For an artist whose career was seemingly stalled through much of the 1980s and '90s, Dwight Twilley has returned with a vengeance since the turn of the century, releasing four studio albums and several archival live discs between 2001 and 2010, and just as 2010's Green Blimp found Twilley sounding energetic, engaged, and full of fresh ideas, 2011's Soundtrack is an impressive set that sounds as impassioned as anything the man recorded in the '70s, but also captures the lessons and experiences of a lifetime on plastic. Twilley was asked to write some songs for a proposed documentary film about his career, and those tunes grew into Soundtrack, which is the most explicitly autobiographical music he's released to date. "Tulsa Town" celebrates Twilley's formative years in his home town, "Bus Ticket" captures the dreams of a young rock & roller heading to the big city in search of a break, "Good Things Come Hard" ponders how far fate has taken him and how steep the price of success can be, "The Cards Will Fall" examines a relationship that took a long time to finally come apart, and "My Life" is self-explanatory. Twilley isn't afraid to bare his soul on these songs, and even when he isn't telling his own story, he's not afraid to say what's on his mind, particularly on the fiery "God Didn't Do It" and the smart and impressionistic title song. The songs on Soundtrack are quite personal, but just as importantly, they're very good, built around strong Beatlesque melodies and first-generation rock & roll, and Twilley's vocals are great, a shade more weathered than they once were but still supple, and an ideal vehicle for these stories of a fully lived life. The guitars by Twilley and Bill Pitcock, IV fit the songs just right, and though Twilley should have persuaded Doug Wiley to use a better sounding drum machine for the album's percussion, for the most part, the production suits the material even when the edges are a bit rough. And the contributions from Taylor Hanson and Susan Cowsill mean that three generations of great pop music players are represented on Soundtrack, and here Twilley sounds less like an elder statesman than a vital artist who has lots to say, and compelling ways to say it, even as he looks back on a career that's now spanned five decades. It's no great shock that Twilley still has good records left in him, but what is surprising is that Soundtrack is this good and a brave creative departure to boot, one that pays off bigger dividends than anyone had a right to expect. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

1		You Close Your Eyes
2		Bus Ticket
3		Tulsa Town
4		Skeleton Man
5		My Life
6		God Didn't Do It
7		Out in the Rain
8		Soundtrack
9		The Lonely One
10		The Cards Will Fall
11		Good Things Come Hard
12		The Last Time Around

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