FDF Volume 4 Issue 323 - The Crow - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Album – The Crow (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Artist - Various
Key Players – The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine etc.

Produced By – Jeff Most, Jolene Cherry, Tom Carolan

Release Date – March 29, 1994

Overview - This is the soundtrack for the 1994 film. Based off a comic book the soundtrack has many cover versions of songs all with a bit of a “modern” twist. The soundtrack sold well, actually going to #1 on the Billboard charts. The films star, Brandon Lee, was killed on the set before the film was even completed.

FDF Comments (aka the songs) – The soundtrack is 14 tracks long and begins with a re-written track from The Cure called “Burn” has all the classic elements of a Cure song, the extended intro with a solid deep bass line. Robert Smith's classic delivery of lyrics and drums add to the darkness of the track. Machines of Loving Grace “Golgotha Tenement Blues” starts with a ringing bass and the guitars slowly build over and electronic sounding drum track. A band known for more heavier industrial sounding tracks, this is surprisingly laid back. Stone Temple Pilots “ Big Empty” follows and this song is just that classic STP sound. The big guitars and soaring vocal. It was on the band “Purple” album and still garners a ton of radio airplay. Nine Inch Nails  cover the Joy Division song “Dead Souls”. Reznor does a fine job and uses a bit of the technology that Joy Division would have used if available at the time. The bass and drums are the standouts on the track. Rage Against the Machine re-recorded, and renamed their inclusion on the soundtrack to “Darkness”. Starting surprisingly slow and hushed for a band of their reputation it quickly changes to what you'd hope and expect from RATM. Once you hear the Morello guitar line you know what to expect. “Color Me Once” is a track from the Violent Femmes. A wild change of direction from the prior tracks. A very slow tune with brushed drums and then heavier bass strikes make a hushed tune seemingly grow. An extended guitar solo is the highlight.  The Rollins Band  perform “Ghostrider” a track originally done by the band “Suicide”. The Rollins Band is always heavy, without a ton of splash. You get what you get. Buzzing guitars, deep bass and Henry's howl. Nothing to be missed. “Milktoast” (or Milquetoast) from Helmet  came from their “Betty” album and the rat-a-tat-drums and swirling guitars still get me each and every time. The version here is a little different that the original, mostly with the production values on the guitar. The original sounds better to me personally. Pantera cover Poison Ideas “The Badge” and its a rowdy one at that. What we'd want from Pantera, the growling vocals and heavy instrumentation. I'll admit I know next to nothing, okay nothing about For Love Not Lisa who play the tune “Slip Slide Melting”. It fits well with the bulk of this soundtrack with the big guitars and vocals. It has the grind of Helmet and the speed of Pantera. We get our tech fix when My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult play “After the Flesh”. Layer upon layer of keyboards and distorted vocals is the norm here. The Jesus and Mary Chain  blast out their trademark drone on “Snakedriver”. The big guitars along with bass and prominent tambourine plug along. Oh, it gets fuzzed out later, don't worry! “Time Baby III” from Medicine follows. The first female lead track. Sounds a lot like the Cocteau Twins to me, with the layers of angelic voices, its just the music is a bit more uptempo than what the Cocteau Twins were known for. Closing out the collection is Jane Siberry with “It Can't Rain All the Time”. Easily the quietest of all the tracks, blending the light vocals with acoustic guitar and long keyboard drones. The vocals do double up and it becomes more full

FDF Overall Take - The soundtrack is coming up on 20 years old already. It pulled in some pretty heavy hitters back in 1994 and the covers make it interesting enough. Some of the tracks you still hear to this day which is also a testament. A few shippable tracks, but overall its worth your time.

Links  (find out more..follow and buy)

The Crow on imdb.com

Buy it!

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