It’s 1994 and a man that is brutally murdered, comes back to life as an undead avenger to seek retribution for his and his fiancée’s murder accompanied by an epic soundtrack!! Sound familiar, yes it was The Crow!
A cultural phenomenon, a tragic story, a myth, a legend, a perfectly created vision of the original graphic novel by James O’Barr, a graphic novel that I had purchased a few years before this film was made. First published in 1989. It is fair to say I have a love for this film, the thought of a remake fills me with trepidation. There is a cult loyalty to the original film and many peoples reasoning to not touch it with a remake due to circumstances around the death of Brandon Lee and respect to the lasting legacy of his performance. The sequels did not exactly set the world on fire and are barely mentioned. I believe there are 3 and a TV series.
I’m not here to discuss the film as I cannot fault it, Brandon Lee is perfect in this role as are all the cast, especially Michael Wincott as Top Dollar, T-Bird, Fun boy, Tin Tin, Skank, Shelley and Sarah, Ernie Hudson as the cop as Albrecht and Gideon.
I am thinking about the music. As soundtracks go it does not come much better, not the score which was also released but the soundtrack of tracks to accompany the film and set the scene, the atmosphere, the narrative. Nine Inch Nails’ second studio album, The Downward Spiral was released in 1994 so to have them on the soundtrack was a genius move. Their song Dead Souls being one of the, if not the most important tracks in the film. It is The Crows song, the one that follows him, the one that plays as the realisation and transformation into the character takes place. The supportive songs from such a heavyweight list all adding to the dynamic that are the characters and action. I always like the way After the Flesh by My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult was playing downstairs in the club, the film switched to the table shootout scene and a discussion in silence, as the scene unfolded and the action continued the track merged back in adding to the franticness of the scene. Its all one with the film, as though they cannot exist without each other.
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “Burn” | The Cure | 6:39 |
| 2. | “Golgotha Tenement Blues” | Machines of Loving Grace | 4:01 |
| 3. | “Big Empty” | Stone Temple Pilots | 4:56 |
| 4. | “Dead Souls” (Joy Division cover) | Nine Inch Nails | 4:52 |
| 5. | “Darkness” (Re-recording of “Darkness of Greed”) | Rage Against the Machine | 3:42 |
| 6. | “Color Me Once” | Violent Femmes | 4:10 |
| 7. | “Ghostrider” (Suicide cover) | Rollins Band | 5:46 |
| 8. | “Milktoast” (Also known as “Milquetoast”) | Helmet | 3:59 |
| 9. | “The Badge” (Poison Idea cover) | Pantera | 3:54 |
| 10. | “Slip Slide Melting” | For Love Not Lisa | 5:48 |
| 11. | “After the Flesh” | My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult | 3:00 |
| 12. | “Snakedriver” | The Jesus and Mary Chain | 3:43 |
| 13. | “Time Baby III” (Re-recording of “Time Baby II”) | Medicine | 3:52 |
| 14. | “It Can’t Rain All the Time” | Jane Siberry | 5:31 |
It’s a playlist to behold, it never gets tired, forgetting the actual film for a second, will the new soundtrack live up to this? That is a tall ask!
So, The Crow reboot starring Bill Skarsgård in the role of The Crow, the first trailer is posted below. It has Post Malone track “Take What You Want” featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott from 2019. Not bad but it will be interesting to see where the rest goes. There are so many metal and nu-metal bands around to choose from, I cant see them dipping into any other genres, it’s pretty much set as a style although the new film looks less gothis in appearance. The bands they choose will certainly dictate a demographic, bands like Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, The Cure and Stone Temple Pilots would fall somewhat on deaf ears of the modern audience, and these are the more mainstream on the list above. Will it be n=bands that match the Bring me the Horizon crowd? Asking Alexandria? Of Mice and Men? Bad Omens? Architects? to name a few?
What will the new soundtrack look like? Does it want to appeal to the old audience,? Or will it ignore that and attract a new wave of fans with known music of now? Time will tell!
