Eclipse Soundtrack Changes The Mood of the Twilight Universe

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.