Released at the beginning of the summer, the Transformers soundtrack sticks blatantly close to the Hollywood action movie blueprint. In similar fashion then, to the famed Spiderman and Daredevil soundtracks, it packs a powerful set of songs reflecting the current state of the rock scene Stateside; a mixture of familiar names and others on the verge of being discovered. This however, doesn’t automatically make it quite as representative of the music scene as its compilers may like to think. On the contrary, the final listing often has more to do with major labels’ corporate intervention and negotiation than actual thematic relevancy.

Nevertheless, even with this in mind, the Transformers soundtrack boasts quite a varied and interesting line-up. The more prominent cuts – three, essentially – come from Linkin Park, whose emphatic What I’ve Done was taken from their latest – and highly recommended – Minutes to Midnight album; Disturbed’s hard-hitting This Moment and H.I.M.’s Passion’s Killing Floor, a track lifted off the Finnish Goths’ impressive new release, Venus Doom. Doomsday Clock signals the return of Billy Corgan’s Smashing Pumpkins, a meaty sampler of what the band’s comeback album Zeitgeist is made of, while the contributions from The Used (Pretty Handsome Awkward), Taking Back Sunday (What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?) and Goo Goo Dolls (Before It’s Too Late) comprise the record’s average quota. The rest is pretty much mundane filler, and I still don’t understand why this soundtrack features four tracks that aren’t actually in the film itself!

CD COURTESY OF EXOTIQUE