Various Artists: Transformers: Dark Of The Moon – The Album
The third installation of Michael Bay’s Transformers series opened to negative critical reviews but big box office numbers. The movie grossed nearly 80 million dollars worldwide on its opening weekend. I suspect the soundtrack has grossed much less but that does not mean it does not deserve its own review.
The negative critical reviews of Transformers the movie have been based around the fact that the movies have gotten big, ridiculous, and overblown. Roger Ebert called the film “visually ugly film with an incoherent plot, wooden characters and inane dialog.” The same can largely be said for the soundtrack.
The soundtrack mixes released and unreleased songs from artists like Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Staind, Taking Back Sunday, and others. One of the songs recorded specifically for this soundtrack is Paramore’s “Monster.” To borrow words from Ebert, the song is wooden and inane. The lack of emotional depth in the song mirrors that of the movie.
The one song that really stands out is the album’s closing track, Mastodon‘s “Just Got Paid.” The track has a kind of classic groove metal feel with a hint of Motorhead in for good measure. It is the only song on the soundtrack that does not sound like a ridiculous arena rock track.
While I guess I should give the soundtrack props for mirroring the movies pathos and feel, there are far too many mediocre to simply bad songs on the soundtrack to really praise it. Overall, I am sure it will move some units with the big names on the soundtrack but it is pretty forgettable.
Rating: 3.3/10
MP3: Mastodon “Just Got Paid”
Buy: iTunes
Various Artists: Transformers: Dark Of The Moon – The Album
