Original Soundtrack - Twilight [Original Soundtrack] (CD)

All Music Guide

Since Stephenie Meyer's hugely popular series of vampire books Twilight included thankyous to the bands that inspired her writing, it makes sense that the Twilight soundtrack includes some of her favorite acts. Chief among them is Muse, whose darkly funky "Supermassive Black Hole" kicks of this mix of altrock brooding (Linkin Park, Collective Soul) and more eclectic but still mostly melancholy tracks. Paramore contributes two tracks, the churning "Decode" and the soaring ballad "I Caught Myself," neither of which match the best moments from the band's albums, even though Hayley Williams' crystalline vocals make a fitting backdrop to Bella Swan's supernatural love triangle angst. Most of Twilight follows suit with slickly dark songs like Mutemath's "Spotlight (Twilight Mix)" and Blue Foundation's "Eyes on Fire," and while they're not bad, they are predictable. The Black Ghosts' spookily folktronic "Full Moon" and Perry Farrell's dancetinged "Go All the Way (Into the Twilight)" offer some changes of pace, with the former working better than the latter. The album's last moments offer a few glimpses of originality, even if actor Robert Pattison (aka beautiful teen vampire Edward Cullen)'s "Never Think" is heavily influenced by Jeff Buckley. Iron Wine's "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" and Carter Burwell's "Bella's Lullaby" close the album on a relatively high note, elevating some of the overly typical choices earlier on the soundtrack. Even if it's often too predictable, Twilight fits the mood of the books and the musical tastes of the books' fans well enough to make it a reasonable success.

- Heather Phares, All Music Guide