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77 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
A Completely Original and Captivating Work of Musical Art
Those who've read my prior reviews on this subject know that I despised the "Twilight" movie with a fiery passion, but was a fan of the soundtrack. Now that they've changed directors as well as composers for "New Moon," I checked the "New Moon" soundtrack album out with some degree of eagerness. I bought it the day it came out...and I was utterly blown away...
Published 10 months ago by Phoenix Child
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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Varied and lush, but a bit uneven
It is truly nice to see indie artists get the spotlight on this album but it does feel like Alexandra Patsavas eschewed most mainstream artists simply because they were mainstream.
After hearing the teases on Amazon.uk I was expecting to love this soundtrack more than I did, but it does have some great tracks. Standouts include OK Go's trippy "Shooting the...
Published 10 months ago by Erin B.
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77 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
A Completely Original and Captivating Work of Musical Art, October 17, 2009
This review is from: The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack (Audio CD)
Those who've read my prior reviews on this subject know that I despised the "Twilight" movie with a fiery passion, but was a fan of the soundtrack. Now that they've changed directors as well as composers for "New Moon," I checked the "New Moon" soundtrack album out with some degree of eagerness. I bought it the day it came out...and I was utterly blown away.
There is not one single dislikeable song on this entire album. "New Moon" is a completely new and original work of music; you cannot find the songs on this compilation anywhere else, with each song completely original and written specifically for the movie soundtrack. The artists range from the well-known to the obscure, from the folk-rock to the alternative, and the impressive range and skill of each musician is apparent from the get-go.
The album kicks into a broodingly moody gear with Death Cab for Cutie's amazingly emotive "Meet Me on the Equinox," which bleeds into the slightly punky punch of "Friends" by Band of Skulls. Thom Yorke, the lead singer of alternative rock legends Radiohead, contributes his own dark electronic track "Hearing Damage," to be followed by the soft and introspective strains of "Possibility" by Lykke Li.
The Killers of indie-rock fame contribute the original "A White Demon Love Song," which perfectly captures the complicated relationships between Bella, Edward and Jacob throughout the story of "New Moon." Anya Marina belts out the lovely ballad "Satellite Heart," which is followed by a slinky new remix of Muse's new single "I Belong to You." Bon Iver and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club each come in with their own folk/aternative rock songs ("Roslyn" and "Done All Wrong", respectively), each track unique and lively in their own way -- indeed, the "New Moon" soundtrack could easily have fallen into the simple category of 'teen angst music' but the overall quality of the songs and the mixing are enough to completely sidestep that bullet.
Hurricane Bells lively rock anthem "Monsters" again ramps the album up from the slowness while still managing to capture the overall, ethereally brooding sense that holds this unique album together. Sea Wolf delivers a punchy folk tune in "The Violet Hour," which leads in to OK Go's new track "Shooting the Moon," a fun pop-infused folk/rock song that has a beat and a style all it's own. Grizzly Bear's darkly romantic "Slow Life" comes up next, and the final song for the album is "No Sound But the Wind" by indie/folk rock leaders the Editors, a lush and gorgeous piano ballad that carries us into the true star of this collection:
The final track on this compilation, however, is the true creme de la creme of this collection -- an original score work for the movie composed by the new French composer Alexandre Desplat. Titled simply "New Moon (The Meadow)," the complex piano melodies and heartrending orchestrations perfectly illustrate everything Desplat needed to accomplish, and this particular song outshines every other song on this album. (At this point, I'm almost more excited about the score album coming out than the movie itself!)
Bottom line -- whether or not the movie itself will improve on its predecessor is hard to gauge at this point, but this soundtrack is that rare kind of originality, that special kind of gem, that is hard to stumble upon this day, and yet this album managed to do it with grace. Introducing new acts, providing dazzling new material from old favorites, and mixing an album to keep it fresh while never losing the brooding cohesiveness of the project the mix is based upon is a difficult task, but "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" has more than stepped up to the challenge -- it hit a solid home run.
Five out of five stars.
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
Surprisingly Indie-riffic soundtrack, October 16, 2009
This soundtrack shocked the indie world. Who would have thought this teen pop culture phenomenon was going to have such a strong indie-centric soundtrack. It is a very downbeat soundtrack with moody songs from moody artists (that I personally love) for a moody movie. You can just feel the fear, impatience, longing, an inadequacy in most of the songs, which are primary emotions of adolescence and most vampire fiction.
