There is no underestimating the cultural importance and significance of the 2000 film release The Beach. A film created by acclaimed director Danny Boyle, it told the tale of a paradise off the coast of Thailand and was based on a fictional book. The movie itself was notable for starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Carlyle, alongside many other important actors of the time. In addition, its stunning natural scenery was mindblowing and the location of the film is now a tourist mecca (Ko Phi Phi Le off the coast of Thailand). The film itself is a cult classic, and despite the fact that despite the fact it made a profit, it was not as successful as it could have been. Fans of the film no doubt will relate to the music soundtrack as well, which was just as important as the main film itself. This compilation was released to coincide with the main film itself and features many different musical artists who are noteworthy. Let’s take a listen to this release and we shall hear if it is any good. This is not available from Spotify at present, so our best bet is to follow along with it from YouTube, for the most part.

Snakeblood is a track specifically created for this film by EDM duo Leftfield for the opening scene of the film. It begins with a slow fade-in of some awesome electronic digitised sounds that are really Cyberpunk sounding. Soon enough, some warped electronic melodies and subsonic bass enter and this piece gets going nicely. A suspenseful listen, it quickly launches into some truly awesome beats and party vibes. Leftfield, although not really doing much around this time, are further cemented as EDM legends with this awesome tune. There is a definite Techno and Acid House vibe on this piece. Some liquid warped sounds enter, leading into the next section which sounds amazing and ethereal. This gradually builds up in intensity and sonic sound, and it sounds like one of Letfield’s real masterpieces of music, which frankly is a bonus. There is a breakdown in the midsection, with some fluttering stereo-panned sounds that are excellent. This eventually leads us into the second main section of the tune which has more banging beats and an excellent build-up of sounds throughout. If you remember the film well, you will note the interesting nature of the opening scene when this track is played along with. Eventually, the beats stop and the interesting melodies and textures begin to wrap up nicely. An excellent tune, and something that fans of EDM must hear. A great listening experience from start to finish. Well done Leftfield.

Pure Shores is next up and is a song by the girl group All Saints. It is a beautiful, ethereal and heavenly-sounding slice of some of the best Pop Music you will ever. The singing and emotion throughout this song are magical and amazing, and this is a fantastic listening experience for you to put headphones on and close your eyes, imagining a paradise. A fantastic winner of a song, this is dream Pop Music for those of you who value artistry and imagination in musical terms throughout. Produced by the genius producer William Orbit, this is an instantly recognisable and pleasant listening experience throughout. Nonetheless, this is one of the best Pop Music creations of 2000, just as the new millennium dawned. A very lush, romantic and brilliant-sounding song that sounds really surreal and unique. In the second half is a key change and a swell mixture of singing and sonic-based sounds. A really excellent piece of music that sounds incredibly pretty, sweet and beautiful. A great song that is full of passion and intensity. A must listen that fades out nicely at the end.

Porcelain is a track by Moby. It is a beautiful but very sad-sounding song. This is notably played at the moment in the film where the main characters are sitting on the beach gazing into its natural beauty. It enters with some super good beats and launches into a gorgeous and pretty piano and string-led ballad with some rather sad lyrics by Moby to match. This is likely about suicide or breaking up with a partner after feeling guilt and shame about one’s deeds. A super lovely tune nonetheless, this sounds miraculously beautiful. A really sweet and pretty tune, there is a key change in the second half that is very moving. All in all, another clever and well-picked track for this album. Obviously, director Danny Boyle was 100% clear about the music for this album. A tearjerker melodic piece that runs for four minutes in length, and which sounds absolutely beautifully sad. Nonetheless, a great listen. It ends with the strings and piano. Another must-hear from this soundtrack.

