With the streaming preview of the Eclipse Soundtrack kicking off earlier today, I have now listened to the soundtrack in it’s entirety a total of three times.  The moment I was waiting for had finally arrived, and yet I was left a bit disappointed.  While I don’t dislike the soundtrack by any means, it simply didn’t live up to the expectations I had set.  The Twilight Soundtrack was good, The New Moon Soundtrack was better, and I hoped that Eclipse would blow me away, sadly it didn’t.  In fact I think the Eclipse Soundtrack has completely shifted the mood and feel of the Twilight world I have come to love.  What was once a dark and moody mix of indie and alt rock acts has morphed into an indie-pop party.

Metric: “Eclipse (All Yours)” The film’s theme song by Metric did exactly what I said it would in my initial reaction to the soundtrack.  It brought an up beat feel to the entire album, and started the soundtrack off on a lighter, more bubbly note.  I think the poppiness of this song actually surpasses anything from the previous two soundtracks and sadly lacked the harder hitting pulse I had hoped for.

Muse: “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)” While I still feel this track is a bit over the top for Eclipse, it’s a song that has quickly grown on me.  I am a huge Muse fan and this is an amazing addition to any Muse fan’s record collection, but I simply don’t think it fits Eclipse, which leads me to believe it will be found in the credits.

The Bravery: “Ours” Where I had hoped the Bravery would bring their darker side to the Eclipse Soundtrack, they instead provide a danceable anthem that takes us back to the early days of their radio hit “Honest Mistake”. Needless it’s the first time I’ve wanted to get up and shake my ass to a cut off of a Twilight Soundtrack since Perry Ferrel’s Go All The Way (Into the Twilight) from the Twilight Soundtrack.

Florence + The Machine: “Heavy In Your Arms” The same group of people who are giddy about Peter Murphy having a roll in Eclipse are bound to love this track.  While I initially compared the existing works by Florence + The Machine to Kate Bush, this track has remnants of classic Siouxsie and the Banshees.  Maybe it’s because I am an old bugger and this track has a nostalgic feel to Siouxsie, but this is by far one of my favorite tracks off the album.

Sia: “My Love” As a long time fan of Sia I had hoped that she would stick to her roots and not veer off into the strange direction heard on her upcoming release.  Thankfully she did just that.  “My Love” is a piano driven soundscape that is soft and dreamy and brings a balance to this predominantly upbeat soundtrack.

Fanfarlo: “Atlas” Fortunately thanks to YouTube we grabbed a stripped down version of this song prior to the soundtrack’s release and shared it in our original post, but the song has since been spruced up with a faster tempo and the addition of some percussion.  While I still enjoy the song, I think the stripped down version we originally heard was superior.

The Black Keys: “Chop and Change” In my opinion “Chop and Change” is this generation’s equivalent to Edwyn Collins’ “A Girl Like You” from the 1995 film Empire Records.  Mixing classic rock hooks and modulated organ this song carries the retro feel I mentioned in my initial review.

The Dead Weather: “Rolling In On A Burning Tire” I was actually quite surprised by this one.  While I knew the song would most likely be edgier than the rest of the soundtrack, I had half expect it to be much more upbeat than it was.  However, “Rolling In On A Burning Tire” is a bluesy number that has a very ominous almost foreboding feel to it. I sense some newborns on the move!

Beck and Bat for Lashes: “Let’s Get Lost” My second favorite track on the album and perhaps the one track I was most wary about.  I love the music of Bat for Lashes and was a fan of Beck’s live performances probably more than anything, but the mix of the two seemed a bit off.  Fortunately for me and everyone else listening to the soundtrack they have put together a musical masterpiece.  This is another piece that stands out on this soundtrack and brings on a similar dark wave feel felt in the Florence + The Machine track.

Vampire Weekend: “Jonathan Low” As assumed previously, the Vampire Weekend track is upbeat and in a lot of ways catchy, but by no means some of the best work from the band.  I feel the verse is strongly lacking and the chorus and coda’s are what really make this song stand out.

UNKLE: “With You In My Head (ft. The Black Angels)” The song falls along the lines of what I predicted. Trip-hop roots mixed with a brit-rock sound.  While more upbeat, this has a similar feel to Radiohead’s “15 Step”, which appeared in the credits for Twilight.

Eastern Conference Champions: “A Million Miles An Hour” I mentioned in my initial review that this was a band that spanned genre’s and sounds, and they did just that with this song.  I had anticipated a more upbeat power-pop track for the Eclipse Soundtrack, but instead we are left with a heavier, moody, Radiohead-esque track.

Band of Horses: “Life On Earth” This track takes me back to some of my favorite elements of the New Moon Soundtrack.  Acoustic guitars, banjo’s and a folky feel to the entire song Band of Horses paints a musical picture that allows you to relive all of your favorite moments of Eclipse in slow motion in your head.  Lacking any real depth in it’s lyrics, which simply repeat throughout the song it’s purpose seems more to instill some sort of emotion than move you with deep lyrics and meaning.

