Advertisement

Soundtrack review: ‘Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1’

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Featuring requiems about birds, love, rain, love, northern lights and love, the soundtrack to the fourth installment of the “Twilight” saga is filled with melodies that touch that tender part of your heart — though not without a few (im)mortal wounds. But that’s to be expected: Vampire love is dangerous love.

The series that propelled artists such as Muse, Lykke Li, Grizzly Bear and Bon Iver into the ears of popcorn-chomping music fans offers music from a new crop with this round, including Theophilus London and Julia and Angus Stone, as well as more established acts like Bruno Mars and Iron & Wine. As with all of the installments, half are good, half aren’t — all depending on your mood and tolerance for soft rock.

Advertisement

Those uninterested in slow, weepy ballads should avoid like the plague the Imperial Mammoth, Sleeping at Last and Christina Perri songs, each of which will cause the vulnerable to melt — the exception being Aqualung and Lucy Schwartz’s “Cold,” which is a gentle but tense standout track. Other highlights include more energetic tracks, such as Belle Brigade’s romping piano-driven “I Didn’t Mean It,” the Joy Formidable’s solid dance-rock opener “Endtapes,” and Noisettes’ updated version of “Sister Rosetta,” a raucous stomp that draws on early R&B and rock.

Various Artists
“Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1” soundtrack
(Warner Bros.)
Two stars (Out of four)

ALSO:

Radiohead to tour U.S. in 2012; no SoCal dates unveiled

‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ soundtrack: Track-by-track reactions

Harry and the Potters: Is there a wizard rock life after ‘Deathly Hallows’?

— Randall Roberts

Advertisement