Highlights for me were Thom Yorke's (Radiohead) song "Hearing Damage." Anytime I can hear new material from this guy I'm happy. It has a similar feel to his solo release, Eraser, which I thought was great. When I read about this soundtrack I was REALLY excited about hearing the Bon Iver & St. Vincent collaboration because I'm obsessed with St. Vincent's album Actor. It definitely sounds more like Bon Iver versus Clarke but her haunting voice adds a lot the song. I really like Grizzly Bear's "Slow Life. It has their normal haunting feel with unbelievable harmony.
Overall, this is a great soundtrack and since it's geared toward teens it's an awesome opportunity for them to hear from some of the best artists in music today. It does feel a bit like colliding of two worlds since indie fans typically don't like their bands to "go mainstream." However, I hope twilight fans grasp the uniqueness of so many great artists being on one soundtrack.
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29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
Great Soundtrack, October 16, 2009
This review is from: The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack (Audio CD)
As a fan, I've been eagerly waiting for the soundtrack and finally got my copy today. I am very pleased with this CD. I was a big fan of the Twilight soundtrack, but I can honestly say that I love this as well (maybe more).
Compared to the Twilight soundtrack, this is much quieter. With Twilight, it was a bit harder in sound and more fast paced. It fit with the hectic situations of the first novel. This New Moon soundtrack feels more somber and truly embodies the emotions at the center of the story.
This is definitely a must-have for fans of the series, or just fans of good music. But be warned, if you're not into more indie music, chances are that you won't care for this CD. But the indie feel is another part of why I really like this. Plus, I now have quite a few new favorite bands that I wouldn't typically hear on the radio. My personal favorites would be "Meet Me On The Equinox" "Friends" "Satellite Heart" and "Shooting The Moon".
I highly recommend playing this in your car on your way to see the movie in November; it gets you in the mood for the adaptation. But it's also wonderful to listen to while reading the book. Honestly, it doesn't matter what song you land on while reading, because each one is made amazingly well for the subject matter.
Oh, and you definitely get your money's worth with this. There are 15 songs and they're all of decent length, so for the $9.99 that you can buy the CD for right now, it's a steal that's sure to please.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Waxing moon, October 16, 2009
This review is from: The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack (Audio CD)
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 "New Moon" is one of those -- apparently the people behind it have gone completely indie in their tastes. Whether you love or hate the teen-vampire-infatuation flick, it's undeniable that the soundtrack is bursting with brilliant bands -- angular rock'n'roll and lush echoing pop, some of it well-known (Muse, Thom Yorke) and some relative obscure (Grizzly Bear, Lykke Li).
"Meet me on the equinox/Meet me halfway/The sun is perched at its highest peak/In the middle of the day... " Ben Gibbard sings distantly as the gentle guitars swirl around him. A storm of drums builds up every time he laments that "everything, everything ends," as his pronouncements about an unknown lover become eerier and more surreal ("A window/An open tomb/The sun crawls across your bedroom/A halo/A waning moon/Your last breath moving through you").
There's a pretty good showing of solid rock'n'roll following Death Cab For Cutie's memorable introduction -- Band of Skulls provides the buzzing, blunt-edged rocker "Friends," Hurricane Bells erupts in a buzzing storm of fuzzy bass and sharp beats with "Monsters," and Sea Wolf's "The Violet Hour" is a swirling little pop-rocker that seems to trickle down the reverberating guitar.
Then there's Thom Yorke, whose buzzy-edged electronic "Hearing Damage" is a furtive, dark little rush of sinister beauty. And of course, Muse is included in the stomping, mournful rocker "I Belong To You (New Moon Remix)."
Some of these bands are also going unexpectedly low-key to suit the mood, even if they're usually much louder. The Killers turn out the dramatic layered lament of "A White Demon Love Song," while Black Rebel Motorcycle unfurl a twangy lo-fi ballad "Done All Wrong." OK GO abandon their usual sound in favor of the trippy psychedelic-edged "Shooting The Moon," and the Editors dip into a dramatic, hauntingly sad piano-rock sound with "No Sound But The Wind" ("Help me to carry the fire/it will light our way forever..."
But some brilliant indie pop also makes the cut. Lykke Li's "Possibility" is a shimmering, icy little melody, while Anya Marina sticks to acoustic guitar riddled with organ in the whispery "Satellite Heart." The absolute highlights of the album: Bon Iver and St. Vincent collaborate on the otherworldly, hymnlike "Roslyn," and Grizzly Bear's exquisite "Slow Life" is a slow haunting build to a celestial climax.
For the record, I'm not a fan of "New Moon" or Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series in general. But I felt a prickle go down my spine when I saw the songs listed for the soundtrack -- they've crammed it with one brilliant band after another, ranging from hard rock'n'roll to soft, sweet ballads. In fact, the only one that failed to move me was Alexandre Desplat's outro -- frankly, it was four minutes of boredom for me.
