 The first Matrix soundtrack did virtually everything right; huge modern rock tunes such as Marilyn Manson's Rock Is Dead, Deftones' My Own Summer (Shove It) and Rammstein's Du Hast sprinkled with a light coating of old school electronica courtesy of the likes of Propellerheads and the Prodigy. It didn't matter that most of the tracks weren't even in the movie, because as a standalone disc it was fit to stand alongside seminal metal-filled soundtracks like The Crow, Judgment Night and Spawn.
Just as The Matrix Reloaded is to The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded: The Album is bigger and badder, but with a little less to get your teeth into. All the usual suspects are back, but this time with brand new tracks instead of established material. Marilyn Manson turns in the self-explanatory This Is The New Shit, Rob Zombie conjures up Reload and P.O.D. dream of Zion on Sleeping Awake. At least you won't have half of these already - the only criticism that could really be levelled at the first one.
Dancy stuff is split between the established - Oakenfold, Fluke; the questionable - an Oakenfold remix of Dave Matthews Band's When The World Ends; and experimenting metallers - Linkin Park and celebrity side-project Team Sleep.
Entertaining as all this is, the real stars of The Matrix Reloaded: The Album are actually on the second disc. The instrumental score to the film proper, as provided by Don Davis, Juno Reactor and Rob Dougan has some spectacular moments. The collaborative Mona Lisa Overdrive and Burly Brawl sound fantastic cranked up, and document two of the movie's biggest fight scenes. Either of these discs would be worth picking up, so together the choice is pretty clear cut. While The Matrix Reloaded: The Album isn't quite up there with its predecessor, it does make a worthy companion to a flawed but entertaining movie. :: Rowan Shaeffer |
