Let's Be Honest Here, November 13, 2012

Say what you will about the Twilight books and movies. While I'm a fan, I know perfectly well that they're dreadful and that most rational people won't like them. However, I've always found the soundtracks to be really enjoyable stand-alones with a good mix of both artists and mood. (Maybe broody, but there are usually a few stompers like Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole" and The Black Keys' "Chop and Change to liven things up a bit.) I think they've gotten the mix wrong here. It's relentlessly downbeat and/or airy. Does that fit with a movie where the Cullen family feels they're under the threat of imminent death the whole time? Sure. But there are light moments in the story, too (Emmett and Bella arm-wrestling, Bella and Edward realizing they've got an eternity of really great sex ahead of them) and the folks at Chop Shop should have tried a little harder to reflect that. And why did Christina Perri have to re-write "A Thousand Years" to reflect Bella's newly frozen status...

I was reading through the reviews, mostly for a recap on when the songs played in the movie (Seems that's not available yet, I'll just have to see the movie again) and I was aghast at the horrible reviews this soundtrack was receiving. "I was hoping for upbeat music" and "Green Day and Ellie Goulding were fun, but the rest sucks" seems to be a trending theme. And that's just wrong.No one watches Twilight (or any of the movies following) because it's uplifting. It's a moody book series, it's a moody set of movies. Therefore, you're not going to have Justin Beiber and other crappy upbeat artists on the soundtrack. Sorry. If you're looking for top 20 pop beats, go buy the new NOW CD (if they even still make that garbage).This album has some enchanting, peaceful songs that continue the trend set by earlier albums. I see a direct connection between some of the songs and the New Moon soundtrack that most everyone seemed to enjoy. Feist's song, "Fire in the Water," is...

I own every single Twilight Soundtrack ... the songs on the CD's used to be anthems of me ... they'd get me excited about the movies, they'd fill my car up as I drove around, I loved them -- loved them so much, in fact, I'd buy the digital iTunes album for my computer and iPod as well. I liked Twilight, loved New Moon, liked Eclipse ... then ... we got into the Breaking Dawn albums.If the ball of awesomesauce was dropped for Part 1 of Breaking Dawn ... the ball shattered on impact in Part 2.Gone are things I have loved about the soundtracks that came before -- the moody, almost haunting songs that guided us fans through the saga have replaced now by rock ballads and Greenday ... GREENDAY! There is nothing about the love of Bella and Edward that screams Greenday to me, sorry ya'll but it just doesn't. The redemption comes in maybe 3 songs in the entire album, but that's it and sadly, it's not enough.Finishing thoughts: This was the END of a Saga...