Nightmare Revisited – review

Artist: Nightmare Revisited

Title: Soundtrack

Label: Disney Records

Rating: 7/10

Corporate line:
With “The Nightmare Before Christmas” franchise growing each year, Walt Disney Records is releasing a brand new cover album, “Nightmare Revisited.” The album features unique, ALL NEW RECORDINGS on the eccentric cult classic, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” soundtrack, covered by a diverse group of artists across different music genres. Artists such as Amy Lee from Evanesence, Korn, Rise Against, Shiny Toy Guns, Flyleaf, Polyphonic Spree, and more! Take a spin with these great songs and show us there is still plenty of nightmare to revisit.

The tracks:
“Overture” f/DeVotchKa – Sounds a scottish hoe-down rather than an opening track to a Halloween movie.

“This is Halloween” f/Marilyn Manson – Marilyn Manson is the king of creepiness and his take on this song is brilliant. Manson might be the only artist that could take a song of this album and put it on his own album.

“Jack’s Lament” f/The All-American Rejects – AAR opens brilliantly but this is the sort of song that needs a visual to hold it together.

“Doctor Finkelstein/In the Forest” f/Amiina – Purely instrumental–good for a nap.

“What’s This?” f/Flyleaf – Perhaps my favorite song from the movie–except for “This is Halloween.” Flyleaf’s take doesn’t really do the song justice when performed as a rock track because it’s missing the atmosphere.

“Town Meeting Song” f/The Polyphonic Spree – The Polyphonic Spree shows you what Pink Floyd might do if they were making a soundtrack for a kid’s movie. Here is a suggestion–The Polyphonic Spree and Danny Elfman should get together and write an album. It’d be brilliant to say the least!

“Jack and Sally Montage” f/The Vitamin String Quartet – Another instrumental interlude.

“Jack’s Obsession” f/Sparklehorse – At first I thought–who is this chick singing… nope, it’s a dude. Big mistake.

“Kidnap the Sandy Claws” f/Korn – This song is brilliant. I haven’t heard Korn have this much fun in a decade.

“Making Christmas” f/Rise Against – This is the complete opposite of the Korn track. It lacks atmosphere and playfulness. Rise Against doesn’t make Christmas–they make a Rise Against song without thinking about the overall idea.

“Nabbed” f/Yoshida Brothers – Who are these guys? I had no idea until I looked them up. I want all their albums. Their music is beautiful. This is the only instrumental track that made me listen over and over again.

“Oogie Boogie’s Song” f/Rodrigo y Gabriela – An instrumental track that has the opposite effect of the Yoshinda Brothers.

“Sally’s Song” f/Amy Lee – What can’t Amy Lee sing? Amy Lee is magical. If I was Danny Elfman and Tim Burton I’d be trying to figure out how to get this voice on future projects.

“Christmas Eve Montage” f/Rjd2 – Block rocking beats. Techno/hip-hop has connection with this soundtrack.

“Poor Jack” f/Plain White T’s – As much fun as it sounds–it’s not really more than a color by numbers cover.

“To the Rescue” f/Datarock – This techno track doesn’t fit–no, not in the least.

“Finale/Reprise” f/Shiny Toy Guns – The soundtrack to your nightmares. Is it too dark? So it would seem.

“End Title” f/The Album Leaf – Another miss.

Finally:
There are some really interesting and fun tracks. The usual suspects are absolutely brilliant: see Marilyn Manson, Korn and Amy Lee from Evanesence. There are some huge surprises like the Yoshida Brothers. It’s rare that you get a soundtrack and find an artist that makes you want to go out and buy their albums like the Yoshida Brothers do. If you are a fan of the movie, like myself, this still isn’t a must buy–however those four or five tracks certainly are worth downloading.