Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is a cience fiction comedy film, and the feature directorial debut of Pete Hewitt, released on July 9, 1991. It is the second film in the Bill & Ted franchise, and a sequel to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989). Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin reprise their roles. The film, which partially spoofs The Seventh Seal, received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office failure, but has since gained a cult following like its predecessor.
The film’s original working title was Bill & Ted Go to Hell and the film’s soundtrack featured the song “Go to Hell” by Megadeth, which Dave Mustaine wrote for the film. A sequel, Bill & Ted Face the Music, was released in August 2020, with Reeves, Winter, and William Sadler reprising their roles.
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey: Music from the Motion Picture is the licensed soundtrack to the 1991 Orion Pictures film Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. It was released by Interscope Records on July 9, 1991 on CD and cassette formats. Unlike the soundtrack to the film’s predecessor, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, this soundtrack features music from artists well-known at the time of the film’s release. Many of these songs, such as Faith No More‘s The Perfect Crime and Megadeth‘s Go To Hell, help paint the darker tone of the film. Many of the contributing artists have a cameo of some form in the film. Shout it Out was recorded while Slaughter was on the road during their Stick It Live tour.
The Winger track Battle Stations was written by frontman Kip Winger after reading the script for the film and recorded shortly after the band returned from their first European tour. Neverland‘s song Drinking Again was not used in the film, but was a substitute for another Neverland song For the Love (of Music). However the intro from Drinking Again was used for a television promo for the film. Both songs were released one month prior on Neverland’s self-titled debut album. The version of God Gave Rock ‘n Roll to You II is not that which plays at the film’s end as it lacks the intro by Steve Vai and the sound of girls chanting the chorus as the song fades to end. The intro solo was released by Steve Vai in his compilation album The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1, along with all of the other small pieces performed by him during the movie.
Pieced together versions featuring Steve Vai‘s intro have been made by fans. Dream of a New Day was previously released on Richie Kotzen‘s 1990 album Fever Dream. Tommy the Cat was previously released on Primus‘ album Sailing the Seas of Cheese. In this version, the title character Tommy was voiced by singer songwriter Tom Waits. Notably, the track The Reaper Rap, a reprise of Steve Vai‘s The Reaper, features not only sound bytes of dialog heard in the film, but also dialog from the film’s deleted scenes now believed to be lost. Portions of The Reaper Rap are absent in the film during its play and feature sounds that not included in the version that appear with this release.
Tracklist:
- Shout it Out (by Slaughter)
- Battle Stations (by Winger)
- God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll to You II (by Kiss)
- Drinking Again (by Neverland)
- Dream of a New Day (by Richie Kotzen)
- The Reaper (by Steve Vai)
- The Perfect Crime (by Faith No More)
- Go to Hell (by Megadeth)
- Tommy the Cat (by Primus)
- Junior’s Gone Wild (by King’s X)
- Showdown (by Love on Ice)
- The Reaper Rap (by Steve Vai)
Tracks not included in the soundtrack
- Air Guitar Hell (Steve Vai)
- Introducing the Wyld Stallyns (Steve Vai)
- Girls Mature Faster Than Guys (Steve Vai)
- For the Love (Of Music) (Neverland)
- The Battle (Steve Vai)
- Meet the Reaper (Steve Vai)
- Final Guitar Solo (Steve Vai)