Voices is by Dario G and features Vanessa Quinones. It has a very weird intro, which sounds ghostly with some nicely stereo panned electronic sounds. A very unusual and interesting listening experience, it has some Eastern sounds throughout. A very pretty and lovely tune, this is a digital exploration of the Ambient sort through sound. Nonetheless, this is exciting and fantastic music to listen to. The music throughout is very pretty, sweet and ethereal throughout. It quickly launches into a smoothly mixed piece with a ukelele added into the mix that is played at the end of the film. Vanessa Quinones sings nicely on this song, and the music here is amazing and a real winner. This is another good selection for this amazing film soundtrack. Fortunately, the music suits this film very well and is a real joy to listen to. A pretty string section enters in the second half of this tune, and this piece of music will take the mind wandering elsewhere. Regardless, a very good listening experience. Some good vocal harmonies are present in this song, and this launches into tribal-styled chanting with some euphoric and joyous string sections. Nonetheless, a very great listen throughout. A very cool tune that sounds sweet and joyous. All in all, a ridiculously cool tune. It ends with chanting and clapping to conclude with.

8 Ball was another track specifically made for this film and is by the legendary EDM group Underworld. It sounds fantastic from the start, with palm muted and funky-sounding guitars that sound really great. This is a classic tune from Underworld that sounds spirited and sweet. Karl Hyde sings in a very simple yet quite pretty way. Some strange lyrics are present that are heavily Psychedelic and surreal. There are some quirky sounds in the background that are also worth mentioning. Nonetheless, this is a really great listening experience that sounds quite awesome. The mixture of fine musicianship and melodies by Underworld really stands tall on this tune. A muted set of horn-styled parts are present as well, which adds to the gorgeous melodicism of this song. All in all, a really great and lively tune that is yet another classic on this compilation. This is a world-class example of some of the finest EDM-styled music at the time. It sounds upbeat, original and gloriously good for what it is. A great and refreshing listening experience at hand. This is a brilliant and awesome song that is best designed for home listening, rather than playing in one’s car or for your night out. It is simply irresistable. There is a breakdown with some genuinely good lone basslines, followed by some interesting Fender Stratocaster guitar work. This sounds euphoric and fantastic throughout and is a real joy to hear. This is matched by piano and other sweet instrumentation. The guitars eventually return and this tune gets grooving away super well. This is a golden moment in the history of music and should be heard and embraced by more people out there. The lyrics are quirky but artistic. A super good piece of music that is the perfect mixture of electric guitars and EDM sensibilities. Although this is a fairly simple and above-average length listen time-wise, but still sounds as addictive today as it was on this compilation release. A cool tune, and something highly memorable from both the film and Underworld themselves. A fine tune, it ends with synth strings and the Fender Stratocasters chiming away nicely to fade out. A great song, period.

Spinning Away is by Sugar Ray. It begins with some pleasant instrumentation, including melodic Fender Stratocaster guitar parts. It launches into a soulful and euphoric tune that is gorgeously melodic. This is no doubt a fantastically underrated tune that sounds really cool. This is the sort of song that is perfect for sitting next to a campfire with your BFFs and staring at the night sky. A very pleasant and listenable tune, this has a gorgeous string section in the interlude. If you need a great and upbeat melodic song to play on a break in a tropical location, then this is your tune. This song perfectly fits this compilation very, very well. It launches into a smooth and sweet breakdown in the second half, which has a great deal of suspense throughout. A great, great listen. This sounds really extraordinarily good to listen to thoroughly and to enjoy. It ends with some smooth singing and enjoyable fragments of music. Very awesome.

Return Of Django is by Asian Dub Foundation featuring Harry Beckett and Simon De Souza. It launches into a fantastic Psychedelic and bass-heavy tune, with horns and a Reggae vibe thrown into the whole mix. This is an instrumental piece but still, it is a great pick for this film soundtrack. There is a breakdown near the middle, which is cool yet brief before this Dub/Reggae masterpiece goes on. There are some significant musical changes and surprises audibly throughout, which are really cool. A great, great instrumental. This is not a million miles away from Miles Davis’s more experimental kind of material, to be honest. Still, an original, dynamic and fantastic listen with a saxophone solo in the second half. A really essential listen for all music fans out there, this is a three-minute-long artistic and creative masterpiece. This is definitely worth hearing. Great and amazing music to hear.

