The score for Dumb and Dumber was composed by Todd Rundgren, whom director Peter Farrelly would later say "did an awesome job" but "didn't quite get the movie". Rundgren also contributed the song "Can We Still Be Friends?" to the film, although not included in the soundtrack.[1]
Beck had been approached about including his song "Loser" on the soundtrack, but he refused. He recalled the process: "I remember getting a phone call one day. My manager said, 'There's a film. They want to use 'Loser' as the theme song'. There was a long pause, and he said, 'The name of the film is Dumb And Dumber. And I just remember: That sums up what the world thinks of me at this point. I tried to have fun with it, tried to not take it too serious. But at the same time, it was a little disheartening sometimes."[3]
Release
The original soundtrack to the film was released by RCA Records on November 22, 1994.[4][5] The soundtrack album was preceded by the lead single, "New Age Girl" by Deadeye Dick, which was a chart-topping success, reaching number 27 in the US.[6] Apparently, it was their band's only hit song ensuring their one-hit wonder status.[6] The Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies performed a cover version of "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" originally performed by the rock band XTC. It was released as the album's second single in January 1995.[7][8] The accompanying music video for the song featured Jeff Daniels reprising his role of Harry.[2]
Out of the 13 songs, only three of them were made available via MOD-store digital providers,[9] whereas the rest of the 10 songs were only available in CDs and cassettes.[4][5]
Reception
The soundtrack album has generally seen positive reception from critics. Joe Bishop of Vice named the album his favorite movie soundtrack, while the same site's Cameron Matthews described it as "a perfect slice of the mid-'90s sound: bubbly pop rock with jangly chords and just enough grit, or aka the thing you can give your kids when they one day ask you what the '90s were like".[2][10]
Emma Cochrane of Smash Hits said "Soundtrack albums can be a waste of space, one good tune, a couple of dodgy instrumentals and tonnes of stuff you didn't really want to hear again. But if you're an "alternative" music or indie kid you won't find much to complain about here."[11]Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that "Dumb and Dumber is a surprisingly entertaining hodgepodge of alternative rock, mainstream pop, and novelties that is considerably smarter than the movie it supports."[12]
Country musician Luke Combs considered the film's soundtrack to be his favorite as he actually liked the film, and the soundtrack was assembled very well to fit into the narrative which helped him to revisit the film and its music often.[13]
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