The soundtrack to Jack Black‘s 2003 musical comedy School Of Rock has landed on streaming services for the first time.
The original School of Rock (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) album featured songs performed by the cast, including the title track and a cover of AC/DC’s ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)’ alongside hits from the likes of The Who, The Doors, Stevie Nicks, Led Zeppelin, and Ramones. It also includes a new song, ‘In The End Of Time’
The film starred Black as Dewey Finn, a struggling musician who poses as a substitute teacher, ‘Mr Schneebly’, to make more money and teaches his class about rock ‘n’ roll. The film was a huge success, grossing $131 million worldwide on a $35 million budget and was later adapted into a musical as well as a Nickelodeon series that aired for three seasons from 2016 to 2018.
The film celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, for which Black organised a cast reunion. He also said he would be open to making a sequel so long as the original film’s writer, Mike White, was involved. White, who starred in the film as Dewey’s roommate Ned Schneebly, is known for creating, writing and directing the hit HBO series, The White Lotus.
Earlier this year, some of the film’s child stars said in an interview with Rolling Stone that they were bullied following the film’s success.
Joey Gaydos Jr., who played Zack Mooneyham, said he was looked at like “a three-headed freak” when he returned to his hometown in Detroit, while Veronica Afflerbach, who played “groupie” Eleni, vowed to “never do this again” after kids at her school were “brutal” towards her.
Last year, Robert Plant revealed why he agreed to the use of ‘Immigrant Song’, which is used in a scene where Finn is driving his band of students following their successful entry into the Battle of The Bands.
When asked in a new interview with Vulture why he had said yes to the use of the song in the Richard Linklater-directed film, Plant said: “My response is, ‘Why not?’ Our songs didn’t come from Valhalla. It’s not a preferred destination, either. I like the idea of taking the hammer to another time.”
“Jack Black made a magnificent meal of it,” Plant continued, adding that despite being a “killer guitar riff”, ‘Immigrant Song’ is not an easy song for kids to play.