By: Matthew Fox

Rating: 4 out of 5

Upon receiving the soundtrack for the new film Sucker Punch, I honestly did not know what to expect. As far as I knew, the movie did not appear to be my cup of tea, and consequently the soundtrack as well. In this case, however, there is much more than meets the eye. This soundtrack, following the trend of Moulin Rouge!, is all covers or remixes. Personally, soundtracks that consist of covers are typically a turnoff to me, but Sucker Punch managed to pull it off on multiple levels.

First off, the selection of songs is incredible. Never in my life did I expect to see one album house songs by Pixies, Björk, The Smiths, and The Beatles all in one. After this excitement wore off, I was a tad hesitant to accept them being covered, especially some of the more “untouchable” tracks such as “Where is My Mind?”. I actually still feel that some of the songs are not to be covered by anyone at anytime, but this hesitance is my own stubbornness; not the soundtrack’s fault by any means. That being said, the amount of originality brought into the covers by the new artists is incredible. It requires a lot of talent to take hit songs and turn them into almost entirely different tracks, and I respect that.

If I had to sum up the feel of the soundtrack as a whole, it would be a bunch of female pop vocalists all on a massive panzer tank headed into warfare…while singing. The heavy, industrial beats alongside the sweet and fragile voices of many of the artists make for an incredibly dynamic sound. Also, the blips of symphonic composition after many of the songs serve as smooth connectors throughout the album. This symphonic feel sometimes bleeds over into the actual tracks as well, which is a pleasant surprise. For example, the use of timpani and strings throughout “Asleep” kinda sorta gave me cold chills (my personal barometer for solid songs).

The most important part of any soundtrack is its appropriateness for the film, and Sucker Punch’s nails that on the head. I have not seen the movie, but after multiple hearings of its soundtrack, I feel as if I already have a solid grip on the overall feel of the film. When nine songs alone can allow a person to obtain an overall concept for the movie, someone is doing their job quite well.

Some highlights from the album are Björk’s “Army of Me,” which goes from gritty electronic pop to a rock-laden screaming fest, followed by a symphonic breakdown, then goes right back to the original grittiness, never missing a beat in the process. “Asleep,” as I previously mentioned, is the signature low-key song from the soundtrack, which plays out with a dream-like vibe. Maybe I love the song because I’m a sucker (pun definitely intended) for complex instrumentation, but I also feel that it is one of the stronger tracks when it comes to melody and overall concept.

Aside from the oddball remix of Queen with rapping on top, the songs on the soundtrack each have something different to bring to the table, but still manage to work together to convey the big picture. The soundtrack alone has almost sold me on seeing the film, simply to see how to music is implemented. That may be a nerdy statement to make, but I believe it is nothing more than a compliment to the soundtrack itself.

Matthew Fox lives in Nashville, TN. He drives a Jeep, frequently looks up cute pictures of animals online, and once won $15 off a lottery ticket. An archive of his blog posts can be found at foxtalks.wordpress.com.