The Score: The Crow by Graeme Revell

This new topic is all about the scores that go along with films.

Since this is a new topic, I thought I’d start with my all time favorite score soundtrack. Yes, it’s for The Crow. I absolutely love this score. It really is perfect and compliments this film beautifully. Consisting of mostly orchestral music, with some electronic and guitar elements, Graeme Revell created a soundscape that is lush and full of darkness. This score also has a way of giving you chills as you watch the film and you hear the score accompany the scenes. There’s an iconic scene in which Eric Draven is on the roof performing a guitar solo (entitled “Inferno”) that is not only iconic and wonderfully shot but, it’s also worth noting that Brandon Lee, learned to play guitar for his role in the film. Although since he died before filming this scene, a body double was used.

This score is truly one of the greats. It covers every emotion and feeling. The way the film is and how this score and the soundtrack are put together is stunning. There aren’t enough scores/soundtracks that can really hit it out of the park like this one did.
The Crow Score by Graeme Revell:

 

Soundtrack Only Songs: Rage Against The Machine- Darkness

As I’ve written about it many times before, the soundtrack for The Crow is one the best soundtracks of all time. There isn’t one song on it that doesn’t fit or make you want to watch the film. I’ll never forget way back when, the first time I heard the Rage Against The Machine song “Darkness.” I was completely floored by it. I had been a fan of the band for a while at that time and didn’t hear it on their debut. The song was originally written in 1991 and titled “Darkness Of Greed.” They re-recorded the song specifically for the soundtrack. “Darkness” never appeared on an album until the anniversary edition of their debut album. It did appear however as a b-side on the “Killin In The Name” single. Either way the only way to get this song for a long time was via The Crow soundtrack.

 

Rage Against The Machine- Darkness:

Soundtrack Only Songs: The Cure- Burn

 

Last night I couldn’t sleep, so I turned on the TV and saw that The Crow, my favorite movie of all time had just started. So I got myself comfortable and watched it for the millionth time. Seriously I’ve probably watched The Crow over 300 times in my life. I know it’s a bit excessive, but it’s just so good. While watching, quoting along with the film and listening to the soundtrack, it got me thinking about all the songs that were only ever released on soundtracks. Which brings me to this new feature focusing on soundtrack only songs. The first one I present to you is The Cure’s song “Burn.” I’ve long been a fan of The Cure since I was a little kid, but I remember hearing this song over 20 years ago and thought to myself (and still do) what a great song this is and how only they could pull this off.

The Cure- Burn:

 

Classic Soundtracks: The Crow

1994 was quite a year not just for music, but also for movies. Brandon Lee’s final film The Crow was released and accompanying the film, was a tremendous soundtrack, featuring bands like Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, Stone Temple Pilots, Pantera, Rage Against The Machine and Helmet. One of the intriguing things about the album was the songs from Nine Inch Nails, Pantera, and Rollins Band were all covers. Nine Inch Nails did Joy Division’s “Dead Souls,” Pantera did Poison Idea’s “The Badge,” and Rollins Band did Suicide’s “Ghost Rider.” Also notable was the inclusion of Rage Against The Machine’s Darkness, which was actually a re-recorded b-side from their debut album. Stone Temple Pilots song “Big Empty” first appeared on the soundtrack and then was later added to their masterpiece Purple. The Cure’s song “Burn” is a wonderful song too, that radiates how great The Cure are.

The Crow is my all time favorite movie. I’ve seen it well over 100 times. There is something so perfectly dark about it and the music that is a part of it blends so well.

 

 

By: Brian Lacy