Producers try to craft a soundtrack as a self-contained listening experience, expanding upon a movie while remaining apart from it.
But most soundtracks fail to rise above the level of marketing gimmick, often sporting songs that never even make it into the film. “Spider-Man 3,” which promises to obliterate its box office competition when it opens Friday, demands an aural companion above the rest, and Venice, Calif.-based label Record Collection delivers it.
Released today, the soundtrack wisely avoids trying to be all things to all people, presenting songs from the film as well as tunes “inspired” by it (i.e. low-cost fodder). It runs the pop-rock gamut without straying too far into disparate genres such as hip-hop or country, avoiding the schizophrenia of so many others.
The disc’s quality is the real surprise. Granted, a few random radio-rock clunkers hold prominence (see Snow Patrol’s “Signal Fire,” which takes breathy, Coldplay-lite wallowing to new levels) but it mostly contains music that justifies, and even begs for, purchase. The soundtracks to the first two “Spider-Man” movies blended highlights of Danny Elfman’s orchestral score with regular songs, but the third installment sticks solely to the tunes.
In a heartening trend, a number of indie bands run alongside radio kings the Killers and Jet – the latter an alum of the “Spider-Man 2” soundtrack. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Sealings,” the disc’s best song, marks a return to form for a trio whose last album felt polished and reserved. Overdriven guitar lines perfectly complement Karen O’s cat- scratched vocals, bleeding into a triumphant chorus. Don’t be surprised if you hear it blaring righteously from open car windows this summer.
Black Mountain’s “Stay Free” strikes a surprisingly mellow tone, mashing the high-pitched vocals of the Flaming Lips with the patience of a “Sea Change”-era Beck. Appropriately, the Flaming Lips follow that track with their own offering, “The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to Be in Love.” Self-indulgent, tepid and a bit too cutesy for its own good, the song fails to leave much of a mark.
The dics’s strength is its fearless weirdness. Past “Spider-Man” soundtracks relied on emo, pop-punk and nu-metal, but the quieter tracks here (Rogue Wave’s “Sightlines,” the WYO’s “A Letter to St. Jude”) are unafraid to emphasize moody melodies over vocal histrionics.
A trio of songs have a better chance of breaking big than the others. The Killers’ “Move Away” retains the U2-indebted guitar sound of “Sam’s Town” but charges harder with a guttural bass line and pseudo- electronic breaks. Wolfmother’s roiling “Pleased to Meet You” could be a White Stripes cover, catchier than it has any right to be.
Finally, the second single, “Red River,” proves why New York’s the Walkmen are a band on the verge. The song is a Dylanesque shard of squawking, off-kilter guitar and sporadic percussion. A just world will hand these boys a hit single this summer.
Let’s just hope the film is worthy of its soundtrack.
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
