Customer Reviews

Elektra: The Album

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Let me start off by saying the primary reason I bought this album was to support the currently unsigned LA band The Dreaming. The reproduced version of "Beautiful" is stunning. This alone is reason to buy the CD.

But of course, not all of us are Dreaming fans so I will try to write as comprehensive a review as possible. In comparison to the other "comic-book-to-movie" soundtracks, this ranks quite high in my book (much better than the Spiderman 2 soundtrack). However, while most of the songs are solid, they are not quite innovative enough to be thoroughly enjoyed over and over again. Much of this IS mainstream rock, so if you are looking for musical depth and probing lyrics, you probably won't find much of it here. However, if you enjoy listening to the overall song, you may enjoy this album (I can go either way depending on my mood). Here is the track by track breakdown:

1.) Strata - Never There (She Stabs): 4/5; "the song everyone knows," this is a good song although I, for unknown reasons, am not a big fan of the chorus. The song as a whole; however, is well-produced.

2.) Jet - Hey Kids: 2/5; I for one really like Jet, but this song is a failure. Gone is the retro catchiness characteristic of Jet songs. They don't seem to be belting out great songs on soundtracks (ex. Spiderman 2)

3.)The Donnas - Everyone Is Wrong: 4/5; I was surprised because I don't particularly like The Donnas. This song is impressive, though. Interesting lyrics.

4.) Swtichfoot - Sooner Or Later: 3/5; Starts of slow, but has a really nice chorus. It's a nice change of tempo too. All in all, a solid song.

5.) Finger Eleven - Thousand Mile Wish (Elektra Mix): 4/5; I love Finger Eleven to no end. I'm usually a fan of their harder songs, but I really like the "aura" of this song. The vocals:lyrics and vocals:instrumentals complement one another very well.

6.) Megan McCauley - Wonder: 1/5; I'm sorry, but I just can't bring myself to like this song. Perhaps it's the vocal style or just the music itself, but it's a very bland, generic song. Props to Megan, though; she's still young and has time to improve. An A for effort.

7.) Taking Back Sunday - Your Own Disaster: 3/5; Solid. Very different from other songs by TBS. But like other songs by TBS, this one doesn't particularly stand out to me.

8.) Evanescence - Breathe No More: 3/5; I love Evanescence, but this song doesn't do them justice. Amy's vocals are dead on as usual. Perhaps if I hadn't known this was by Evanescence, I would have rated it higher; however, I have heard far better music from them.

9.) 12 Stones - Photograph: 4/5; This is a strong song with a chorus reminiscent of Crossfade. Powerful guitar rifts fuel an equally powerful song. This style has been done, but the song still stands out.

10.) Alter Bridge - Save Me: 4/5; Somewhat chaotic, but I like the overall sound. Haven't really heard much about Alter Bridge, but I may have to look into them more.

11.) The Dreaming - Beautiful: 6/5; Now maybe I am just biased, but this song is incredible. A mellow harmony begins the song followed by a mind-blowing explosive chorus. Chris Hall's vocals are strong, passionate, and emotional. Though I didn't think it could be done, this version is far better than the EP version. I am astounded by the sheer quality of this song.

12.) Submersed - Hollow: 5/5; A pleasant surprise. I have never heard of Submersed, but after this song, I will look into them. A vocalist who hits high notes with ease and a great chorus. The mixed effect before the chorus is smartley placed; the song is not weighed down by the mixing at all.

13.) Hawthorne Heights - Angels With Even Filthier Souls: 2/5; Cool title, mediocre song. Straight up generic and undeveloped punk. I've heard better from these guys.

14.) The Twenty Twos - 5 Years: 4/5; Points meritted for a unique sound, instrumentals, and chorus. The vocalist, is a tad annoying, but I suppose it enhances the feel of the song as well.

Full Blown Rose - In The Light: 3/5; A good vocalist and an overall satisfying track. Not a particularly stand-out song (it lacks something, a little more flair would have been great), but it's bearable.

All in all, an album with several musical treasures and few musical disasters. I do not regret purchasing this CD at all.

This soundtrack was a lot better than I expected it to be. I originally bought this soundtrack to hear the new Full Blown Rose song "In The Light", and was not disappointed! This band will be the next big thing. Other songs that stood out to me were Strata "Never There" , 12 Stones "Photograph", The Twenty Twos "5 Years" to name a few. This soundtrack may be seen by some as mellow, but I found it to be quite emotional, and inspiring. I put it into my CD player, listened to it in the dark, was filled with a whirlpool of emotions. People sometimes buy soundtracks with extremely high expectations, and always walk away disappointed. There are some powerful songs on this CD, which I think make this soundtrack worth buying. By all means, this is not a CD pumped up with death metal and nu-metal songs. I think this soundtrack offered something new to the way movies are seen...and the way soundtracks are made.

