Cradle Will Rock: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack
Sure,Cradle Will Rockis about politics, but at its most  convincing level, the movie is a showcase for its namesake--Marc Blitzstein's  Federal Theater Project-funded operetta from 1937. In the film, we see the long- forgotten musical rehearsed, dissected, critiqued, and convincingly performed by  the movie's cast (even the musicians seen in the film are the actual performers  on the soundtrack). This disc features many of the musical's best moments and  David Robbins's equally impressive melting pot of an instrumental score, which  includes folk songs, gypsy music, klezmer, and jazz.  But there are also a few  surprises:Polly Jean Harveygives anoir-ish and impassioned version ofCradle's "Nickel Under  the Foot," while Eddie Vedder and Susan Sarandon's duet on "Croon Spoon" is  only slightly less convincing. Broadway starAudra McDonald, though, shows us how Blitzstein's "Joe  Worker" would sound on the Great White Way today. It's a great package, but  the music featured in the film--for starters, the infectious and cute "Honolulu" and  Emily Watson's endearing performance of "Moll's Song"--is the real highlight.- -Jason Verlinde