UrbanWire

You often get a second shot at love, and no one more so than Henry Roth, played by funnyman Adam Sandler, in romantic comedy 50 First Dates. He is desperately courting Lucy Whitmore (indie princess Drew Barrymore), without making any lasting impression on her since she suffers from a case of extreme short-term memory.

Well, affairs of the heart may not necessarily be sweeter the second time round, they certainly are for 50 First Dates soundtrack.

Featuring covers of 80s love songs, all-time classic hits like 'Slave To Love', 'Hold Me Now' and 'Every Breathe You Take', these classics are given a reggae influenced twist, upping the cool factor of these great songs with added funk. So expect a fusion of rapping, hip-hop, electronic pop with island-sy beats.

Despite modern interpretations by contemporary crooners of oldies, the old school factor is not altogether lost as the songs retain their original tunes and hence, flavour. Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath, No Doubt's Gwen Stefani and Jason Mraz all prove that the old and the new do mix. Going retro, also (thankfully) doesn't equate to going techno.

2004 Grammy nominee for Best Reggae album, Wayne Wonder does a smooth rendition of The Thompson Twins's 'Hold Me Now'. The tune is upbeat and contains elements of traditional Hawaiian drums, so don't be surprised if you find yourself singing along at the chorus.

It's groove, groove and more groove in Echo and the Bunnyman's 'Lips Like Sugar' where Seal, in his husky and rich voice, draws you into the groovy song instantly. Mikey Dread's rapping provided the needed contrast and Seal's pseudo scat at the end of the song blend in with the movie's spontaneity perfectly.

Wyclef Jean and Eve's version of The Outfield's 'Your Love (L.O.V.E. Reggae Mix)' is a playful rendition of the original. It also succinctly captures Henry's desperation in the movie as Wyclef Jean sings, "I don't want to lose your love tonight".

Elan Atias's cover of Roxy Music's 'Slave To Love' is true to the original version with Gwen Stefani providing the backup vocals. Her contribution is no mere coincidence as No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal produced 3 tracks in the soundtrack.

UB40 took on The Police's 'Every Breath You Take' and their synchronised voices did the song justice, in fact, the guys sounded so good, it didn't seem like a cover.

The Psychedelic Furs' 'Ghost In You' by Mark McGrath stood out for its very fluid and consistent sound. The combination of McGrath's distinctive voice with such a romantic song instantly renders McGrath as Sensitive New Age Guy (SNAG) material.

Bop your heads and bounce off your pal (we're expecting you to play this soundtrack at a party, no?) with 'Friday, I'm In Love' (originally by The Cure) sung with just the right amount of edge by Dryden Mitchell. The energy of the song is infectious - just take a listen to these tongue-in-cheek lyrics: "I don't care if Monday's blue, Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too, Thursday I don't care about you, it's Friday I'm in love". Now we have another bloke on our side to thank God it's Friday.

UB40's 'Breakfast In Bed' is given a twinge of feminine sensuality as Nicole Kea's slightly hoarse (and very sexy) voice transforms this bloke song to one helluva chick song. All things said, we're sure Adam Sandler would be serving up some "Breakfast In Bed" somewhere in the movie.

You know when something inside you melts - it's usually an awesome moment you want to hold on to forever. The bad news is, all good things will come to an end, but the good news is, you can always turn to Jason Mraz's rendition of Modern English's 'I Melt With You' to relive those "melting moments". Jokes aside, there is a very casual feel to the song and Mraz hits the high notes with his falsetto perfectly.

Apparently some songs featured in the movie like 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' by the Beach Boys and 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole aren't included in this soundtrack. Well, we sure hope that a second CD would be on the way, reminiscent of the 2 soundtracks released for The Wedding Singer (which also paired Sandler and Barrymore).

'Forgetful Lucy' by Adam Sandler is quirky, unpretentious and summarises the movie's plot in a couple of stanzas. The last sentence with him proposing "How about another first kiss?" is a clever statement that parallels the movie's ironic humour.

What can we say? Everyone needs a quality feel good, chill out soundtrack (yes, along with the island resort association), and we think this might just be it. No second thoughts.