Ready to Rumble is not

"Ready to Rumble" should have spent a few more hours preparing for battle. 

The soundtrack to the movie starring David Arquette, Oliver Platt and World Championship Wrestler Diamond Dallas Page is big on glamour, but weak on substance. 

It's almost comparable to some professional wrestling leagues in that you see the same characters, just remade.

Many of the 13 songs on the album have been previously released or are covers of popular '80s songs.

"We're Not Gonna Take It," the song popularized by Twisted Sister, is remade by Bif Naked, to average results. The song is still up-tempo, catchy and somewhat cheesy. 

But Dee Snider's angry wailing and Twisted Sister's memorable instrumentation is tough to match. 

Queen's "We Will Rock You," covered by DJ Hurricane and featuring Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots, is garbage. With its sampled drums and generic chorus of "we will rock you" 
the song is a poor attempt at remaking a great song.
 

"Baby One More Time" is Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa's take of the Britney Spears hit. They incorporate dark guitars and Ahmet's whispering vocals that seem slightly annoyed at having to sing the pop piece. 

It's interesting, but after one listen  the song is ready for the circular file.

Other songs are timeless listens, however.

Run-D.M.C.'s "King of Rock" is a rap staple. Limp Bizkit's rock-rap influence can be traced to this mid 1980's meshing of both musical genres. 

The infectious guitar over a  snare drum and cowbell is memorable. Any jealousy toward the group was answered with the response of  "… and other rappers can't stand us/but give us respect."

Even Motley Crue's mid 1980s glam hit "Girls, Girls, Girls" pops up on the disc. The motorcycle starting just before the Crue storm is  perfect setup to their audio assault.  

"Jump Around" by House of Pain is always enjoyable. The early '90s hit with the horn flavored intro, muted Prince scream (that's the yelling noise throughout the song) and speedy drum track forces people to get out of their seat and jump around like it says in the song.

Wrestlers' entrance themes disguised as songs such as the "Sting Theme" and "Diamond Dallas Page (King of Ba-Da Bing) Theme" are horrible and should have been left off the album. 

"Ready to Rumble" can't quite get into the ring. The elements are there, but are not strong enough to lift the songs into "the rack."