About.com Rating



I'm not a big fan of ezgirl and I really didn't like the music in The L Word's second season, so I wasn't expecting much from The L Word: The Third Season soundtrack. But I'm happy to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this eclectic 2-CD mix of music, some of which I'm already recognizing from recent episodes.

New GLBT Label

The L Word: The Third Season soundtrack was released on Silver Label (distributed by Tommy Boy Entertainment), a new label catering to the gay and lesbian community.

The L Word and Brokeback Mountain have proven that our community is HOT and companies are cashing in on that.

A Great Mix of Music

Like most soundtracks, The L Word: The Third Season soundtrack has a mix of genres of music. There's rock, folk, country, soul, pop and electronic dance songs. My favorites are the girl with guitar folk songs and the electronic dance mixes. Tracy Bonham offers two acoustic songs to the album, Naked and the inspirational Whether You Fall. A new discovery for me was Amy Cook and her sparse girl with guitar Million Holes in Heaven, a dreamy lost-love song.

I also discovered a few new dance songs, that I could see myself hittng the dance floor on--or more likely, Carmen spinning for a hopping crowd. Stand outs are All Fired Up by Tralala and The Naughty Song by Cory Lee.

Lesbian Standards

The L Word: The Third Season soundtrack has the expected mix of lesbian musicians and bands: Sleater-Kinney's Jumpers, Tegan and Sara have two songs and The Gossip perform Standing in the way of Control (Le Tigre Remix).

I'm surprised Le Tigre doesn't have a song of their own on this album.

Like previous L Word soundtracks, there are a few jazz numbers, my favorite Lady Loves Me by Maggie Moore and Yvette Narlock. "The lady loves me, but she doesn't know it yet," originally by Elvis and Ann Margaret in "Viva Las Vegas."

D'Angelo is the sole male vocalist with his rendition of Roberta Flack's Feel Like Making Love.

Betty Surprise--Pam Grier No, No

What would an L Word soundtrack be without a Betty song? You can rejoice that The L Word Theme Song is NOT on this 2-Disc set. I was pleasantly surprised by the song Jesus by Betty. "And she looks like I think Jesus would have looked. Now I know why Mary and boys got hooked." It's catchy and fun.

I was excited to see Pam Grier pair up with the pheonmenal Nona Hendryx on Transformation. But the song, which sounds like a 70s sister power anthem, falls short. "It's a sistah thing, It's a w-o-m-a-n thing. And we're coming together. We're pulling ourselves together. Sisters!" It's a bit hokey in 2006.

Overall, The L Word: The Third Season soundtrack is a great compilation album. There's some songs I knew before I listened, a few new discoveries and for someone like me who appreciates many of genres of music, it's a nice mix to put in your car cd player and just go...