Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me OST

All too often movie soundtracks are bland affairs, with the now traditional love ballad leading the charge towards chart success. Thankfully, this one takes a couple of risks.

The otherworldly psychedelia of The Flaming Lips' 'Buggin' and the cartoon punk of Green Day may seem unlikely bed-fellows for the likes of Madonna and Spice Girl, Melanie G, but it works really well. It's not the usual motley crew of album-tracks and acoustic versions of old favourites, either.

Madonna's 'Beautiful Stranger' sees her working again with William Orbit (Ray Of Light producer). The result is a great pop song, mixing '60s melodies and spiralling guitars with a '90s pop and production sensibility. REM deliver an easy-on-the-ears take on Tommy James' 'Draggin' The Line' and Mel G gets funky on Cameo's 'Word Up'.

Elsewhere, Green Day's instrumental 'espionage' sounds like it was nicked straight from a '60s spy thriller; Lenny Kravitz gets all electric and funky on The Guess Who's 'American Woman'; and Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach get about as easy listening as they can on Burt's classic 'I'll Never Fall In Love Again'.

This is the way a soundtrack should be, good songs which can stand on their own outside the confines of the movie. As The International Man of Mystery himself would undoubtedly say, "This is shaggadelic, baby". One can only agree.