Review of The Big Game (Original Musical Event Soundtrack)
On March 10th, one of the most unusual album decisions was released: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz officially released an album version of a musical they premiered on their podcast stream. The Big Game, the show’s musical about football and the game aptly called The Big Game, was produced by JT Daly and was released under the name The Big Game (Original Musical Event Soundtrack). In this post, I will give my notes about each of the 11 tracks and then my overall review given everything I noted.
As a note, it will be ineligible for my end of the year
album reviews. I do not consider soundtrack
albums in my year end albums, so this album cannot be included there. As such, I opted to review it as a blog post
instead.
1. Introduccion
a.
I’m slightly confused by this intro but sure lol
b.
Hahaha Omaha variant
c. They had to get Skipper involved somehow
2.
Nothing Stops Football
a.
I like the intro production to this song
b.
Dan isn’t that good of a singer, but the lyrics
are perfect for him
c.
He actually sounds better on a lot of the high
notes
d.
It gets even more appropriate lyrically for him
e.
This song is pretty catchy, instrumentals were
really good
3.
All In
a.
Billy is a natural on this track
b.
This sounds kind of like 80’s music mixed with
NFL theme music
c.
I really love this song. It’s catchy and has incredibly well mixed
d.
There are some awesome cameos on this. Amin made me smile and laugh
4.
Discordant Harmony #2 (in B#)
a.
Knew the one that was “B#” had to be Stugotz
since it was probably too out of tune to match any key (note that B# isn’t a
legit key, that is actually C)
b.
Stugotz crying about the Jets…just what I needed
in song form. So funny
c.
Props to JT Daly on this one. There were parts that Stugotz sounded in tune
5.
Back in My Day
a.
I thought the tie-in between the two tracks was
impressive
b.
They chose good instrumentals and sound for Greg
Cote. The big band sound is perfect for
the lyrics and his singing style
c.
I am really impressed with what they did with
this song lyrically in particular. Fans
of Cote are going to be enamored by this song.
d.
The coughing makes it hahaha
6.
New American Interlude (Pathos)
a.
Tony and JuJu as an interlude is kind of funny
b.
I was a bit lost about what JuJu is even talking
about and suddenly he’s talking about football
c.
JuJu seems to be embracing in his inner Ricky
Williams
7.
The Playoffs
a.
Is this Mike?
I didn’t even recognize him at first
b.
I think it’s interesting how this one is
done. Sounds like a blend of something
from early Killers and “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
c.
The Miller Lite endorsement is probably up there
among funny product placements with songs along with “Fancy Like” and “Nikes on
My Feet”
d.
Roy’s appearance is funny and works well
e.
The harmonies are mixed very well in this
song. I really enjoy any time everyone
is singing, which I never thought I would say that
f.
Immunized quarterback line is funny
g.
The autotune there around 3 minutes in was a bit
off-putting
8.
G.O.A.T.
a.
Oh Chris Cote (presented by Sheets and Giggles)
b.
Wow they have a bunch of singers doing this
ballad start
c.
Roy with the bass part didn’t quite sound right in
the verse due to a difference of keys, but he sounded among the best parts
d.
The self-awareness of Dan and his misevaluation
of Brady gets me so good
e.
Yikes, that’s in tune for Stugotz?
f.
I liked the songs as harmonies more than the
individual songs honestly
9.
Take Me There
a.
Witty and Jess are perfect with their banter
b.
While the touches of autotune is a bit
offsetting, Jess is a good singer overall
c.
The harmonies on this one is so good too. JT did so well with the harmonies overall
d.
I don’t think the autotune fits the
instrumentals there. I know autotune is
prominent in pop music, but I don’t think it sounds quite right with this track
10.
L.A.
a.
This sounds kind of similar to a Ben Folds song
and potentially another one, but I cannot pinpoint what song it is
b.
I really don’t like the overt autotune on this
song either. I don’t think it fits the
style
c.
Lyrically it’s a fun song so far, which I think
makes up for the fairly unoriginal music
d.
Kyle Brandt making such an awesome cameo because
he’s Kyle Brandt
e.
Papi! His
appearance made me way too happy and I am not ashamed
f.
The song sounded like a party, which is fitting
11.
The Big Game/Reprise
a.
I think the spoken section works well with the
music. This part was well-produced
b.
Of course Cooper Kupp results in the singing
c.
I like the way they reprised it. It seamlessly flowed between their coverage
of the game into “Nothing Stops Football”
d.
The reprise of musicals can often be the most
difficult part. How on earth do you tie
everything into one song or decide what to put in? I thought that it was mixed really well and
was a smart way to finish it
e.
The end with Izzy is kind of funny. Has to end in an unorthodox manner
Review as critic: 4
The vocal performances were a bit iffy at points, most
notably led by Stugotz. That said, as a
comedic album, I tend not to be as strict about this. Even with this, there was an excellent job
done with the production and the mixing.
I was impressed with how smooth the album flowed between songs,
something that is more difficult than I think most people realize. I also was impressed with how nice the
harmonies turned out. I was impressed
with the instrumentals that paired with the lyrics as well and often thought
those were well-thought. I think the
times where the singing was off-key and autotune felt out of place was a bit
off-putting, but it was a surprisingly good album overall.
Review as a fan: 5
If you are a fan of this show (or, as they might say, if you get the show), you
should love this album. It involves Dan
getting societal, Stugotz crying about the Jets, a Back in My Day, corporate sponsors,
utter nonsense from JuJu, and a chaotic party, among a lot of other features. It was quite the fun time and is a nice bonus
for those who love the show.
What did you think of this album? Let me know in the comments!
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