This is a wonderful colletion of gritty soul and R&B with a bluesy edge, the arrangements, which include trumpet and two saxophones, are muscular but never overblown. Teenaged Joe Cocker-soundalike Andrew Strong is terrific on powerful soul stompers like "Mustang Sally", "In The Midnight Hour", and "Take Me To The River", and Angeline Ball and the predominantly female backing group share the lead vocals on equally great renditions of "Chain Of Fools" and "I Can't Stand The Rain".

This is one of my favorite soul records. It is beautifully executed and sooo well arranged, the production wisely hasn't sanded away all the grit, and all the vocalist are thoroughly convincing. Not the smoothest of soul, but that's fine by me....I like my soul bluesy ;o)
"The Commitments" soundtrack is not a novelty project, but rather a totally believable collection of some of the toughest soul and R&B-interpretations ever.
4 1/2 stars - highly recommended.


Dublin soul for party nights   March 22, 2004
Andy Millward (Broxbourne, Herts, UK)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Just as the film made a lively job of translating Roddy Doyle's homespun tale of Dublin squalor alleviated through dreams, so the music to accompany the film is a collection of spunky soul covers delivered with panache and (in view of the early amateurishness portrayed in the film) fine musicianship.

In fact, this collection is far more than soul - it's great party music to be enjoyed totally on its merits. Andrew Strong roars these songs with a voice coming up from his bootstraps - a male Janis Joplin singing classic soul songs with feeling and raw emotion. And in truth, it's very difficult not to be carried along, tap your feet, sing along and have a great time in the process.

Moral of the tale: Have fun and don't take life too seriously!


Quality soul for a good time   March 22, 2004
Andy Millward (Broxbourne, Herts, UK)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Not quite as dynamic as the first volume, but still pretty good. Perhaps the song selection isn't quite so effective, but the results are strong throughout. Good time music with the soul label scores again!


A good followup to commitments number 1   January 13, 2002
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

After listening to commitments number 1, and watching the movie lots of times I was had specific ideas on what i expected from a follow-up album. This comes pretty close. Some old favourates of any one who likes soul appear here, but the band give something of themsleves into the recording that make this album a must for anyone who has number 1 in their collection.


addictive listening   March 21, 2001
17 out of 18 found this review helpful

After watching the film, many times, felt compelled to purchase the cd, glad I did - brilliant listening, totally addictive, and with a unique sound of their own, have sinced copied it for the car. Tried to purchase Andrew Strong's debut cd but with no luck, still waiting