On Your Own (Crouch End Broadway Mix) is a Blur remix for an interesting segment of the film itself. It launches off with some eerie Theremin-style sounds, and some gorgeous harmonies by singer Damon Albarn and enters into a fantastic, punchy and incredibly catchy Pop/Rock classic by Blur, obviously different to the original. The mixture of 1990s Pop/Rock sensibilities and DJ-styled remixing is insanely good. A really cool and explorational remix that is definitely worth your ears, this is fantastically monumental. A great, great remix. It reveals a leftfield sort of approach to Blur’s music which sounds really explorational. Another winner of a tune, this sounds really fantastic for the music at hand. Nonetheless, a great selection for this film’s soundtrack. Never a dull moment is present in this compilation. This builds up to an insane level of intensity at the end and finishes after three and a half minutes. Totally awesome.

Ye Ke Ye Ke (Hardfloor Edit) is by Mory Kante. It begins with muted melodies, and some traditional Roland TR-808/909-styled sounds and enters into quite a disappointing listening on this compilation. This is one of the lesser paid attention-to pieces on this compilation, and rightfully so. It does have its moments in the bridge section, with some cool Roland TB-303 sounds and styling throughout. Nonetheless, this music is okay but it sounds like a weird and awkward fusion of sound throughout. This gets more interesting in the midsection with some incredibly cool Roland Acid House-styled patches, although the African tribal mix-up of sound to go with it does not sound natural or great. In fact, it sounds very much forced. There are vocal melodies and a return to the beats in the second half, which continue this piece in an ordinary way. Nonetheless, this is okay but not something that is really worth putting on repeat. Fortunately, it ends just before four minutes have passed. Fairly average.

Woozy is by Faithless. It begins with some awesome electronic sounds and beats, launching into another strange piece with what sounds like a lady speaking an African dialect of some sort. This eventually goes into a smooth, dark and dirty piece of music that was played early on in the film. The tune eventually changes into a very awesome and memorable EDM-based tune that, although may have been forgotten over time, still sounds very dirty and interesting. Very, very cool to listen to. Some rather interesting high-end melodies enter as this track progresses very nicely. Nonetheless, a very interesting listening experience, albeit somewhat a dated listen. Beats, Acid House-styled sounds and a killer groove eventually enter and this tune launches into action. A good listen that illuminates the soundtrack and stylings of the film at hand. The weird vocals throughout make this a great sort of tune ideally to have sex to. The midsection has a glorious breakdown, with some unusual instrumentation throughout that sounds quite gritty. Soon enough, the vocals take centrepiece and articulate a sort of Netflix and Chill sort of vibe here, if you understand this musical concept. Nonetheless, a really cool and interesting musical listening experience. The second half launches back into the musical action at hand, and this interesting piece of music has some various and interesting changes throughout. A really good and forward-thinking tune for what this is. A nice pick for the film itself, just as the film indicates that there is lust throughout the film, without spoiling the film any further for you. After seven minutes, this all fades out and sounds super smooth in the process. Quite awesome.

Richard, It’s Business As Usual is by arranger Barry Adamson. It is an interesting listen that articulates the madness towards the end of the film and samples some of the characters’ voices in the film in a cut-up way. It sounds creepy and eerie throughout. If anything, it represents the madness and possible Paranoid Schizophrenia leanings of that particular section of the film, without giving any more of the plot anyway. Some string sections and digital bleeps intermittently enter, and this is followed by some pseudo-The Matrix film soundtrack sounds. The sampling of characters in the film cut up with some odd and unusual instrumentation makes for a psychotic experience throughout. If you have ever suffered from any sort of psychosis or mental illness, this will be a very close-to-the-bone listen for you. Eventually, towards the end, it gets more subtle but still remains very dark throughout. If indeed you have gone through a hellish experience in your own life, you will most definitely relate to this specific track. It ends after four minutes or so. Dark and scary.

