Based on the hit comic book about a man who returns from the dead to avenge his killers, the film adaptation of The Crow suffered a cruel irony when star Brandon Lee (son of martial arts superstar Bruce Lee) died during production after a bizarre onset accident. That event only deepened the film's aura of death and gothic unease, moods that are brilliantly underscored by this well-chosen collection of stark alt rock, dark metal, and industrial dirges.
The opener, the Cure's typically angst-ridden "Burn," is about as sentimental as this album gets, bookended by Jane Siberry's wistful "It Can't Rain All the Time." Sandwiched in between is a virtual primer on powerful mid-1990s alt and industrial rock, from Nine Inch Nails hammering Joy Division's "Dead Souls" into its own image to the blistering snarl of Helmet, Pantera, and the Rollins Band. So-called pop-song scores often have a cheap afterthought feel to them; this one, a refreshingly integral part of the film itself, stands as a great album in its own right. --Jerry McCulley
Track listing
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