Counting down the best Heavy Metal and Movie Soundtrack music of 2009

Now that 2009 is quickly becoming a fleeting memory, all the major media outlets are scrambling to remind the public of what it SHOULD be remembering as the best and worst of the year. Nine times out of ten, these lists are ham-fisted, shameless plugs for that which was the most popular, what is most likely to win awards, with smatterings of unknown indie releases simply to prove that the “experts” aren’t the nose-upturned snobs we know they are.

Whatever happened to culling lists because they were fun? Why not make a list of things that you genuinely like, without any kind of ulterior (or advertising-linked) motive? Ham-fisted concoctions like those you see in mainstream magazines only continue to act as ego-stroking that spoon-feeds us until we become so reliant on those “experts” to tell us what is “good” and what is not. And we ultimately forget that the “experts” are merely people with opinions…just like us.

This is why I agonize over making “best of” lists, because it only serves to express my own personal opinion. If you read any list you find online, you will undoubtedly see a string of comments of both praise and complaint – praising the writer for including some of the reader’s favorites (which was actually a coincidence), or chastising the writer for “forgetting” to include certain things or flat-out telling him/her that he/she is wrong in his/her choices and rankings.

So, with all of that weighty nonsense in mind, I have decided to offer up, to help close out the year properly, a list of 20 heavy metal and movie soundtrack/score albums (respectively) that I felt were great – be they fun, sophisticated, throat-crushing, or just straight-up earworm-y. If you don’t agree with the choices, I applaud you for not being a clone of me.

Read my Examiner feature on the best Movie Soundtracks of 2009 here!

And check out my Examiner feature on the best Heavy Metal releases of 2009 here!


Jolly day!

My Encounter with an Academy Award Nominee: Discussing The Twilight Saga New Moon soundtrack with composer Alexandre Desplat!

It’s not every day that you get an opportunity to speak with an Academy Award nominee, let alone one who recently was the recipient of two World Soundtrack Awards. But for all his accolades, French film music composer Alexandre Desplat is a true artist, devoted wholly to his craft. If he is publicly acknowledged for his work, so be it. He accepts it humbly, and keeps his head buried in whatever project he undertakes.

With the release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, however, Desplat may find himself unintentionally metamorphosing from workhorse to rock star. Having delivered a score that ignites imagination and passion from its listeners, surely many more honors are in the cards.

He completed seven scores this year (Chéri, Coco avant Chanel, Un prophète, L'armée du crime, Julie & Julia, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and the aforementioned New Moon) and he’s already got three in production for 2010…so far. How can someone possibly concentrate on such a work load when he is consistently offered awards?

It is here where our conversation begins…

It’s funny; I thought I would get better at it when I go up on stage to grab whatever award it is. But as I look out into the audience, I see people like Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Robert DeNiro, and Charlize Theron, I get so impressed and I ask myself, “What am I doing here???” I’m very humbled by it and very happy at the same time.

Do they affect you as a creative energy and the projects you take on?

The main thing there is to be inspired by film. That’s what drives me; that’s what I like; that’s my life. The rest is just an accident. You get an award or you don’t get an award, who cares? But if you make a great film, it’s fantastic, and it’s the best thing you could do if you find a great relationship with a director. Of course, the great thing about awards is that your name becomes more exposed. But I think the body of work that’s behind you is most important. Because if I did bad work and provided bad music for movies, I’m not sure I would get another call.


Read the full interview here!

Here in Autumn TWILIGHT: An in-depth review of the NEW MOON soundtrack

Go ahead, say it. I sold out. Well, not exactly, but I was actually intrigued at how the music would turn out, given the year's worth of hype and speculation.

New Moon is inarguably the most anticipated soundtrack release of the year. There is an irony in that statement, because historically (with a scant few exceptions) soundtracks are the red-headed stepchild of the music industry. However, thanks to such monstrously popular releases like the High School Musicalseries, the Hannah Montana comps, and last year’s jaw-dropper Twilight, soundtracks are enjoying a resurgence that hasn’t been seen since the early 1980s, when Footloose, Flashdance, and Purple Rain were dominating the charts.

But with popularity comes a price. While the 1980s soundtracks were sculpted to draw in a variety of audiences, the modern soundtracks target very definite groups, be they children, ‘tweens, females, males, or genre-specific fans. New Moon seems to be designed to break down some of those barriers and open up its built-in audience to a broader spectrum of musical experience. While its predecessor Twilight was like a hodge-podge of “it” bands, taking advantage of a scene, building a franchise and an opportunity (not to mention bleeding Paramore’s fame just a little bit “more”), New Moon is more adventurous, no, daring in its bold choice of songs and artists.


Read my full track-by-track analysis here!