Various Artists: Free The West Memphis 3

Sometimes it's easy to forget that not all films end with the closing credits. A harrowing and haunting examination of one specific miscarriage of justice, 1996's Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills remains a convincing look at fear and prejudice in a small town and the inadequacies of the death penalty. The documentary centered on a horrible, apparently ritualized murder of three small children, and a town's witch-trial-like efforts to blame three misfits, based entirely on dubious interrogation and circumstantial evidence such as black clothes and a taste for heavy-metal music. Two of the three unlikely suspects, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin, were sentenced to life in prison, while the third, Damien Echols, has been on death row ever since. Many efforts to free the railroaded trio were documented in an even more disturbing sequel, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. A nonprofit web site, www.wm3.org, offers information and suggests ways to help, and a new benefit disc (proceeds go to a potential college fund for the three) titled Free The West Memphis 3 brings together strong musical support. Anti-death-penalty crusader Steve Earle weighs in with the spooky "The Truth," and one of Tom Waits' overlooked Chuck E. Weiss collaborations, "Rains On Me," gets another chance to be heard. Supersuckers, whose Eddie Spaghetti serves as an executive producer, appears twice, the second time with Eddie Vedder for a cover of X's "Poor Girl." Kelley Deal covers Pantera's "Fucking Hostile" and Nashville Pussy offers a surprisingly weak rendition of "Highway To Hell." Joe Strummer joins The Long Beach Dub All-Stars for a sprightly cover of "The Harder They Come," and spoken word by Jello Biafra weaves in and out. Oddly enough, Metallica, whose music is used extensively in both films, is absent from the collection, but Free offers plenty of interesting material from the likes of Mark Lanegan, Rocket From The Crypt, and L7. Once again, though, it's the issue that's important, not the artists, so the disc should be considered a sign of support from artists even if it's not as effective or consistent as the Dead Man Walking soundtrack. Anyone who wasted money on Paradise Lost director Joe Berlinger's Blair Witch 2 should be required to buy an extra copy as penitence.