New Moon Soundtrack – Love it or hate it?
The Twilight Saga: New Moon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack debuted to many mixed reactions. The ladies at MVF received the eclectic mix of songs differently, but two of them had the most polarizing opinions: SarahBella & SusanAshlea. Read on to see what they had to say, and decide which one you agree with!
Sarahbella: Thumbs Up!
The New Moon Soundtrack was released four days early due to insane demand. Does it live up to its hype? Or even to the success of its predecessor? Its playlist has definite potential, drawing on some well known names in addition to a few that just may make it big off the success of the soundtrack.
- ‘New Moon (The Meadow)’ by Alexander Desplatt
- ‘Satellite Heart’ by Anya Marina
- ‘Die Fledermaus’ by APM Orchestra
- ‘Friends’ by Band of Skulls
- ‘Done all Wrong’ by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
- ‘Roslyn’ by Bon Iver and St. Vincent
- ‘Meet me on the Equinox’ by Death Cab for Cutie
- ‘No Sound but the Wind’ by The Editors
- ‘Slow Life’ by Grizzly Bear
- ‘Monsters’ by Hurricane Bells
- ‘A White Demon Love Song’ by The Killers
- ‘Solar Midnite’ (bonus track) by Lupe Fiasco
- ‘Possibility’ by Lykke Li
- ‘All I believe in’ (bonus track) by The Magic Numbers & Amadou & Mariam
- ‘I belong to you (New Moon Remix) by Muse
- ‘Shooting the Moon’ by OK Go
- ‘The Violet Hour’ by Sea Wolf
- ‘Hearing Damage’ by Thom Yorke
It was nice to see Muse back on the album again, though I would have also liked to see Paramore and Rob Pattinson back, too (who doesn’t want a little more RP in their day?). Death Cab for Cutie is a welcome new addition. I love how the producers keeping the music a little bit indie and it’s not just a list of ‘top forty’ songs. I was also glad to see there wasn’t a repeat of the ‘Perry Ferrell Incident’ as I like to refer to that song…
Now, go ahead and correct me if I’m wrong, but those bonus tracks are exclusive to iTunes, so if you bought your CD elsewhere, you probably don’t have them.
Highlights of the disc –
‘Friends’ by Band of Skulls – The song is catchy and sweet, it makes me imagine a montage of images of Jake putting Bella back together. It also makes me think of Bella’s adventure in Port Angeles with Jessica, and her sad attempt to make Charlie happy.
‘Satellite Heart’ by Anya Marina – It’s heartbreaking in its poignancy. You can just feel her anguish and her longing right through the speakers and it almost hurts to keep listening. The song is so fitting for Bella’s thoughts and feelings in the woods after Edward leaves her.
‘Possibility’ by Lykke Li – This song is so beautifully haunting. It gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. I can definitely see it filling the ‘blank months’. The lyrics read as though they were written by Bella when she’s at her lowest. The line ‘So tell me when you hear my heart stop’ just kills me. Lykke Li’s voice is perfectly suited to the song; you know there’s some heartbreak somewhere in her past fueling the emotion in this song.
Near misses –
‘Die Fledermaus’ by APM Orchestra – I don’t have anything against opera in general, but this song seems oddly out of place on the CD. It’s strangely light hearted in the middle of a very mellow CD and there are girls giggling near the end. We’ll have to see where it fits in to the movie – maybe it’ll make more sense then.
‘A White Demon Love Song’ by The Killers- I couldn’t stop thinking about bad, old western movies with the whole ‘White Demon’ line. The song isn’t bad in and of itself, but I just can’t stop envisioning John Wayne facing down some ‘Indian Chief’ with feathers in his hair while the damsel in distress is tied to the railroad tracks…
‘All I believe in’ by The Magic Numbers & Amadou & Mariam – I love the lyrics, I love the music and the overall sound of the song, unfortunately, the singers voices grate on my ears. It’s definitely one of those ‘not for everyone’ songs.
Overall, I really like the New Moon soundtrack. I wouldn’t quite say I love it, but it might grow on me. The music is very melancholy -perfect for the movie. I’m very excited to see where each of the songs fit into the movie and if seeing the movie makes me like the soundtrack even better. There are a few songs that will likely become favorites of mine, and a few others that I’ll probably skip over when I listen to the disc as a whole. In the end, it was definitely worth the $14 I paid on iTunes.
I give it four out of five fangs.
SusanAshlea: Thumbs Down
I was really psyched when I found out that popular demand had changed the release date of The Official Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack from October 20th to October 16th. I was even more excited when I found out that Amazon.com was having a special on the digital download of the soundtrack, selling it for only $4.99! Since it was payday and I hadn’t bought any new music in awhile, I decided I’d treat myself. After all, I was planning on buying it eventually…
I really enjoyed the Twilight soundtrack. For full disclosure purposes, I feel must state that I didn’t purchase the soundtrack until after I had seen the movie a handful of times in the movie theater. While it took awhile to get used to some of the more eclectic songs on the album, I liked a majority of the album right away. I felt like most of the songs fit the movie, and on the ones that didn’t quite fit the story were properly utilized for the great ambiance they provided. For instance: “Never Think” playing in the background while Edward and Bella had dinner in Port Angeles; “Supermassive Black Hole” playing during the epic baseball game (probably my favorite scene in the movie). I generally don’t pay a whole lot of attention to lyrics while I am listening to a song/album through the first few times, so of course it didn’t dawn on me that “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” was a political song until someone pointed it out to me. I simply thought it was a great song with tight harmonies, and it sounded pretty while Bella & Edward danced in the gazebo at their Prom.
