>THE SOUNDTRACK'S THE THING
FOLLOWING DISASTROUS REVIEWS AND deadly buzz, September's Empire Records, a film starring Liv Tyler (daughter of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler) about life at an independent record store, was shelved after a brief, 10-city release. "Its performance was a disappointment," says Rob Friedman, a spokesperson at Warner Bros., which distributed the movie. Asked to elaborate, Friedman bluntly adds, "People didn't come."
But people did listen—to the film's soundtrack, which, despite losing a movie, has gained an audience. Since its August release, Empire Records: The Soundtrack (A&M) has spawned two hits—Gin Blossoms' "Til I Hear It from You" and Edwyn Collins's "A Girl like You"—and has sold over 116,000 units. Not bad when one considers that Clueless's impressive soundtrack, buoyed by a hit movie starring popular Alicia Silverstone, has sold 165,000 albums since July. "It's really a shame Empire Records bombed," says an A & M spokesperson. "It could've made sales for our soundtrack amazing instead of just good."
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