This is a very good compilation of songs but not a great soundtrack for this movie IMO. There are very few songs on this CD that capture what I think the movie is about (or what we're lead to believe its about so far). Overall I was expecting a much more energetic group of songs. I'm struck also by how many bands are on here that I've never heard of. Interesting choices I guess but I almost didn't buy the CD because of it. That being said, there are some really good songs on the CD such as Alter Bridge - Save me, 12 Stones - Photograph, Full Blown Rose - In the light, The Dreaming - Beautiful, Finger Eleven - Thousand Mile Wish, are all worth the price of the CD for me. The rest of the songs are relatively bland & unexciting, and Megan McCauley inspires me to nap. I was especially disappointed in the song by Evanescence (the main reason I bought the CD too), and the songs from Strada, and Jet. Jet's song hey kids is so bad its insulting. So Overall, the CD is interesting and there are some good songs but also some odd choices for the soundtrack.

I totaly loved this CD, when i first saw the movie i watched it twice just to hear the music! I love this CD and I suggest that EVERYONE should buy it! I really liked the song by Megan McCauley - Wonder! Great song!

Personally, I love a good number of songs from this album, including "Wonder" by Megan McCauley, which is playing a lot overseas, "Photograph" by 12 stones and "Breathe no More" by Evasnescence. I enjoyed the album throughout, but the thing this soundtrack lacks is diversity. It's a great buy, if you love that style of songs (if you're an Evanescence fan, go for it). Influences of Creed-derived bands throughout.

Definetly worth the price.

The only reason to pick up this album is for The Dreaming's slightly reworked version of 'Beautiful'. They made the guitars a little more "noisier" along with some extra electronica sounds in the back ground. The vocals of Christopher Hall, formerly of Stabbing Westward, are as amazing as ever. The combination of Hall, guitarist Diego Russo, former Econoline Crush drummer Johnny Haro, and new bassist Brent Burnett is beginning to look like someting special. Somebody please sign them to a label so we can hear a full length album.

I'm a huge fan of rock music, and there is plenty of it on here, mixed in with evanescence, and that band rocks! there are only one song on here im not sure about, other then that...heres my thoughts on the songs

1) Strata "Never There" ~ have never heard of them before, but this song is sooo good, it just catchy and good for rock fans, I will be buying their CD

2) Jet "Hey Kids" ~ Its a fun song, I never get sick of hearing it

3) The donnas "Everyone is wronge" Ahh im not a fan I dont like this song

4) Switchfoot "Sooner or later" Very good song, its very relaxing, and calming, and the lead singer has that kind of voice you just love

5) Megan McCauley "wonder" OMG this song ROCKS, it reminds me of Evanescence and I love that, the lyrics and beats really makes you get chills!

6) Taking back sunday "Your own disaster" good rock song

7) Evanescence "breathe mo more" HAHA LOVE EM! if you have never heard Evanescence you will love them after this song! tears will come to your eyes when hearing this song! trust me

8) 12 sones "Photograph" I havent really heard much about this band...but the song rocks anyways

9) The dreaming "Beautiful" Love this song...nothing bad to say

10) Submersed "Hollow" yet another kick a$$ song! I fell in love with it the first time a heard it! my 2nd FAV ON THIS CD!

11) Hawthorne Heightd "Angels with even filtier souls" its punky song, a bit too much for my taste but I like it

12) The Twenty Twos "5 years" a crazy sound to them, thats what I think is unique about this song, it good as a "somtimes" son g

13) Full Blown Rose "in the light" AHHH GREAT SONG! just like Megan McCauley great beats and a fab lead singer!

thats about it, I think that if your a rock fan, this CD is for you, but keep in mind its not godsmack there are a few slow rock sounding songs, but this CD is sooo awesome. If you want a movie soundtrack CD GET THIS!

This soundtrack is really cool. My favorites are: Never There by Strata, Wonder by Megan McCauley, Breathe No More by Evanescence, and In The Light by Full Blown Rose. The only track I'm not a fan of is Beautiful by The Dreaming. To me, that one is just noisy and the lyrics don't appeal to me at all. Overall, the cd is good.

I bought the soundtrack simply for The Dreaming's song "Beautiful". The Dreaming were perfect as usual. That song was awesome and the best one on the cd. The other tracks were average if that. Other ones I liked were Strata-Never There, Switchfoot-Sooner or Later, Evanescence-Breathe No More, 12 Stones-Photograph, Submersed-Hollow.

I just love the movie Elektra and had a hard time finding the album in a store and when I was able to find it through Amazon I was thinking- COOL! So far I am really enjoying this cd, there are alot of great songs. I like Meghans song because she also sings the same song on the Fantastic 4 album, Stone Sour's song is sweet and Evanescene's song with Amy Lee- always cool.