by Adam (Toronto, Canada) - Until now, every Saturday you were waiting for Mikey's reviews. These days he is very busy and I am trying to replace his 'review' editions until he finds free time again! We wishing him and his wife every luck for the future newcomer member (baby) of their family :-) So, each week I preview an album which I think deserves a listen to and if it's worth to buy, I will cater for all tastes of music from R'n'B to Rock, Hip hop and Pop.
The Punisher - Original Soundtrack
Release Date: 23 March 2004
When I went to the screening for The Punisher, I actually heard a fellow critic say that he was burned out on comic book movies. I thought he was saying movie blasphemy, but after seeing this one, I might be joining him. I did some research and found out the origins of the character. He first appeared in 1974 in a Spider-Man comic. Created by writer Gerry Conway and intended as a one-shot appearance, he proved to be popular. Frank was hired by J. Jonah Jameson to kill Spider-Man, since the newspaperman thought that Spidey was a killer himself.
In a sense, you could say that The Punisher started out as a bad guy.
Fans saw something else in him, and he got his own comic years later telling the back-story (revenge for his family, etc.) and having him act as a vigilante for others. He started out as an enemy of Spider-Man, but they soon became allies.
Okay, plain and simple, this is a rock album! This soundtrack proves to be a powerful set of tunes for an action packed movie. If the soundtrack is an indicator of how a movie is going to be, you really need to go see "The Punisher", hands down, no doubt about it. Within this soundtrack there are moments of fast tracks, and periods of what seem to be reflection or romantic interlude/tension. Don't worry; there are only 2 tracks that are available for you to take a break from banging your head into oblivion.
This without a doubt is the best soundtrack for a movie we have heard in a long long while. They have incorporated some seriously rock hard bands for this compilation, and it would be in your best interest to get this soundtrack, even if you haven't seen the movie.
It's very much in the vein of the Daredevil OST (which helped launch Evanescence to superstardom). Speaking of Evanescence, both current singer Amy Lee and former guitarist Ben Moody highlight two of the tracks on the album. It kicks off with a track by Drowning Pool, a angry rock band whose lead singer died a year or two ago. Then you get a track by Puddle of Mudd, which sounds a lot like all the other songs they've done. Speaking of bands whose songs sound the same, Nickelback is next with an original track "Slow Motion." Now I know, Nickelback have plenty of critisim but this track is actually pretty damn good,a good heavy(ish) song.
Next is one of my favorite songs, "Never Say Never" by Queens of the Stone Age. With the hooky line "I might like you better if we slept together," you won't be able to get this song out of your head.
Following that track is the song "Broken" by Seether featuring Amy Lee of Evanescence. They make a great combination. The album sort of begins to sound the same after this with original tracks by Smile Empty Soul (another angsty-rock band), Trapt, Chevelle, and Damageplan, a wannabe Pantera band... but that's what you get when you're influenced by members of Pantera!
Hatebreed picks up the album from the depths of boredom with the screaming metal track "Bound to Violence."
One of the more solid tracks is also by Seether, called "Sold Me." Of the remaining songs, the only notable ones are "Eyes Wired Shut" by Edgewater, an old track by Finger Eleven called "Slow Chemical," and a song that Ben Moody does called "The End Has Come," arguably one of the top four on the CD. The "Slow Chemical" is another incredible song, I like it a hundred times better than "One Thing" which is just kind of annoying.
I also recently heard a great song by Atomship, so this album might help get their name out there as well.
Follows Seven Wiser, a brand-new band with the fantastic track "Sick" and Submursed with "Complicated" which I think is pretty clever
However, I'm completely unconvinced that this album functions to provide insight on the inner turmoil of Frank Castle's character or the story of his life, but if you can completely separate it from the film, it's a listenable selection of music.
Overall, this CD can be divided into four parts. The first six songs are keepers, the next three are similar sounding, the next five are absolutely great, and the last five are good, but not memorable. If you're a fan of Seether, Evanescence, or Queens of the Stone Age, or you just like driving rock music but not overly into metal, this album is perfect for you.
It's got some of the best contemporary acts for you to shatter your eardrums to, and you will listen to nothing else for quite awhile.
Rating: 9/10
Tracklisting
1. Step Up - Drowning Pool (10/10)
2. Bleed - Puddle Of Mudd (8/10)
3. Slow Motion - Nickelback (9/10)
4. Never Say Never - Queens Of The Stone Age (9/10)
5. Broken - Seether & Amy Lee (10/10)
6. Finding Myself - Smile Empty Soul (8/10)
7. Lost In A Portrait - Trapt (6/10)
8. Still Running - Chevelle (9/10)
9. Ashes To Ashes - Damageplan & Jerry Cantrell (5/10)
10. Sold Me - Seether (8/10)
11. Eyes Wired Shut - Edgewater (10/10)
12. Slow Chemical - Finger Eleven (10/10)
13. End Has Come, The Ben Moody, Jason Miller (vocals) & Jason Jones (10/10)
14. Piece By Piece - Strata (8/10)
15. Bound To Violence - Hatebreed (6/10)
16. Sick - Seven Wiser (9/10)
17. Complicated - Submersed (8/10)
18. Time For People - Atomship (10/10)
19. In Time - Mark Collie (7/10)
