Customer Reviews

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Soundtrack

5 star:		(92)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The best thing you can say about any movie's soundtrack is that it can stand on its own, and that no matter what you think of the movie, the soundtrack is chock full of amazing music.

And the soundtrack to "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" is one of those. Whether you love or hate the teen-vampire-infatuation series, it's undeniable that the soundtrack has some excellent (if less indie than the last one) bands -- expansive rock'n'roll and lush echoing pop, some of it well-known (Muse, Vampire Weekend) and some relative obscure (Florence and the Machine).

"Tear me down, they can't/take you out of my thoughts/under every star/there's a battle I've lost..." It opens with Metric's "Eclipse (All Yours)," a beautifully layered pop melody filled with shimmering rough riffs; after that it segues into the painfully passionate "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" by Muse -- a lament that explodes into a supernova of dark racing riffs and wailing vocals.

There's a pretty good rock'n'roll showing after that, with the Bravery's fast-moving angsty "Ours," the Black Keys' raw bluesy "Chop and Change," the Dead Weather's slow-burning bleak "Rolling on a Burning Tire," and the mildly funky folk of Cee Lo Green's "What Part of Forever." The best: UNKLE's collaboration with the Black Angels is a brilliantly eerie, murky rocker, while Vampire Weekend slips effortlessly into the expansive, glittering "Jonathan Low."

Then there's the pop songs, which are even more remarkable -- Florence and the Machine's exquisitely spooky "Heavy in my Arms," Fanfario's sprightly "Atlas," Sia's haunting strings-and-piano ballad "My Love," Band of Horses' starlight-filled "Life on Earth," and Howard Shore's bittersweet piano melody "Jacob's Theme." But the best of the bunch is Beck's collaboration with Bat For Lashes -- a sensuous, elusive duet of piano and blips.

Finally, there are a pair of bonus tracks -- the ominously perky "The Line" by the Battles, and the vaguely hallucinatory Bombay Bicycle Club's "How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep?".

This soundtrack is pretty different from the two that precede it. It's not as deliciously indie as the "New Moon" one, but it's not crammed with emo popmetal either. In fact, there are only a few songs on this album that don't thrill me to the core, and only one I dislike -- namely, Eastern Conference Champions' blandly monotonous "A Million Miles an Hour."

And the bands included set a wonderful double mood -- some of the songs reflect bittersweet romanticism (Metric, Sia), but there's also a feeling of dark raw menace in others (The Dead Weather). There's a lot of slow sad piano, veils of electronica, bouncy acoustics and some deeply brilliant guitar riffs -- they can shimmer like starlight on the water, or erupt into a fast-moving, expansive band of sound.

And both the singers and lyrics stretch across a wide range. They can be dark and distorted, quirky, sweet, filled with pain and sorrow ("Love is forever... we'll die together"), and sometimes understatedly powerful ("Who is the betrayer?/Who is the killer in the crowd?/The one who creeps in corridors/and doesn't make a sound!").

You don't have to be a fan of the Twilight franchise to appreciate the music in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" soundtrack -- some is creepy, some is lovely, and most of it is brilliant.

I loved the New Moon soundtrack. The "indie" sound of that album was a perfect fit for the mood of the book/movie. The album also stood alone as a great collection of music without the Twilight connection. I was therefore looking forward to the Eclipse soundtrack, and purchased it the moment it became available. I'm only on my third listen, but I'm already extremely happy with the quality of music selected. The songs are mostly upbeat, with a few perfectly placed melancholy ballads. A great way to find new music, as I hate listening to mainstream radio. Two thumbs up to music supervisors Paul Katz and Alexandra Patsavas for compiling another fantastic listen.

I'm taking this moment to redeem my last review from the New Moon soundtrack. I was not smart in the fact that I posted the review probably a day after I first listened to the CD and I'm sorry to say I didn't give it the justice and credit it truly deserved. I wasn't born a fan of Indie music. As another reviewer has stated, you need to take some time to approach this particular style. If you don't, you'd probably turn away from it after the first listen. But after some time and hitting replay many many times over, the New Moon soundtrack turned out to the be one of my favorite compilation of songs I have ever come across. I still listen to it over and over, even a year later. And now, I was so excited for this new Eclipse soundtrack. I kept thinking - "Please have indie! Please have indie!" (diehard fan now people...it happens). And...it does kind of sort of have indie...but not really. This CD has a more of an alternative, edgy feel to it - especially with songs like "Chop and Change" and "Rolling In On A Burning Tire." And you know? I kind of love it. It's like I've been transported inside Jacob's head. Although the only drawback I'd say is this: yes, new moon was probably the saddest storyline and I thought the score of the film fit perfectly. But Eclipse has always been the more tragic of all four books. Maybe it's because I'm a Jacob fan, but really, he's hurting folks! And there's a bitter edge to him now as he is so hopelessly in love with Bella. So in this soundtrack, I wish there were a little more tragedy to it. I definitely felt some of it in the beautiful track "My Love" and then especially in the haunting melody of "Jacob's theme." I can picture the direction the score will take and I think I will be quite pleased, thank you. But the songs didn't quite give me the full range of emotions I feel while reading the book. It's got edge, it's even got pep, but the tragedy I'm looking for is slightly lacking.
Standout Tracks to me: Ours (it's catchy, i can't help it!), Heavy in Your Arms, A Million Miles an Hour, What Part of Forever, Jacob's Theme.

