Funny People

So I don't know if any of you have seen the film Funny People, the latest from Judd Apatow that opened last month and stars Adam Sandler as a comedian. Yeah, I know, it seems like a real stretch for him, truly a role that required him to push his artistic abilities. I guess the hitch is that he's a comedian who's terminally ill. That's a role I wouldn't want to fulfill in real life. I haven't seen it either, but looking at the reviews, critics are all over the place on it.

The soundtrack seems to cater to an older crowd, with about the newest artist to hit the music scene represented by Andrew Bird. From there you have you travel back a bit to Wilco, after which you get to folks like John Lennon, James Taylor, Warren Zevon, and Neil Diamond (whose song is at least an early take of We, from his 2005 album 12 Songs, and which you can hear below). Not that makes that fact makes it an unenjoyable album. About the only song here that I cringe at and have to skip over is Adam Sandler's cover of the John Lennon song Real Love. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy me some Lunchlady Land or The Chanukah Song, but listening to Sandler try to play a song from the serious end is kind of painful. Funny as all get out comedian, not so great heartfelt singer. Here's the entire track listing:

1. Paul McCartney - Great Day
2. Coconut Records - Wires
3. Robert Plant And The Strange Sensation - All The King's Horses
4. James Taylor - Carolina In My Mind (Live)
5. Warren Zevon - Keep Me In Your Heart
6. Adam Sandler - Real Love (Live)
7. Neil Diamond - We (early take)
8. Wilco with Andrew Bird - Jesus, Etc. (Live Summer '08)
9. Adam Sandler - George Simmons Soon Will Be Gone
10. Coconut Records - I Am Young
11. Larry Goldings - Memory (From Cats)
12. Warren Zevon - Numb As A Statue
13. Ringo Starr - Photograph
14. John Lennon - Watching The Wheels (Acoustic)

Highlights include (besides the Diamond track, my favorite), the live cut from Bird and Wilco, the interesting selection from the musical Cats, and the closing cut, an acoustic demo by John Lennon of Watching The Wheels, a song that was released after his death in 1981.

Neil Diamond - We (Early Take) : Funny People Original Movie Soundtrack

Visit the movie's official website and the soundtrack's label, Concord Records.