazing job.
If you want to check out the re-scored version of the film, head over to BBC iPlayer, it is only available for the next week or so, though I am sure they will release it again at some other point:
Click me for fucking awesomeness
And while your at it, if you want to have a listen to songs included in this re-score, head here:
I highly recommend you check out both, it might even introduce you to some pretty fine new artists.
Props again to Zane Lowe and the artists involved.
