Rating:
Genre:
Soundtrack
Release Date: 12/09/2008
Since
Stephenie Meyer's hugely popular series of vampire books,
Twilight, included thank-yous to the bands that inspired her writing, it makes sense that the
Twilight soundtrack includes some of her favorite acts. Chief among them is
Muse, whose darkly funky
"Supermassive Black Hole" kicks off this mix of alt-rock brooding (
Linkin Park,
Collective Soul) and more eclectic -- but still mostly melancholy -- tracks.
Paramore contributes two tracks, the churning
"Decode" and the soaring ballad
"I Caught Myself," neither of which match the best moments from the band's albums, even though
Hayley Williams' crystalline vocals make a fitting backdrop to
Bella Swan's supernatural love triangle angst. Most of
Twilight follows suit with slickly dark songs like
Mutemath's
"Spotlight (Twilight Mix)" and
Blue Foundation's
"Eyes on Fire," and while they're not bad, they are predictable. The
Black Ghosts' spookily folktronic
"Full Moon" and
Perry Farrell's dance-tinged
"Go All the Way (Into the Twilight)" offer some changes of pace, with the former working better than the latter. The album's last moments offer a few glimpses of originality, even if actor
Robert Pattison (aka beautiful teen vampire
Edward Cullen)'s
"Never Think" is heavily influenced by
Jeff Buckley.
Iron & Wine's
"Flightless Bird, American Mouth" and
Carter Burwell's
"Bella's Lullaby" close the album on a relatively high note, elevating some of the overly typical choices earlier on the soundtrack. Even if it's often too predictable,
Twilight fits the mood of the books -- and the musical tastes of the books' fans -- well enough to make it a reasonable success.
~Heather Phares, All Music Guide
;)
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