Cee Lo Green: “What Part of Forever” Still the “WTF” track off the whole album, Cee Lo Green’s “What Part of Forever”, was actually a pleasant surprise.  An upbeat pop song laced with reverberated guitar it caries the theme of the rest of the album perfectly.

Howard Shore: “Jacob’s Theme” Bella’s What?  This is an amazing piano piece and while simply and repetitive, I think in a lot of ways it is stronger than “Bella’s Lullaby” by Carter Burwell.  I am highly anticipating the release of Shore’s score as I think it will build off of the beauty heard in Alexander Desplat’s New Moon Score.

The new video, also features previously unreleased clips and imagery from the Eclipse Movie.

What are your thoughts on the new song and video?

After months of torture we were finally given the entire track list for the Eclipse Soundtrack.  Granted Myspace took their sweet ass time to give it to us, and after waiting half a day for the full track list I must admit that I feel it was completely worth it.

When the New Moon Soundtrack was announced I was pleasantly surprised to see that Summit had gone the extra mile to provide a soundtrack packed with previously unreleased works.  It appears that Summit and Chop Shop Records have come through again to provide yet another collection of previously unreleased tracks and again have opted for less mainstream acts to grace the album.  In the style of last years post I thought I would again give our readers an insight into some of the artists as both a music enthusiast and a Twilight fan.

Metric

Canadian Indie-Rock outfit Metric is probably most known for it’s radio-friendly 2009 release “Help I’m Alive”.  Female lead vocals, alt-guitar licks and a strong synthesized underbelly mixed with a pop aesthetic gives this band the perfect sound for a soundtrack like Eclipse.  Metric’s music keeps an upbeat tempo regardless of the subject matter or theme of the song which is sure to bring a stronger pulse to the third installment in the Twilight Saga soundtrack’s.  This will also band’s second interaction with vampire’s, since the song “Help I’m Alive” was featured on an episode of The Vampire Diaries last year.

Muse

What can I say about Muse? I love the band and they are a staple of the Twilight universe, Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever) is their third contribution to the Twilight Soundtrack’s and I would be amazed if we don’t see them return for a fourth track on Breaking Dawn.

The Bravery

Ironically enough I made a crack in my New Moon synopsis about how Sea Wolf sounded like a combination of The Bravery meets Muse with a dash of Coldplay and interestingly enough the Eclipse Soundtrack brings us The Bravery. If you’re unfamiliar with The Bravery that’s probably because radio hasn’t been very kind to the band since their 2005 self titled release.  Most known for their radio hit “Honest Mistake”, The Bravery mixes synth-pop and darkwave to create their unique alternative sound.  Their 2009 release Stir the Blood was considerably darker than their previous efforts and my hope is that the theme will continue in their Eclipse Soundtrack contribution titled “Ours”

Florence + The Machine

Florence + The Machine was one of the handful of artists that were included in the rumors about artists contributing tracks to the soundtrack, but aside from Muse they are the only band who actually made it on the album.  One of my favorite songs by this artist is “Cosmic Love” and I really hope that the band can put something equally brilliant together for the Eclipse Soundtrack.  Mixing musical foundations that remind me of Kate Bush and the emotional lyrics and crooning vocals of lead singer Florence Welch I think Florence + The Machine will bring a dynamic to the Eclipse Soundtrack very similar to Lykke Li’s “Possibility” from the New Moon Soundtrack.

Sia

I’m a long time fan of Sia, so my opinion on this one may be a bit biased, but again I think this is a solid contribution to the soundtrack. The Australian-born folk singer is probably best known for her 1994 song “Breathe Me”, which if you haven’t heard you should go listen to it. It’s one of my favorites.  Most recently Sia released her cover of “Under The Mily Way” by The Church, which was featured in recent Lincoln-Mercury ads.  My only real concern with Sia’s involvement on this record is that her upcoming release, which is due out June 22, is unlike any of her past work and is much more poppy than the folk-driven tunes of her past.  My hope is that she sticks to what her fans have come to love for the Eclipse Soundtrack.

Fanfarlo

Prior to the Eclipse Soundtrack being announced I have never heard of this group.  After listening to the bands 2009 release “Resevoir” I was quickly reminded of bands like Belle and Sebastian and even a stripped down version of Interpol.  But after further digging I came across a YouTube video of what is allegedly the song which is being featured on the Eclipse Soundtrack:

The Black Keys

Listening to The Black Keys takes me back to the days when I would sit and listen to my dad’s old record collection.  Built on a classic rock formula their music is simple, but good.  Letting the music and lyrics do the talking without the overproduction and overdubbed electronic additives we have come to find in today’s popular music. I will be interested in seeing how they tied this band into a soundtrack.

