Most movie soundtrack albums include incidental orchestral music, while some have excerpts of actual film dialog. The soundtrack to MALCOLM X has none of this. The set opens with an Arrested Development political piece written especially for the film, then follows a logical musical and stylistic progression from the early 40s (swing), right through to the year of Malcolm's murder, 1965 (soul), and finally closes out with an overlong 'gospelish' Aretha Franklin track.
By: Annie Van Auken