1. He's Fucking Dead
2. Knights In White Satin - The Moody Blues
3. Halloween Is Coming
4. The Things We Do For Love - 10cc
5. Who's Lee Marvin?
6. Amerarockers - Scream
7. Jam & Jelly
8. Kick Out The Jams (Live) - MC5
9. Ass Good
10. (I Know) I'm Losing You - Rod Stewart
11. D-E-A-D
12. The Chase Is Better Than The Catch - Motorhead
13. I'm Angel Myers
14. Laurie's Theme - John 5
15. I Want To Party
16. Transylvania Terror Train - Captain Clegg & The Night Creatures
17. Jack-O-Lantern And A Blonde
18. Honky Tonk Halloween - Captain Clegg & The Night Creatures
19. Bring Your Baby Back Home
20. I Just Want To Make Love To You - Foghat
21. Snapped On By Weird Al
22. Time To Die - Void
23. I Love You Mommy
24. Love Hurts - Nan Vernon
25. Nurse Killa - Tyler Bates
Once upon a time, soundtracks were just marketing tools for movies, existing mainly to draw attention to the movie, but this changed when the hits on the album began to overshadow the movie. Whether it's Saturday Night Fever , The Bodyguard , Garden State, or Pulp Fiction Good soundtracks have a way of outlasting their source, and a well composed soundtrack can remain relevant and popular long after the movie has been forgotten. Rob Zombie , who knows a bit about making music, did an excellent job with the soundtrack for his reboot of the Halloween franchise, but how does the second effort compare?
Scattered throughout the album are several movie clips, dialogue between characters I've no knowledge of, so until I watch the movie, I can't say whether the clips work or not. If you've never seen Pulp Fiction, for instance, (and if you've not, what's wrong with you?) Jules Winfield's reciting of scripture (a somewhat liberal interpretation at best) isn't going to mean much to you. However, since the verse is the lynchpin of the whole movie, after you've seen it, the short monologue seems the perfect way to end the soundtrack. None of the clips included on the soundtrack seem to have that sort of gravity, but until you've seen the movie, it's impossible to say for sure.
The song selection, as was the case on the first soundtrack, is titled heavily toward 70's rock bands. The obvious songs by bands like The Moody Blues and Foghat have probably appeared on more best of 70's compilations than most any other songs from the decade. Without the aid of seeing the film, it's impossible to say that the scenes these songs come from will forever change your opinion of the songs. However, it seems, at best, unlikely. Occasionally a film will accomplish this with a song, (Tarintino did it with "Stuck In The Middle With You" and Linklater did it with "Tuesdays Gone") but the two songs here have been used so much and played so many times, its difficult to imagine a scene which could erase the weighty baggage both songs already possess.
Zombie wisely stays from the obvious selections at times, particuarly with Rod Stewart's "(I Know) I'm Losing You" and more impressively Motorhead's"The Chase Is Better Than The Catch." Obscure, deep album cuts by well known artists work better in soundtracks, mainly because the songs have few, if any, overbearing associations. "Ace of Spades", I think, would be a bad choice, but because Zombie went in a different direction, the song sounds fresh. MC5's "Kick Out The Jams", which is the band's best known tune, is an exception, as its a live and very raw version of the song.
The soundtrack also contains a few original songs, including former Marilyn Manson (and current Zombie) guitarist John 5's "Laurie's Theme." Tyler Bates has another instrumental piece, "Nurse Killa" on the album. Both of these tunes are creepy and filled with the sort of sound effects you'd expect in a horror film. "Nurse Killa", in particular, wouldn't sound out of place in one of the original Halloween movies.
The breakout music on the album, however, comes from a band called Captain Clegg & The Night Creatures, who also appear in the movie as themselves. It's a sort of psychotic bluegrass music, the type of music you might here in a run down bar on the bayou in Mississippi. Maybe if Brian Seltzer and Ozzy Osborne got together, it might resemble "Honky Tonk Halloween." The two songs by the band on the album stand out from everything else, and for a band named after an old Peter Cushing movie, it feels as though they've found their ideal (and no doubt haunted) home.
The 411: Take away the obvious, ("Knights In White Satin" "I Just Want To Make Love To You"), the filler (the movie sound bites) and the unnecessary(Vernon's "Love Hurts" cover) and you're left with a handful of good songs. The two standout tracks by Captain Clegg & The Night Creatures, as well as the obscure Rod Stewart and Motorhead tunes make the soundtrack worth picking up. (And if you don't already own MC5's "Kick Out The Jams", the live version included here is required listening.) Whether or not the soundtrack accurately represents the movie, I can't say, not yet. Taken on its own, however, this is a respectable, maybe even inspired, collection.