The Dead Weather

Another Jack White supergroup, The Dead Weather really doesn’t bring anything new to the Jack White collection that hasn’t already been done with The White Stripes and The Racontours.  We’re sure to be treated with a wealth of guitar riffs and some distorted vocals.  In the end I think The Dead Weather will bring the edge to this album that is probably going to drive either some of the fight scenes or the introduction of some of the big bad newborn vamps.

Beck and Bat For Lashes

Perhaps the weirdest combination of artists I have seen since David Bowie and Bing Crosby, this is still a pairing I can’t completely wrap my head around.  Beck has been reinventing his art ever since he hit the scene with 1994′s Mellow Gold from alt-rock, to blues, to folk, to jazz and even influences of rap and funk you are never quite sure what to expect from the work of Beck.  Bat For Lashes on the other hand have grown to be known for the haunting of vocals Natasha Khan, and the dark moody music that accompanies her. With remnants of artists like Tori Amos, Bjork, and Kate Bush Bat for Lashes could bring a very dark and ethereal addition to the Eclipse Soundtrack, however with the introduction of Beck into the mix it has the potential to go just about anywhere.

Vampire Weekend

Clever lyrics and a variety of influences have made Vampire Weekend a favorite among many music publications.  However as an artists who’s stylings are so far from the norm I am curious to see how they fit into this overall collection of music.  Tracks are normally upbeat and feature a non traditional song structure that is peppered with influences from New Wave, Reggae, and a variety of other genres.

UNKLE

Another artist I was unfamiliar with prior to the soundtrack’s announcement, UNKLE is rooted in trip-hop and rock and has had their most recent released compared to the stylings of Muse among other Brit-rockers.

Eastern Conference Champions

Eastern Conference Champions offer a wide range of musical experiences for their listeners.  In one hand they can provide a hard pop-punk feel to their music and in the other hand they can strip it down and belt out a song remnant of acts like Death Cab For Cutie.  The fact that their contribution to the Eclipse Soundtrack is titled “A Million Miles An Hour” I am left to think we are going to get some of the faster pop-punk inspired tunes that graced their 2007 release Ameritown.

Band of Horses

Another of my favorites, Band of Horses, is an indie-rock band that layers their music in amazing melodies driven by reverberated guitar and pristine vocals.  Another band that can provide a range of both hard hitting indie tunes and then slow it down to shoegazer pop, I am really interested in seeing what this band is offering the soundtrack.  I would love to see a contribution similar to 2007′s “No One’s Gonna Love You”.

Cee-Lo Green

The, “WTF” track off the whole album is contributed by Cee-Lo Green.  Another artists I was unfamiliar with, but who’s name screamed rap.  Upon further investigation I was correct in my assumptions.  His most recent work seems to be a contribution to the Kung Fu Panda soundtrack where he did a cover of the song “Kung Fu Fighting”.  My only hope hear is that there is some sort of parody involved and we get “Vampire Fighting” or something corny like that, because the introduction of a hip-hop outfit the the Twilight Universe just doesn’t feel kosher to me.

So what is it about the Eclipse soundtrack that makes it so much more tight lipped than past Twilight soundtracks.  The rumor mills have been churning for months about artists, but still, not a single artist has been confirmed.  Is the date retraction from Amazon.com simply because they put it up before an official announcement, or is it because the release is going to be pushed back?

It is rumored that Atlantic records will be making the official press release regarding the soundtrack soon. I had originally anticipated word today, following the announcement of the Eclipse score completion last week in addition to the release of the final movie trailer.  Since nothing was released today, I am predicting we will hear something early tomorrow morning or first thing next week. Anything later seems out of character for the release schedule we have seen for both Twilight and New Moon.

I did some digging into David Slade’s past movies to see if I could find any sort of trends in the music used or if he favored any particular styles, but surprisingly Slade’s previous directorial works have very little to offer in the soundtrack department. The soundtrack to his 2005 film Hard Candy only features two songs that are not part of the film’s bizarre score.  His 2007 film 30 Days of Night consisted solely of an original score developed by Brian Reitzell.  Both films rely heavily on dark, almost haunting scores to carry the plot and mood of the film.

I am left to wonder if perhaps Eclipse will be the first of the Twilight films to put the score at the forefront of the film.  Summit Entertainment confirmed earlier this year that composer Howard Shore had been hired on to tackle the score for the third Twilight installment.  Shore has an extensive composing history with some of his biggest achievements coming from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

When you look at all the elements from David Slade’s past, to the action and suspense that is expected in Eclipse, partnered with a composer like Howard Shore and it would seem is if the Eclipse soundtrack may rely heavily on it’s score.  That’s not to say we won’t see a soundtrack out of the third film, but I do believe that it may take the back seat when it comes to carrying the film and many of it’s memorable moments.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Eclipse will change the soundscape of the Twilight universe, or will the successes of the past two films’ soundtracks force the filmmakers to squeeze in whatever music they can?