The soundtracks are definately the best part of the Twilight franchise, and this one is the best yet. I never buy whole albums anymore, but I made an exception for this one- and I'm glad I did. The movie left some of the best songs out, which was a huge bummer, so don't judge the soundtrack by what you heard in the movie.

My favorite is the brooding, sexy, Heavy in Your Arms (Florence and the Machine). What Part of Forever is opposite in tone- bright, upbeat, fun. Band of Horses and the Dead Weather also have especially great songs.

I don't know why some of the best alt/indie musicians agree to contribute to a movie made for teen girls who have probably never heard of them, but I'm glad they do.

First, let me say I'm a huge fan of TWILIGHT everything, and I pre-ordered this CD ahead of the movie. Dude, it's dull. Even from the perspective that this is Jacob's movie, it lacks the edginess that characterized the first two albums.

During the first movie I sat up in my seat and LISTENED to the TWILIGHT soundtrack. I mean, "Supermassive Black Hole"? Fabulous! The songs by Paramore? Wonderful! "Full Moon" by the Black Ghosts? Delightful. (Incidently, their album is great, too. Not on this album but an undeniable asset to the movie was Radiohead's "Fifteen Steps." And, of course, Pattinson himself, although I wish the track was "Let Me Sign" instead, but I'll take what I can get.

The NEW MOON C/D had "Shooting The Moon" with its surprisingly big finish. "Monsters" had me moving. "Rosyln" and "Slow Life" weren't edgy but they were innovative and unique.

ECLIPSE in contrast can only point to "Chop and Change" as having any meat to it. "Heavy in Your Arms" was the other track that even remotely caught my interest. Everything else was just there. When you consider that ECLIPSE was leading up to an intense vampire war, what's with such an uninspiring soundtrack?

When I go to the movies, I want the music to HEIGHTEN my experience. I want it to BE THERE, subliminally tugging at my attention while I'm engrossed in the action on the big screen. I want to mentally register that "Hey! This is a cool song!" without taking my eyes off the action. I want to search the end credits for the name of the band and the track. That being said, not one song on the ECLIPSE soundtrack aroused that curiosity in me. It flat missed the boat.

Let me state upfront that I am not a fan of the Twilight Saga movies (saw the first movie, have not seen the second one, and no plans to see the upcoming one), but last year's "New Moon" indie-compilation was a fabulous album (with Thom Yorke's contribution as the stunning highlight). Now comes the new compilation.

"The Twilight Sage: Eclipse" (15 tracks; 60 min.) continues in the vein of the "New Moon" compilation (no idea how many of these songs are actually used in the movie, so let's not call it a soundtrack). The highlights are many: from Metric's opening track, the sullen "Eclipse (All Yours)", on it goes with The Bravery's hard-charging "Ours". Florence + the Machine's "Heavy In Your Arms" is one of the very best tracks, period. The good surprises keep coming: check out Sia's beautiful "My Love" (not a cover of the Paul McCartney song), and The Dead Weather's dark "Rolling on a Burning Tire". But another absolute highlight is the Beck/Bat for Lashes duet "Let's Get Lost", just stunning. Another surprise for me was the very appealing UNCLE (feat. the Black Angels) track "With You In My Head" (I am a big Black Angels fan).

Some of the lesser songs on here for me are Muse's "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)", surely not their best stuff, and the Band of Horses' "Life On Earth", which is ok, but not memorable. But those are minor quibbs, and while perhaps slightly below the "New Moon" compilation, in all this is another great collection of indie-rock. If you like indie-rock, you will love this compilation, period.

I have the soundtracks from both Twilight and New Moon. Like the movies, the soundtracks get better and better every time. I LOVED the New Moon soundtrack and didn't really expect Eclipse to outdo it. The Eclipse soundtrack is great. There is a wonderful mixture of upbeat music and some really emotional songs. Jacob's Theme is instrumental, but for those of you who have read the books it really puts his feelings into music. Amazing. A couple other songs that really stick out for me are My Love by SIA. It's beautifully haunting. Chop and Change by The Black Keys is pretty sexy to me, I can picture this song in many movies other than Eclipse. A couple more gems on this album are Lets Get Lost by Beck & Bat For Lashes and Heavy in Your Arms by Florence & The Machine. If you like less than mainstream music give this soundtrack a listen. It is really fabulous, not only for Twihards, but music lovers in general!

I like about 4 songs on this CD. I prefer the previous 2 twilight soundtracks than this one.

The music they pick to put on the soundtrack for these films are nothing short of amazing. They give artist who are normally unkown to certain generations the opportunity to shine. Bat for Lashes was a great addition to this album and introduces us to something besided the main stream music that I personally am sick of. The only thing I didn't like about it...the cd case is paper...I like the hard plastic...hey...it's just who I am. You do get a poster inside for those of you who collect those; mine was Bella. I'm listening to it in the car, at home, and currently at work. Great buy.

I loved the New Moon soundtrack and thought this one would be just as good. Unfortunately, it was not. Only 1 or 2 songs that I ended up liking - maybe just too many unknown indies on this one for me.