Some critics hate it, some love it. All my friends that have taken in the latest big screen adventure about our friendly neighborhood web-slinger love it. So while the debate rages on about too many villains and gaps in the story logic, let’s take a minute to consider the soundtrack assembled for this movie, which collects material from a cross-section of the current crop of musical stars.
If you dig a little bit into the lyrics, you can find multiple commentaries concerning the relationship between Mary Jane and Peter Parker. The higher-profile bands represented here — The Killers, Wolfmother, Jet and the Flaming Lips among them – should give you an idea of what this will sound like.
However, like Corey Taylor’s “Bother” on the first film’s soundtrack, there are some gems that don’t garner immediate name recognition, but are worth noting. The stellar Snow Patrol’s “Signal Fire” opens this collection with a strong track and lyrics like “The perfect words never crossed my mind / because there was nothing in there but you / I felt every ounce of me screaming out / but the sound was trapped deep in me.” What a good description of Peter Parker’s relationship with Mary Jane, encapsulating the moment when he couldn’t tell her he loved her at the end of the first film.
The lyrics of the Killers’ “Move Away” also explore an aspect of Parker’s relationship with Mary Jane when the following lyrics are sung: “Don’t worry bout what might have been / Just tell your woman that you’re sorry / And you jumped out of your skin / Listen closely to your motto” in light of the plotline in the movie about Spidey’s personality-altering black suit.
Another track I return to is the Oohlas’ “Small Parts.” The following lyrics are a third example of analyzing the central relationship in the movie: “The decay of a former stone heart / Distributed into small parts / Now we cease to grow / we cannot function anymore / do not leave me here.” Of all the unheard bands on this release, I think the Oohlas are my favorite. Their debut Best Stop Pop was released in September 2006, and if “Small Parts” is what their debut sounds like, I’m looking forward to hearing that disc.
This is definitely a good collection of background music. There’s not a lot of musical adventurism — no odd times, no ferociously fast rockers, a feeling of sameness. Except for Wolfmother’s “Pleased To Meet You,” all the tracks melt into one another. Given that these songs are played in the background while something else is happening on the screen, I can accept that quality as good, but it doesn’t translate into a classic soundtrack when heard on its own.
The only song that sounds out of place is Chubby Checker’s “The Twist,” but at least the original is here instead of that awful remix released a couple of decades ago. It’s an oddball choice that doesn’t alter the album from what it essentially is: a modern rock movie soundtrack that’s a pleasant, if mostly inessential, listen.
