Album a Day (Soundtrack Edition): The Crow Soundtrack

If you're not familiar with this soundtrack then there is zero chance you were paying attention in the mid-90's. For many The Crow was their favorite film (and if you think this is just simply a cult movie then I challenge you to go back, check out some of the better performances, look at the cinematography, just see the production design and then tell me its just a cheesy movie) and part of what spoke to a large number of people was the soundtrack. Often times with these compilation soundtracks what makes them good is that you're calling attention to a particular genre and putting it in the mainstream where it wasn't before, i.e. with Hackers you had all sorts of electronica, Mortal Kombat was mostly industrial, SLC Punk should be obvious to anybody. The previously mentioned soundtracks are great, but the difference with The Crow was that it was more about the vibe than the genre. There was clearly a lot of attention to detail when it came to what songs would fit this film in spirit not just in catering to a particular audience. The end result is mostly dark as should be expected but you get a mix of metal, rap metal, hard rock, industrial, modern rock, and shoegaze, which serves to create a narrative throughout the album. My point being here that often times with compilations its almost impossible to discuss the disc in terms of flow, movement, etc., but the diverse nature and hard work put in to it makes that much more doable. I love the way this soundtrack starts off with The Cure's Burn (specifically re-written for the movie) the song was easily the theme song for the film, which is completely fitting given that the comic book's creator James O'Barr was an avid Cure fan, even going so far as to reprint the lyrics to The Hanging Garden on a full page of one of The Crow comics (something worth picking up and checking out by the way). This is one of my top Cure songs (probably my favorite to dance to) and its so odd because the song has a fairly different vibe than any other Cure songs and part of its appeal is centered in its unique quality. After the initial Cure song the soundtrack moves into one of the more underrated bands of the 90's, Machines of Loving Grace with Golgotha Tenement Blues, just a great industrial rock song. Machines of Loving Grace actually might be one of the more diverse bands on the album themselves as you get this great mixture of most of the other elements in the band and especially this song. This also helps with the transition to the next several tracks which are a bit harder including perhaps the most mainstream song on the album, Stone Temple Pilot's Big Empty, and the most popular song on the album Nine Inch Nail's cover of Joy Division's Dead Souls. Big Empty of course would go on to become one of the bands most popular singles and would eventually be released as both a single and on the album Purple, however it's first release would come on this soundtrack. Nine Inch Nails version of Dead Souls would become so popular that many began to think that Reznor was responsible for the writing of the song (interesting that this would happen to Reznor just short of a decade later when Johnny Cash covered the Nine Inch Nails song Hurt). In a way I wish that the Joy Division version was on the album because of O'Barr's similar affinity to Joy Division that he had for The Cure, often titling chapters after Joy Division songs. However, Reznor's version of this song is just so good and this is one of only a few Joy Division covers that really had stood out as being just as good as the original (and one of the few covers that isn't of Love Will Tear Us Apart). The cover also has such a great placement in the film and would be one of several covers on the CD in addition to Pantera's cover of The Badge originally by American Hardcore Punk band Poison Idea and Rollins Band's cover of Ghost Rider by Suicide. In regards to Ghost Rider, there's something very on the nose about including a song about another comic book hero (and almost feels like wearing white after Labor Day) but its such a solid cover and if you're going to pick a song about another "super hero" then I'd say Ghost Rider is it. Its also amazing with the bands mentioned you still get on top of that Helmet, Rage Against The Machine, and Violent Femmes who would become three of the more legendary bands in the mainstream consciousness. However, the rest of my favorite songs on the album would come from bands that gained more success in their respective underground scenes like My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Medicine, and Jane Siberry, who all played significant roles in the film with both TKK and Medicine appearing separately but each on stage in the warehouse/club that was part of Top Dollar's headquarters, and Jane Siberry's It Can't Rain All The Time would start as the song by Eric Draven (The Crow)'s fictional band that winds up playing on repeat as Sarah listens to it on vinyl only for Eric to appear out of nowhere. This is a great soundtrack that was well put together, thought out, and with a lot of care. Favorite Tracks: The Cure - Burn, Machines of Loving Grace - Golgotha Tenement Blues, Stone Temple Pilots - Big Empty, Nine Inch Nails - Dead Souls, Rollins Band - Ghost Rider, Helmet - Milktoast, My Life with The Thrill Kill Kult - After The Flesh, Medicine - Time Baby III, and Jane Siberry - It Can't Rain All The Time