'A Star is Born' Soundtrack Review

Bradley Cooper has proved with ‘A Star Is Born’ that he is not only an actor but also a bright producer and an unexpected singer and songwriter.

What is striking from the beginning to the end of Bradley Cooper’s movie A Star Is Born is the musicality. Not only he has made a great film but an impressive soundtrack too. The film is featuring original songs and the album doesn’t seem to be made just for the purpose of A Star Is Born. In brief, the story is about a hard-drinking musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), helping a young artist to find fame, Ally (Lady Gaga).

The film opens with the rock song ‘Black Eyes’, with Bradley Cooper on the electric guitar. It announces the atmosphere of the film. This introduction leaves you breathless. You just wonder how can he play the guitar like that, he is a freaking rock star. Guitars on, piano on, drum on, a song worthy of a worldwide rock band. Actually, this song was recorded at a Willie Nelson concert but Cooper wrote it. You can hear a strong dynamic in the whole album partly due to the very well produced guitar riffs. In the same vibe, there is the track ‘Alibi’, with a touch of country sounds. The electric guitar solo is just insane. ‘Out of time’ reflects the authentic blues, country and rock song, the drum entering the melody in the middle and bringing a huge dimension to it.

The song that is going to make people crazy, like ‘City of Stars’ from La La Land did, is ‘Shallow’. Bradley Cooper is in the role of a lover with his acoustic Gibson guitar and Lady Gaga is bursting through the light of fame. This powerful hymn for love appears at the turning point of the movie where Ally is going to be revealed to the public and to become famous.

Then comes ‘Maybe It’s Time’, an acoustic song interpreted by Jackson telling about the reality of life and about his proper life. ‘Music to my eyes’ is a duet ballad wrote by Lukas Nelson reminding something of Jeff Buckley. Their voices complete each other, here comes the perfect symbiosis that everyone is searching through life.

However, there is a shift from the rock music style to a more R&B one which goes along with the changes in Ally’s life. The movie finishes in apotheosis with the love song ‘I’ll never love again’, performed by Lady Gaga in a minimalist way with only a piano. Lady Gaga wrote the song with Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey, and Aaron Raitiere. It’s an ode to Jackson expressing her feelings: "No other name falling off my lips/Don’t wanna give my heart away to another stranger".

The remarkable and unexpected thing is that both the film and the soundtrack act in symbiosis and such do the duo Jackson and Ally. The movie is full of captivating evocations of live music on screen and it shows an authentic rock’n’roll. Some of the concert scenes were even shot at Coachella and Glastonbury. If you have not seen ‘A Star Is Born’ yet, it is your turn to go to the cinema and enjoy the intoxicating chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.