The charitable would call the American Pie 2 soundtrack consistent and focussed. The more hard-eyed would spot it for the cookie-cutter, formula-milking creature that it is -- full of the kind of second-generation punk-pop that goes in one ear and out the other faster than one can look up the meaning of "derivative" in the dictionary. Ironically then, it is the unknowns who stand out in the modern-rock-by-numbers assault. Far and away the best songs on the set are Jettingham's "Cheating" ("If I'm leaving with a broken heart, you're leaving with a broken nose") and Fenix*TX's sprightly power pop ode "Phoebe Cates." Also impressive: the mock-aggro hip-hop of Uncle Kracker's "(I'm Gonna) Split This Room in Half." As for the big guns, there's Blink 182 making a return appearance (they were on the first soundtrack as well) and Green Day, both of whom turn in competent, if ordinary, tracks. On the other hand, the best thing that can be said about Alien Ant Farm's "Good (For a Woman)" is that it's not as wretched as their allegedly funny cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" (which featured on the film but is absent from the album). Throw in a couple of tracks for the ladies -- the smoky, post-Spice Girls dance-pop of Angela Ammons' "Always Getting Over You" and "Halo" by Oleander -- and there is a soundtrack that's entirely predictable and largely one-dimensional, but sporadically enjoyable all the same. ~ Leslie Mathew, All Music Guide