‘Empire Records’ Soundtrack Available On Standard Vinyl For The First Time
Gin Blossoms, The Cranberries, and Toad the Wet Sprocket are all featured on the cult classic film’s soundtrack.
1995’s Empire Records reached cult classic status in part thanks to its soundtrack of 90s indie and alternative gems. As we approach the film’s 31st anniversary, its soundtrack is now available for the first time on 2LP standard black vinyl.
Empire Records – The Soundtrack featured The Gin Blossoms’ “Til I Hear It From You” as its lead single. Despite the film’s tepid reception, “Til I Hear It From You” peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s first top 20 hit.
Other songs featured on the soundtrack include The Cranberries’ “Liar,” Toad The Wet Sprocket’s “Crazy Life,” and Better Than Ezra’s “Circle Of Friends.” One of the final tracks, Evan Dando’s “The Ballad of El Goodo,” features the film’s lead actor Liv Tyler on backing vocals. The soundtrack was curated by Mitchell Leib, a music supervisor for the film.
In a 2010 interview with Huffington Post, Gin Blossoms frontman Robin Wilson called Empire Records “a classic film that only a handful of people really saw, but it definitely made an impact on that generation.” He went on to say: “It was really cool to have been a part of that and to have co-written a song with Marshall Crenshaw that went to the top of the charts. It was the peak of our career, and it was at the peak of the machinery that was operating.”
Empire Records showcased an impressive ensemble cast featuring Renée Zellweger, Liv Tyler, Debi Mazar, Robin Tunney, Rory Cochrane, and Johnny Whitworth. Set over the course of a day, the film followed a group of independent record store employees as they tried to save their store from being bought by a large retail chain. Meanwhile, they grappled with an array of young adult dramas and prepared for a visit from the fictional washed-up pop star Rex Manning.
