Little Known Fact: The Twilight Saga Soundtracks Are EXCELLENT!

Hello Good Nerds!

You may or may not be aware that I also write a weekly Twilight Blog. Yes, I am a Twihard. Writing that blog has provided me many opportunities from practicing my love of writing to having the chance at  interviewing celebrities from the films.  Even press entrance to GEEK MECCA Dragon*Con!

This doesn’t mean I don’t look at the series critically. There are many issues within the series to discuss and I love to do it, yet at the same time I enjoy the series!

If you have to breathe, take a moment.

Whatever your opinion on the Twilight books or movies (and trust me, I’ve heard them all), here’s one thing people don’t seem to know: ALL of the Twilight Saga soundtracks are excellent. Not in an “Omgosh, I love everything in my fandom” way, but in a “These could really win a grammy!” way. If you haven’t checked out the soundtracks b/c you don’t like Twilight, you’re cheating yourself. Allow me to tempt you.

Let’s take a tour of each one:

(if an artist’s/group’s name has a link it will take to you the song they performed on that soundtrack)

In the beginning, Twilight was an independent film done by a very small studio on a very small budget.  The soundtrack to the first movie reflects this. Excluding Paramore & Linkin Park, all of the other artists were not very well known, but they did not lack quality.

Muse is one of my favorite groups and their involvement with Twilight shot them to superstar status thanks to the Vampire Baseball scene. The scene might be ridiculous, but the song is not.

The reason why Muse was on the soundtrack? Author Stephenie Meyer is a huge fan and years before the movies asked if they would do her the honor of being on the soundtrack if she ever got a film made and they agreed! Honestly, that was dream of mine before Twilight was ever published.

Two of my favorite tracks from this soundtrack:

“Spotlight [Twilight Mix]” by Mute Math

And probably most surprising is the song is “Never Think” by Robert Pattinson, a.k.a. Edward Cullen.

You’d probably never think a guy who looks like this:

Would sound like this!

By the time New Moon came around Twilight was a firmly cemented pop cultural phenomenon . It made more money than anyone expected. The fandom grew so strong that rainy Forks, WA become a dream destination for thousands of fans. The fandom actually turned the economy around. Forks is one place the recession didn’t touch.

With all the fame & notoriety, artists were itching at the chance to be on the soundtrack. Some even campaigned their fans and the label, but didn’t make the cut. Let’s look at those who did.

This soundtrack kept that indie feel, but with some familiar (but not many mainstream) acts like Thom Yorke, Bon Iver & St. Vincent, The Killers, Lykke Li, & Deathcab For Cutie

Being consistent with the movie, many of the songs deal with isolation and heartbreak, but this isn’t a total down of an album.

Howver, “Shooting the Moon” by OK, Go is a song I cannot get out of my head two full years later.

Eclipse is a much darker film than the previous two.  The Cullens have more enemies than fangs and must align with one enemy to defeat another. You see more traditional vampires in this movie who kill with enjoyment and are merciless in battle.

This soundtrack keeps in step with the tone of the film containing darker rock influenced tracks. The artists on this soundtrack are much more popular than on the previous two, but still rock that “alt” sound. Again, I think it’s a total winner from play to stop (Metric, Cee-Lo Green, & Lupe Fiasco are on here!) Here are few of the tracks I really love.

And of course, with only 7 days left until it’s premier, the Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 soundtrack was released this week. Again the music matches the theme of undying love carried in the film.  Unlike previous soundtracks nearly all of the songs here were specifically written for the movie (excluding The Noisettes track, perhaps)! I really love the single, “1,000 Years” by Christina Perri.

I’ve only been listening for a couple of days, but these two tracks jumped right out at me!

Get over your bias and GET DOWN! You can always download the albums from iTunes if you’re too embarrassed ;)