The surprise hit of the 1994 summer movie season traces the life of a half-wit through the major historical events of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, and this soundtrack album is a travelogue of the same period, from
Elvis Presley's 1956 hit "Hound Dog" to
Bob Seger's 1980 hit "Against the Wind." Like the movie, the soundtrack to Forrest Gump succeeds at repackaging the familiar -- in the film, we revisit everything from desegregation and the Vietnam War to the self-centered trends of the '70s, and on the soundtrack, we hear the concurrent hits for the umpteenth time -- although, unlike the movie, the soundtrack doesn't trivialize what it recycles. Playing it is basically like listening to an oldies radio station, minus the commercials and annoying DJ patter, but just like many other song-oriented soundtracks, this is still a miscellaneous collection. That, however, didn't keep it from shooting into the Top Ten as the movie became a blockbuster. The double-CD version contains eight more tracks than the cassette. ~ William Ruhlmann