The Autobots and Decepticons are at each other’s throats again or are at whatever it is these monsters have to approximate throats. Sam Witwicky is also back and he looks like Shia LaBeouf. He is cute and he has a blonde with him. And box-office take is off once more to new heights.
The third film of the highly lucrative Transformers series, Dark Of The Moon opened to excellent box-office results last week and director Michael Bay can once more afford to sneer at his critics. The guy knows what sells and he has lots of those things to delight the kids to no end in his movie.
Bay also obviously knows what type of music goes best with his Transformers and along with co-producers Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Rob Cavallo, he has come up again with a soundtrack CD that is as dark, as loud, as edgy and as hot as his movie. Although shorter than usual — it has only 11 cuts — I believe that this is the best of the three soundtracks. This is also the one that rocks the hardest and the one most able to stand on its own. That means movie or no movie, this is a great modern rock collection.
Leading the lineup of artists in the OST album is no one else but Transformers stalwart Linkin Park with the single release Iridescent. This is also the third time that the gut-busting Linkin Park is featured in its soundtrack. The first had What I’ve Done. The second Revenge Of The Fallen had New Divide, which the band recorded expressly for the movie.
And now here is Iridescent, a composition by Linkin Park with lyrics by vocalists Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington. Bay picked this one out of the last Linkin Park hit album A Thousand Suns to play as the end title song of the movie. Take note, Linkin Park member Joe Hahn, who did the video for New Divide, directs the video of Iridescent. He is the guy in charge of the samples, turntables, and who at times also sings backup and plays keyboards for the band.
The other artists included in the Transformers 3 soundtrack CD are no less hot or edgy as Linkin Park. In fact, two of them — Paramore and Goo Goo Dolls — have new singles that are available only in this album. Paramore, which is on its first Transformers outing, has Monster, the band’s first release since its big hit The Only Exception. The Goo Goo Dolls, who was earlier featured on Transformers 2, offers All That You Are.
Also featured are Taking Back Sunday with Faith (When I Let You Down) and The Bottom by Staind. Both are Transformers soundtracks returnees. They were in the earlier soundtracks. Their contributions here are new recordings, which I think, are the best of the lot.
I am not really a fan of these bands in a big way but I have noticed that I always enjoy listening to their albums. They both have this way of combining simple melodies with unique lyric turns and surprising arrangements that are almost British. And you know how good the Brits are with raising rock music to new levels.
The other tracks by other big rockers are also very good although most of them were culled from older albums. These are The Only Hope For Me Is You by My Chemical Romance; Get Through This by Art Of Dying; Head Above Water by Theory Of A Dead Man; Set The World On Fire by Black Veil Brides; Awake And Alive (The Quickening) by Skillet; and ZZ Top’s Just Got Paid performed by Mastodon.
I am sure that most of you have already seen Transformers: Dark Of The Moon. The theaters are packed and the lines are long. Time now to rock hard and enjoy the music. I am sure that all Transformers fans out there, who want to relive the thrilling moments without taxing their visuals, will love this album.
Added bonus from Warner Bros. Records: Buyers of the soundtrack CD will get a free special laminated poster of what else, Transformers 3.