28/10/2025
SPIN OF THE DAY - Haven’t posted in a while, even though I’ve still been picking up albums. Here’s a recent acquisition, and the soundtrack to the 2001 film ROCK STAR, although I had to go the “unofficial” route to get a copy on vinyl, as it’s never been released on the format otherwise. Is it a somewhat cheesy movie? Perhaps, but I love it anyway, especially having lived through that time in music, and very much being around that scene at the time. Some actual real life rock stars are featured in roles in the film, almost all of whom I’ve met at one time or another via various jobs I previously held. Bassist Jeff Pilson (Foreigner, Dokken), drummer Jason Bonham (Bonham, Foreigner, Black Country Communion) and guitarist Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Labek Society) are all members of Steel Dragon, while drummer Blas Elias (Slaughter), guitarist Nick Catanese (Black Label Society) and guitarist Brian Vander Ark (The Verve Pipe) are all part of tribute band Blood Pollution. Third Eye Blind singer Stephan Jenkins also appears as “Bradley”, who the guys in Blood Pollution get to replace Mark Wahlberg’s character of Chris Cole when they kick him out of his own group, and Myles Kennedy (The Mayfield Four, Slash, Alter Bridge) shows up as “Thor”, who Wahlberg plucks from the crowd to replace him during his final Steel Dragon performance. Ralph Saenz (aka Michael Starr) of Steel Panter additionally has a cameo as another singer auditioning for Steel Dragon right before Chris Cole does.
Aside from the classic era tracks from KISS, INXS, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue and Ted Nugent, as well as new originals from Everclear and The Verve Pipe that comprise the soundtrack, the tunes used for the fictional band of Steel Dragon are fantastic. Since there’s not a lot of information out there on who actually performed on them - other than the lead vocals, which were done by Steelheart frontman Miljenko Matijevic for Mark Whalberg, and Jeff Scott Soto, who provided the ones done by original Steel Dragon singer Bobby Beers - my best guess is that most of the musicians who appeared in the film also played them. To my ears, it sounds like it, at least. The musical highlight track, “We All Die Young” was first done by Steelheart, but the version here is superior to the original. Among the rest, they were were written by some other notable alumni. “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll”, is of course a Rainbow cover, penned by Ronnie James Dio & Ritchie Blackmore. “Stand Up And Shout” was written by Sammy Hagar, who later recored his own version. “ Livin’ The Life” was penned by former Autograph frontman Steve Plunkett, and Player frontman Peter Beckett. “Blood Pollution” came from former Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez, and “Wasted Generation” was written by the combination of noted song doctor Desmond Child, and the Popoff brothers, A. Jay and Jeremy, of the band Lit. Heard in the film, but sadly not appearing on the released soundtrack was a cover of “Reckless”, originally written and performed by guitarist Kane Roberts as part of his band Phoenix Down. A version of the song was recorded, though, as I have a copy of it on mp3, that was leaked.
I’ve always hoped for an official version of this soundtrack to come out on vinyl, and I’m surprised one hasn’t (yet). It might have something to do with the label that put it out, Priority Records. They were more known for Rap and Dance artists, although they did have some Rock and Metal acts in their roster. Either way, just not a big enough player in the business otherwise. In fact, you can’t even currently find the soundtrack on any of the major streaming services, even though it used to be on them. That said, even just a release of the Steel Dragon tracks (all of them) would make a prefect Record Store Day release. Perhaps someday, but in the interim, I has to settle for this unofficial version which came out in a very limited run last year. Took a bit of doing to find someone who still had a copy, but I finally did, and got it for a fair price, too. Sound quality wise it’s decent if not outstanding, but it’ll do.
