Review: New Moon Soundtrack Shines Brightly

Ever wondered what a ridiculously hot vampire (Robert Pattinson) and his pale girlfriend (Kristen Stewart) might listen to? When the first Twilight soundtrack sold in unprecedented numbers, the producers knew they had the ability to make a huge impact on an artist’s career with the inclusion of a single song on the next two Twilight soundtracks. So began an all out bidding war as artists and labels attempted to get on the most popular soundtrack to appear in years. The people who pick the music for this soundtrack have found themselves in the unexpected position of popular tastemaker. This series of soundtracks are introducing an entire new set of listeners to the trendy music of today, and on the whole, the latest entry is a fair representation of the direction music has taken in the past year.

The New Moon soundtrack features a darker, lonelier sound than the first film’s soundtrack, which perfectly mirrors the contents of the film and in fact more fully resembles a well-put together mix-tape than a traditional movie soundtrack. The hipsters might turn up their noses at the Twilight connection, but if a friend had handed this mix around, the more indie-music loving among them would love it wholeheartedly upon first listen. There are a few huge successes on the album, most notably the inclusion of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Muse, and the Killers. But aside from the big names are a whole lot of emerging artists, some who haven’t even formally released albums yet, or who are completely unknown in the United States. This is a big gamble, but one that has paid off already as it quickly topped the Billboard 200 chart.

And apart from the big name appeal, it’s easy to see why many of the songs have been chosen, dealing as they do with relentless loyalty and unrequited love, plus they provide a perfect backdrop to teenage love. Let’s take a closer look at what the soundtrack holds, with a one to four fang rating for each song.

One fang: it’s acceptable but hard to see why it was included. Two fangs: a good enough song, it’s easy to see why it’s on the soundtrack. Three fangs: almost a perfect song, both in composition and for the movie. Four fangs: a sublime mixture of story, music, and place in the movie.

source: film.com