So, I recently received the Watchmen Soundtrack as a gift from my Uncle, he knows that I love OST's and just gave it to me out of the blue. I listened to it and felt somewhat compelled to tell you all my idea's and thoughts on the Soundtrack, not the movie. Keep in mind that there are TWO soundtracks; The first is the Music from the Motion Film (the one I received, it has the music) and the Official Score for the Motion Film, which is the background instrumental music. The Score is done by the same person who did the music for the film 300, also by the same director. Anyways, Enjoy.
Watchmen, an epic graphic novel of a what if universe in which masked vigilantes are active and actually affect history. This glorious and highly praised novel was later adapted to a Motion Picture directed by Zack Snyder, who also directed 300. The film was accompanied by a very good score of music by Tyler Bates, but it was also complimented by a very great collection of music that has managed to withstand the battle of time. In my opinion, this soundtrack rivals that of a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack.
Starting off on a down note, this soundtrack is relatively small in comparison to other soundtracks an albums. Where a normal album now contains an average of 16 songs, this soundtrack holds on 12 songs. Some notably missing songs are 99 Luftballons by Nena, Take a Bow By Muse and The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning by Smashing Pumpkins, the latter two of the three used for the first two trailers that were released.
Now, one of the best things of this album is how old most of the music is. A lot of them range from the 1930's, such as Unforgettable, up to the 1970's, like Along the Watchtower. This album feels like a collection of defining music and if the music is not from the period then it doesn't quite break the slower pace of the music with songs like Pruit Igoe & Prophecies. Another of the downsides to this album is the very first track is a cover of Bob Dylan's Desolation Row which is covered by My Chemical Romance. For Dylan affionadoes this might be off putting since the song is of a much faster pace and feels overall out of place in the soundtrack. To some of the younger listeners this might prove to be an upside; I personally could have done without the song.
Another great feature of this album is that the songs are updated to 5.1 sound for the film. If you listen to it on computer speakers or an older CD player, then you don't really hear it (I don't since I use my computer), but the audio quality is definitely great. I've used the song The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel to test this. I have the original "The Graduate" soundtrack, and Sounds of Silence [2001 re-issue] album, both of which feature the song. The sound is definitely crisper and better on the Watchmen soundtrack than it is on either of the two latter albums.
Although I would've loved to have the three named missing tracks in place of the My Chemical Romance cover, this is still a great album. I would highly reccomend it to anyone who's seen the film, or just enjoys a classic collection of music. If I were to rate this I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5. Definite props to the digital upgrade treatment, but thumbs down on the out of place MCR cover in the album and its relatively small track number.
Track Listing
Desolation Row - My Chemical Romance
Unforgettable - Nat King Cole
The Time's they are A-Changing - Bob Dylan
The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
I'm Your Boogie Man - K.C. and the Sunshine Gang
You're my Thrill - Billie Holiday
Pruit Igoe & Prophecies - The Philip Glass Ensemble
Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
Ride of the Valkyries - Budapest Symphony Orchestra
Pirate Jenny - Nina Simone
In Case You Were Wondering...
The creepy organic music you hear in the trailers is the song Pruit Igoe & Prophecies by The Philip Glass Ensemble.
All Along the Watchtower is originally a Bob Dylan song covered by Jimi Hendrix, Dylan has publicly stated that he prefers Hendrix's version over his own.
Although not all played by him, this album features a total of 3 Bob Dylan songs.
This is only the second album to be allowed the use of the song The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel since the film "The Graduate".
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