Otherwise, the playlist sets a wonderful mood -- think a mingling of bittersweet romanticism and outright melancholy, with lots of slowly winding piano, buzzing guitar, acoustics and ghostly veils of electronica and organ. The singers' voices range from dramatic laments (Matt Bellamy) to quirky murmurs (Anya Marina), and their lyrics tend to reflect two themes: loss ("How much pain has cracked your soul?/How much love would make you whole?") and love ("Even though you're only one I see/I've got to set you free...").
Even those who are not (and probably never will be) fans of the Twilight phenomenon should immerse themselves in the "New Moon Soundtrack." Taken on its own merits, it's still a haunting string of beautiful songs.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Surprisingly Indie-riffic soundtrack, October 16, 2009
This review is from: The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack (Audio CD)
This soundtrack shocked the indie world. Who would have thought this teen pop culture phenomenon was going to have such a strong indie-centric soundtrack. It is a very downbeat soundtrack with moody songs from moody artists (that I personally love) for a moody movie. You can just feel the fear, impatience, longing, an inadequacy in most of the songs, which are primary emotions of adolescence and most vampire fiction.
Highlights for me were Thom Yorke's (Radiohead) song "Hearing Damage." Anytime I can hear new material from this guy I'm happy. It has a similar feel to his solo release, Eraser, which I thought was great. When I read about this soundtrack I was REALLY excited about hearing the Bon Iver & St. Vincent collaboration because I'm obsessed with St. Vincent's album Actor. It definitely sounds more like Bon Iver versus Clarke but her haunting voice adds a lot the song. I really like Grizzly Bear's "Slow Life". It has their normal haunting feel with unbelievable harmony.
Overall, this is a great soundtrack and since it's geared toward teens it's an awesome opportunity for them to hear from some of the best artists in music today. It does feel a bit like two worlds colliding since indie fans typically don't like their bands to "go mainstream" and twilight just feels bigger than life right now. However, I hope twilight fans grasp the uniqueness of so many great artists being on one soundtrack. It's worth listening too.
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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Varied and lush, but a bit uneven, October 16, 2009
It is truly nice to see indie artists get the spotlight on this album but it does feel like Alexandra Patsavas eschewed most mainstream artists simply because they were mainstream.
After hearing the teases on Amazon.uk I was expecting to love this soundtrack more than I did, but it does have some great tracks. Standouts include OK Go's trippy "Shooting the Moon", Anya Marina's quiet gem "Satellite Heart", Grizzly Bear's emotionally gut-wrenching "Slow Life" and the lush and ethereal Bon Iver & St. Vincent collab "Roslyn". I suspect I'll enjoy the soundtrack more once the movie comes out and it becomes more apparent where the songs fit into the storyline. I question the wisdom of putting the soundtrack out so far ahead of the movie but I realize that the appetite for "Twilight" is ravenous.
Overall, good but not great with four or five songs destined to be among my top played. 3 1/2 out of 5.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Meet Me On The Equinox, I Want To Shoot The Moon, October 16, 2009
Coming off what was called the soundtrack of the year, and considered the must-have album by any teenage girl of 2008, the New Moon soundtrack had a lot of uphill work to do. The Twilight soundtrack was more of an alt/modern rock effort, with Paramore and Muse catapulting off the frenzied pitch big time. But in my opinion, the Twilight soundtrack was a generic mess that catered to its movie and its audience. This soundtrack on the other hand does the complete opposite. The album has a little alternative rock, but its decidedly indie, featuring the biggest indie artists of the past five years. The results are surprisingly amazing.
Highlights Include:
Meet Me On The Equinox
Friends
Rosyln
Monsters
New Moon (The Meadow)
"Meet Me On The Equinox" is what first drew me to the album, and since I'm personally a big fan of Death Cab, I'd put it as the album highlight. It's lyrics are imaginative, and the music is decidedly alt rock at some of its best. The song is radio-friendly, but also blows me away every time. Also, at the tail end of the album is a short little piano piece that is stunningly beautiful in every way. It's timing is perfect, the skill and the mood all work together, and it seems to blend nicely with the rest of the album.
Simply put, the album has the feel that artists had the chance to do the soundtrack, and instead of catering to the movie, they just put out some new material they were working on. It's their sound, and all are very worthy additions to their collections. Bon Iver sounds like Bon Iver, and Thom Yorke sounds like Thom Yorke. Granted, I am not that familiar with the material of the book, but it seems like the lyrical content has nothing to do with the movie. Maybe some abstract stuff about relationships, but that's it. Also, since the artists featured tend to venture into darker material, the album has a very gloomy feel to it, but it's also so well done, it's easy to get lost in the atmosphere of the music.