When I first saw the track listing for the New Moon soundtrack, I was pleased that I wasn’t familiar with any of the bands (save for Muse), and I was excited to discover some new music. After all, that is what Twilight did for me. Muse and Paramore are probably two of my favorite bands at the moment, and I never would have discovered them had it not been for the Twilight Soundtrack. I was looking forward to the same thing with the New Moon Soundtrack.
Imagine my disappointment when I downloaded the album and gave it a listen. I listened to it all the way through once and tried not to make any snap judgments. I mean, even some of my favorite albums took more than one simple listen. So, I did what anyone would do: I programmed the iPod to repeat. I was going to listen to it a few times, and I figured after maybe three listens, I’d have picked out a few songs I like. Well…
I listened to it three or four times on Friday night alone. Then I listened to it all day Saturday. I’ve listened to it on the way to and from work, and I am listening to it now as I write this review. The best thing I can find to say about this album is that there are a couple of songs that I kind of like. And by “kind of like,” I mean I don’t want to claw my ears off when I hear them. Because, that’s pretty much the effect the rest of the album has on me. With the exception of I belong to you (remix) by Muse-and the album version is way better than the remix-there are two songs I kind of like: Monsters by Hurricane Bells and The Violet Hour by Sea Wolf. The rest might as well go in my Recycle Bin. Okay, that isn’t entirely true. New Moon [The Meadow], the instrumental piece that serves as the final track on the album, is a lovely piece that has me excited to purchase the Score. However, the other songs on the on the album leave a lot to be desired as far as I’m concerned.
Meet me on the Equinox by Death Cab for Cutie is okay. It’s a solid first track, and I can honestly see myself growing to like the song after I see/hear it’s placement in the film. It’s one of the songs I’m currently on the fence about. Friends by Band of Skulls shows promise as well. It’s quirky and fun, and I wouldn’t mind checking out some of the band’s other music, but as of right now, it’s not on the “like” list. Hearing Damage by Thom Yorke is okay too, and since it’s Thom Yorke, I’m giving it a save from the Recycle Bin for now, thus earning it a few more listens.
There are several selections that have beautiful, captivating music, but the vocals ruin it for me. A White Demon Love Song, Satellite Heart, and Done All Wrong are all examples of this. In fact, Done all Wrong has a great ghostly feel in the guitar accompaniment that just might get it saved from the Recycle Bin by that virtue alone. Slow Life by Grizzly Bear is a little haunting, and it’s one of the few tracks in which I enjoy the vocals. I’m not entirely sure where No Sound but the Wind fits on this soundtrack, but it sounds like something I would hear at a high school vocal recital. The vocalist has a lovely voice, and he does a wonderful job of carrying the song. However, the twangy, almost out of tune, upright piano accompaniment sounds a bit out of place, and the entire song doesn’t fit the Indie theme that encompasses the rest of the soundtrack. I’m wondering if this was an excerpt from the score that they decided to include on the soundtrack as a bonus feature.
The two worst offenses on the compilation are, by far, Possibility by Lykke Li and Rosyln by Bon Iver & St. Vincent. Possibility consists of repetitive, nonsensical lyrics that I can’t understand, and some of the harmonies go off key in places, as if on purpose. The song could have been beautiful, but it sounds to me as if the vocalists got tired halfway through recording and decided they didn’t care about silly things like diction and pitch. I can’t really go into what I don’t like about Rosyln without coming across as crass or abbrasive, so I’ll just leave it at that.
My first score for the New Moon Soundtrack is 1 out of 5 fangs. I say first score because it’s entirely possible that my opinion will change after seeing the film and hearing the songs in the proper context. After listening to some of the lyrics for different songs (what I can understand of them, at least), I fail to see how some of them will fit in with the story. I understand that this isn’t Twilight; New Moon is a darker story, and thus the soundtrack should naturally reflect that. I never expected a pop or mainstream soundtrack. However, sometimes it feels like the soundtrack is trying too hard to be a “cool indie soundtrack.” I’ve heard a lot of indie music in my lifetime, and sometimes people mistake Indie for being acceptably bad. I feel like some of these songs fit into that category, but we are supposed to like it because A)it’s Indie! and B) it’s New Moon!
I’ll say for the record that I hope this album and these songs grow on me. I want to love it as much as I love the Twilight soundtrack, which I took much more immediate pleasure in. Hopefully, after seeing the movie several times on opening weekend and listening to the soundtrack during the seventy miles my girlfriends and I are traveling to see the midnight premiere, I’ll have to come back and issue a retraction of this review. In fact, I look forward to it. And when that happens you are all free to say “I told you so.”
So, what is your impression of The Official Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack? Love it, like Sarah; or hate it, like me? Make sure to let us know what you think in the forums
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