Based on the debut novel by Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary tells the increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp). Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins). Adopting the rum-soaked life of the island, Paul soon becomes obsessed with Chenault (Amber Heard), the wildly attractive Connecticut-born fiancée of shady business man Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart)...

More Music from the Rum Diary is the follow-up release to The Rum Diary. The first album I really wasn't a fan of, so reviewing this album, with tracks that weren't good enough to make it onto the first volume, wasn't something I was looking forward to. However, personally I thought this was a much more enjoyable release.

There are some classic tunes included on this release (including The Tornados's 'Telstar' and Cortijo y Su Combo and Ismael Rivera's cover of Domenico Modugno's 'Volare'. There are another four tracks by composer Christopher Young - but again I wasn't a huge fan of these jazz-based themes.

My biggest complaint though is the fact that Patti Smith's 'The Mermaid Song', which was on the first album, is repeated here and 'Volare' was also on the previous release, albeit a Dean Martin cover. Oh, and the 'Strings Version' of 'The Mermaid Song' sounds a bit cheesy thanks to the fact that the "strings" sound like a cheap keyboard with a badly sampled strings option.

The album contains 16 tracks that make up 55 min, 33 sec worth of music.

Track Listing

01 - 'Telstar' - The Tornados
02 - 'Nothin’ But Lovin’' - Eugene Ruffolo
03 - 'Charmaine' - Mantovani & His Orchestra
04 - 'A Dozen Roses' - Joe Lervold and Shanna Carlsen
05 - 'Volare' - Cortijo y Su Combo and Ismael Rivera
06 - 'Surfing Drums' - Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
07 - 'Kitchen Sink Boogie' - Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers
08 - 'Let's Get Funky' - Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers
09 - 'Col Legno' - Marc Johnson
10 - 'After All (I Live My Life)' - Frankie Miller
11 - 'The Mermaid Song' - Patti Smith
12 - 'The Mermaid Song' (Strings Version) - Benmont Tench
13 - 'Three Legged Dogs' - Christopher Young
14 - 'Young Hacks In Love' - Christopher Young
15 - 'Spasmic Lampshades' - Christopher Young
16 - 'Judas Goat (Meat Me Rumba)' - Christopher Young

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Darren Rea