Brutal is a track by New Order. It begins with some odd-sounding guitar and keyboard, launching into a Fender guitar-based tune. New Order are legends in the music industry as well. This tune sounds dark and emotional throughout. This is an okay song but is neither the best selection for this compilation nor from New Order. Life can be very brutal for anyone out there, and this tune is designed to articulate that. Nonetheless, this is okay but by no means fantastic throughout. It sounds musically a bit off. This is a lot like Joy Division in its style and musical leanings throughout instead of New Order. You’d be best off skipping this rather negative tune that is lacking in focus. Even if you don’t skip it, it is difficult to get through. Still, given the storyline and context of this film, this does make some good sense to hear. A weird listen that could have easily been replaced by a better track on this film’s soundtrack, however. It gets loud and chaotic towards the end before it is all mixed out, leaving some percussion with a sweep delay to fade out.

Lonely Soul is a piece by Unkle featuring The Verve singer Richard Ashcroft, taken from the Psyence Fiction collaboration album released in 1998. It begins with some more dark and interesting sounds before Richard Ashcroft gets singing well in its inimitable way. This is neither a happy nor pleasant listening experience, just like the parent album it was taken off. Richard Ashcroft articulates the moodiness and sadness of being alive and alone. This is also very lengthy at nearly nine minutes in length. This is neither a happy nor consistently good musical listening experience, and quite frankly those who were making the film should have picked something better for this experience. In any case, this music is okay but there is nothing overly exciting or phenomenal throughout. A good example of where quality control on a film soundtrack should have been more cautiously exercised. Nonetheless, a really long drag to get through on a listening basis. This doesn’t exactly articulate loneliness, just a bad listening experience per se. There is a breakdown near the middle of this tune, which sounds deep, dark and disturbing throughout. The midsection goes very quiet and has some unusual cut-up sounds and beats throughout. This is designed to be bad LSD trip-styled music, which explains why the parent album (Psyence Fiction) was not popular in the first place. A real musical drag and something not at all special here, this reaches a climax with some awful and dreary-sounding string sections by themselves. Nonetheless, a sad and mournful listen that sounds like an awkward musical moment in the history of music. Soon enough, real-sounding cut-up breakbeats and Richard Ashcroft return to finish this all off. Not the best listening experience throughout, but at least the second half of this track is a bit lighter sounding. If you need to skip ahead, please do so. This is neither decent nor great, however. Towards the end, the beats conclude, leaving just the moody string sections to go. It eventually concludes with string sections, not the greatest track ever at all. Depressing.

Beached is a track by Orbital and Angelo Badalamenti. It is the final track on this album. It begins with some electronic washes and the sampling of the character Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio’s character) speaking throughout. This does sound really cool and exciting, and it is a great listening experience. A really cool flashback to the film itself, and it sounds incredibly decent. This is exactly what one needs to hear to get inspired to book that trip to a tropical getaway, be it Thailand (where the film was based) or elsewhere. This is a fantastic electronic banger of a tune that makes a great deal of sense to fans of the film. It is simply excellent and beautiful and brings back some memories of this awesome film The Beach, which is by now a cult classic in movie history. Irresistibly pleasant to listen to, this track is yet another reminder of how historically important and excellent The Beach movie is. Appealing to both newer and older fans, this film and soundtrack will forever be enshrined as a year 2000 classic. This tune wraps up things very nicely, with some clever and pretty musical textures throughout. This tune is definitely worth your time and ears, a great and upbeat vibe is present on this track. Never a dull moment here, and something to put a smile on your face throughout. A great, great instrumental. It ends with more sampled vocals by the character Richard, and he illuminates what paradise truly is: a state of mind rather than a location. An awesome conclusion to a mostly good film soundtrack that supports The Beach film very nicely. It winds down nicely after six minutes and sounds really cool to fade out. Brilliant.

For the most part, except for a couple of tracks on this soundtrack, this is an essential listening experience for any film buff who has seen the film The Beach and who understands and loves what the film is about. One would be best to watch the film first before listening to this decent film soundtrack, all the same. Despite the fact that it is only really available on YouTube or on CD formats, it is a good and enjoyable listen. Should you listen to this soundtrack? If you have seen The Beach already and you love what that film is about, then this is a must. Even casual music fans will enjoy this release, no doubt.

A mostly good selection of tracks to support an amazing film.

7/10