Overall, I have a feeling the core Twilight fanbase will be utterly bewildered and disgusted by this album, especially the Tween audience. It seems to be built for collage radio with its non-conformity and maturity. It's dark, it's moody, it's independent, and it's surprisingly good. Don't be thrown off by the Twilight name, if you're a fan of alternative rock, or a big indie person, then pick up this album, you'll like what you hear.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
New Moon, new soundtrack, October 26, 2009
This review is from: The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack (Audio CD)
Right now, there are millions of people awaiting the new film in the Twilight series, "New Moon". To sate a small piece of that almost insatiable appetite, the second soundtrack in the series was released on October 16.
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" soundtrack features songs from a group of musicians who are just as eclecticly arranged as the soundtrack for the first movie in the series, in the sense that some lesser-known and even unknown names were chosen to hopefully piggyback on Twilight's success. Here, there are tracks ranging from Death Cab For Cutie, ("Meet Me on the Equinox") to the Killers, ("A White Demon Love Song"). These two tracks are the highlights of the album, although Death Cab seems a bit tamer here than usual.
Some notable tracks on this soundtrack include "Friends" by Band of Skulls, which has a deep, dark groovy guitar riff, "Slow Life" by Grizzly Bear which has a Bon Iver-esque sound, and "Roslyn" by Bon Iver himself, with St. Vincent.
"The Violet Hour" is a new track from the band Sea Wolf, (known by their single "You're a Wolf"). "Satellite Heart" by Anya Marina is reminiscent of Aimee Mann with her acoustic guitar and metaphorical lyrics. Muse has another track, this time with "I Belong to You [New Moon remix]". "Supermassive Black Hole" from the first soundtrack was much more impressive. This track is a bit more bland this time around.
Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame appears with "Hearing Damage" which, thankfully, retains much of the Radiohead signature sound and doesn't seem like a sell-out kind of a track. Surprisingly, OK Go appears here with a more mellow track from this usually upbeat band entitled "Shooting the Moon". Other tracks on this CD include Lykke Li's "Possibility", Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's "Done All Wrong", Hurricane Bells' "Monsters" and The Editors' "No Sound But the Wind". The album ends with the instrumental "New Moon [The Meadow]" from the score by Alexander Desplat.
All in all, this is a better collection of musicians than the first soundtrack in the sense that they do not have artists repeating here, like they did with Paramore having two tracks on the first album, but the sound itself is, at times, quite boring. There is a dark atmospheric theme presented throughout the listening experience, which is good in encapsulating how the overall mood of a vampire film should feel, however it seems more like a CD you'd put on to help you fall asleep. The choice of musicians at times makes you want to scratch your head, (OK Go). Some bands appear to have been chosen because their name would look appropriate with the subject matter, not because they make music appropriate to the genre, (The Killers, Sea Wolf).
It's not a bad CD but in comparison, the first soundtrack emerges stronger. This is surprising, since the first movie/soundtrack did so well financially that the powers that be must have had a bigger budget by now and could afford to be a bit more substantial.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
I was surprised by how much I actually liked this CD!, January 22, 2010
This review is from: The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack (Audio CD)
I loved the "SOUL" in this soundtrack. It speaks to me. I strongly recommend it to anyone. I bought it as a gift to my teenage sister, typical twilight addict, and listened to it with her. Went out the next day to buy it for myself. Its AWESOME!.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Soundtrack too good for the film it's attached too., November 6, 2009
This review is from: The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack (Audio CD)
I couldn't believe my eyes, Thom Yorke, Death Cab for Cutie, Muse, The Killers, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club? All on the soundtrack to what is most likely to be one of the worst movies of the year. A sequel to one of the worst films of 2008. Based on a book series that isn't even worthy of being used as toilet paper. Yes you heard right, this soundtrack is downright amazing. The wife purchased it, being a big fan of the movies and books, and when I saw the track listing I had to give it a listen. Nothing Thom Yorke is attached too could possibly suck and I was right. With an eclectic mix of artists the somber mood of the record easily slips from one wonderful track to the next. Even suck artists OK GO managed to surprise me with a very relaxed arrangement that is above and beyond the trash they usually put out. How did this happen? I have no idea but whoever is behind the soundtrack gave New Moon much more than it deserves. Its typical to see so many tweens and tarts opposed to actual good music, so sorry you got suckered into purchasing actual GOOD music. A wonderful collection of songs, its just too bad its the soundtrack to this really stupid movie.
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