The Twilight Phenomenon Hits The Music Scene

25 Million New & Used CDs / Vinyl Records

Music Forum

My Account / Login

The Twilight Phenomenon Hits The Music Scene
by Alexis Andrews - November 20, 2008

Twilight, a vampire-romance flick with a great soundtrack

Poor, old-school me: the extent to which I know about vampire movies is loving – and being terrified of – Brad Pitt’s character in Interview with the Vampire. That was in 1994, less than fifteen years ago. Now, thanks to Hollywood and a hugely popular series of novels by Stephanie Meyer, a renewed thirst for gorgeous vampires is sweeping round the globe. In the spotlight, this time, is 108-year-old but teenage-looking vampire Edward Cullen, the main character in the romantic-fantasy film adaptation of Twilight.

You probably know more about the books and the movie than I do. Teenage girl moves to small town to live with her father. Meets a mysterious teenage boy. Who turns out to be an old vampire. It’s an us-against-the-rest-of-the-(vampire)-world kind of love story. Young actor Robert Pattinson stars as Cullen, and Bella Swan – the vampire’s love interest – is being played by Kristen Stewart. The novel, currently one of the most popular titles today for young adults, has been adapted for the silver screen by screenplay writer Melissa Rosenberg, while Catherine Hardwicke is at the film directorship helm.

Helping generate even more excitement for the upcoming fall film is the Twilight soundtrack album, which will be released under Atlantic Records. It has recently debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and is poised to sell hundreds of thousands more of copies by the time the film is officially screened in theaters.

Almost as much hype is being made about the Twilight soundtrack music as the film itself. Meyer, who was one of those consulted on the soundtrack, has gone out to say that she had listened to several bands while writing the novels, among them Muse and Linkin Park. Moreover, music plays a very crucial role in the story of Twilight: on the author’s official website there is a playlist posted for each book in the series. Hence, the selection of songs and artists to be featured in the Twilight soundtrack became an object of much speculation, gossip, and word-of-mouth buzz.

The 12-track soundtrack for Twilight includes contributions by Muse (Meyer’s favorite alternative band), Linkin Park, Blue Foundation, Iron & Wine, The Black Ghosts, and MuteMath. Also included are original songs by Perry Farrell, Collective Soul, and Carter Burwell. Paramore also appears in the album with songs made exclusively for the soundtrack. Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen in the movie and wrote two songs for it, is also in there.

The intense feeling that fans have for the books is reflected in their reception of the soundtrack album. “I am happy to have it (the soundtrack album) in my collection of works and creations stemming from the original Meyers novel,” says Twilight fan Fallon Clark. “The (featured artists) contributed some wonderful pieces of music in which to indulge one’s self in the captivating world of Meyer’s vampires.”

Needless to say, Twilight has become a phenomenon. Not only in the literary and movie worlds, but also in the mainstream music scene. I should catch up on it to make myself feel young again.

Subscribe to Latest Articles

Recent Postings

New Music Releases – November 24, 2009 - Nov 24

New Music Releases – November 17 - Nov 16

New Music Releases – November 10, 2009 - Nov 9

New Music Releases – November 3, 2009 - Nov 2

New Music Releases - October 27, 2009 - Oct 27

New Music Releases - October 20, 2009 - Oct 19

Happy 40th Birthday To Abbey Road - Oct 1

New Music Releases – September 29, 2009 - Sep 29

Ask Mr. Music - September 29, 2009 - Sep 29

Bird and Animal Names In Rock and Roll History-part thirty-two - Sep 27

Categories

Recent Postings

Recent Comments