Soccer fervor now comes on a plastic disc with sixteen tunes for keeps. And this is one circle totally worth it!
For one, the tracks here have been culled out of the favourites of the music charts, taking the anthems that have become famous over the years. Queen dramatically opens with “We Are The Champions”, and they continue with their earth-pounding “We Will Rock You”, followed closely by Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping” and Baha Men’s “Who Let The Dogs Out”.
The mood is purposefully rousing, and the themes for the major part of it indicate dynamism of spirit. Daft Punk, with their robotic “One More Time” passes after EMF’s “Unbelievable”, but before Moby’s “Run On”. And Queen’s not all they have - Scorpions’ “Rock You Like A Hurricane”, Billy Idol with “Rebel Yell”, and David Bowie with “Heroes” kick ass with Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”. And they’ve throw in “The Cup Of Life” as a bonus track. Somebody tell these people, the bonus is all the horsepower that gears this album, making “Goal!” just about the best soccer album around!
This article was first published on 10 Jun 2002.